Talk:Regimental sergeant major

message: Come to that, why's this at Rsm, rather than RSM?  There seem to be more links to the redirect, and surely capitalised is more correct, it being a title of an appointment, rather than a description.  As there only seems to be the two of us "here", and the redirect is history-free, then if by any wild mischance we agree on this, we can do this non-admin-assisted.  Alai 03:03, 21 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: It used to be capitalised. Somebody renamed it because they didn't like capitalisation. It's never been moved back. Fine by me if it is. -- Necrothesp 09:52, 21 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Done.  Alai 04:16, 22 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Though in the meantime, move? 

message: This rank is exclusively Australian, right?  Or it's a new one on me if the UK and other C/w countries have it, not that that would be a major shock...  The addition could be clearer on this point, at any rate.  Alai 23:25, 27 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: As far as I know, it's only Australian. It's certainly not used in Britain. -- Necrothesp 22:38, 28 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks, was pretty sure that was the case.  To digress shamelessly, it's a very strange-sounding title.  Regimental S-M, of the Army?  I might even go so far as to say the US Army's equivalent is more logical...  I suppose they've ended up with it as "Sergeant Major of the Army" might be thought to not be clearly step up from RSM, whereas "Army Sergeant Major" doesn't sound quite right, either.  (Aren't they all?)  But then, redesigning the .au army's rank structure's a little above my pay grade.  Alai 03:01, 29 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah, I think you must be right.  Having looked around a bit more, it seems RSM-A is only in the Australian Army, and it's a new as well - the first RSM-A was appointed in Jan 1983. I've made a separate section for RSM-A in Regimental Sergeant Major to reflect this unique appointment.  I think it also gives the article some more substance Opiniastrous 13:57, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

text: My bad on "rank", I'd have guessed on the existing pattern it was technically an appointment had I stopped and thought about it.  Alai 05:17, 30 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  RSM-A 

message: Note that in the British Armed Forces the plural is "sergeant majors" and not "sergeants major". That would assume that a sergeant major is a sergeant and "major" is simply a modifier. However, in Britain this is not the case. The sergeant major is a warrant officer, not a senior sergeant, and the rank or appointment is entirely separate from that of sergeant. For an illustration of official British usage see the very bottom of this page of the London Gazette. And it isn't a new usage either: see  this page from 1881. The earliest usage of "sergeant majors" in The Times is in 1822. The last of the (very occasional) usages of "sergeants major", except when referring to American NCOs, is in 1938. I'm not sure of the practice in the rest of the Commonwealth, although it was certainly identical to the British practice up to and during World War II. -- Necrothesp (talk) 16:59, 8 November 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Plurals