The Independent Army Rank Structure – Enlisted

If you missed the overview, take a moment to read that to help introduce this post to put this one in perspective.

Just to recap, enlisted ranks for both the Union and Confederate armies were Private, Musician, Corporal, Sergeant, First Sergeant, Ordnance Sergeant, Quartermaster Sergeant, and Sergeant Major. Suffice to say military tactics during the Civil War were quite different than modern tactics, and by that extension future tactics. While on the surface an inane statement, I want to point out that I think we can all agree there’s no need to bring back the designation ‘Musician’ as a military rank. No one uses drummer boys and fife players to keep the orderly battle formations in lock step. Taking that off the table leaves a fairly straightforward list of easy to understand ranks that clearly define themselves: Private, Corporal, Sergeant, First Sergeant, Ordnance Sergeant, Quartermaster Sergeant, Sergeant Major. Done and done right?

Well… to summarize Wikipedia’s description of the rank of Ordnance Sergeant it was a non-command rank assigned to a post and did not mobilize with any unit, was removed from regiment rosters, and was pretty much an administrative and supply position as its name would suggest. The same general rule applied to Quartermaster Sergeants, who were like Ordnance Sergeants except they were assigned to a company’s supply wagon. They were not a command position except to defend the supply wagon and only in the most extreme circumstances would they replace a fallen non-commissioned officer.

The Independent Army would have had posts and forts as required to garrison, supply, and deploy soldiers on an interplanetary battlefield. Someone has to handle supplies and ordnance and food and fuel logistics, etc. But, as you may recall from the overview, these would be temporary forts and encampments (not established posts) and were not designed to survive longer than was required to facilitate the war. By that end, the Independent Army wouldn’t have permanent “supply” ranks either, as the relationship between command positions and rank title would be far stronger than in most other organizations. All of the supply and logistics could just as easily be managed by appointed soldiers and sergeants. I’m sure many units would use the term Quartermaster or Ordnance as a title, or a descriptor of the person's current position - but not as an established rank.

Because of that, the Ordnance and Quartermaster Sergeant rank are superfluous and unnecessary; it’s fat that needs to be trimmed. The Independent Army rank structure would simply be Private, Corporal, Sergeant, First Sergeant, and Sergeant Major following the need for a team, squad, company, and battalion leadership*.

• Private – The average soldier. The term Private comes from the middle ages, when there were ‘Private Soldiers’ (like the term private citizen) who were not conscripted or feudalized into military service. They were there of their own free will. In few other contexts is the term more fitting than in our capacity as Browncoats volunteering to fight for our cause. There is no need for multiple classes of private, or a specialist rank, as the soldiers of the Independent Army are fighting for a purpose and once that purpose has been achieved they can returning to their homes and attending to their farms and ranches and real jobs.
• Corporal – The term derived from medieval Italian and designated the ‘head of a body.’ It has been used by countless militaries to designate leaders of small groups of soldiers or bodyguards. The familiarity and ubiquity of the term makes it an effective rank to use by the Independents.
• Sergeant – Probably one of the most recognizable military ranks, co-opted by paramilitary units and police forces and security organizations, a sergeant is your leader of sections and squads in charge of making the senior leadership’s plans a tactical reality.
• First Sergeant – Generally there is only one First Sergeant, as they are the senior NCO in a company. Being the first among all the sergeants of the company they are in charge of all the NCOs and the liaison between the soldiers and the commanding officer of the company.
• Sergeant Major – The highest ranking NCO in the Army; each Battalion would generally have one. Sergeant Major is technically a command position. In the Civil War when armies were fielded at the Battalion level in lines and block formations, it was a much more direct combat position. Realistically Sergeant Majors, while fielded in battle, more often serve in a regimental and administrative capacity alongside other field grade and strategic level officers.

*For those familiar with current Army makeupa reasonable question is ‘Where’s the Platoon level NCO?’ That would be the Lieutenant. There is no reason to assume the relationship Commissioned Officer and Non-Commissioned Officer animus we see today. Instead of needing NCOs at every level of leadership because Officers are these distant figures to be feared and envied, a Platoon is just a smaller company analog that young officers lead while training and acquiring the experience necessary to command an entire company. A platoon sergeant isn’t necessary when the Lieutenant is directly responsible for his unit and already has 3 – 5 sergeants as his subordinates leading the squads. While a company commander’s parallel in the form of a First Sergeant not only has historical precedence, but individual merit; generating an anachronistic ‘staff sergeant’ or ‘master sergeant’ rank does not encapsulate the minimalist goals of the Independent Army.