Flight sergeant

Flight sergeant (commonly abbreviated to Flt Sgt, F/Sgt, FSGT or, currently correctly in the RAF, FS) is a senior non-commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and several other air forces which have adopted all or part of the RAF rank structure. It is equivalent to a staff sergeant or colour sergeant in the British Army, a colour sergeant in the Royal Marines, and a chief petty officer in the Royal Navy, and has a NATO rank code of OR-7. In the RAF, flight sergeant ranks above chief technician and below warrant officer.

Comparative military ranks in English
Armies
Air forces
Space forces		 Navies Air forces
(Commonwealth system)
Commissioned officers
Field marshal or
General of the army or
General of the air force		 Admiral of
the fleet		 Marshal of
the air force
General Admiral Air chief marshal
Lieutenant general Vice admiral Air marshal
Major general Rear admiral Air vice-marshal
Brigadier or
brigadier general		 Commodore Air commodore
Colonel Captain Group captain
Lieutenant colonel Commander Wing commander
Major or
commandant		 Lieutenant
commander		 Squadron leader
Captain Lieutenant Flight lieutenant
Lieutenant or
first lieutenant		 Lieutenant
junior grade or
sub-lieutenant		 Flying officer
Second lieutenant Ensign or
midshipman		 Pilot officer
Officer cadet Officer cadet Flight cadet
Enlisted grades
Warrant officer or
sergeant major		 Warrant officer or
chief petty officer		 Warrant officer
Sergeant Petty officer Sergeant
Corporal or
bombardier		 Leading seaman Corporal
Private or
gunner or
trooper or
specialist		 Seaman Aircraftman or
airman or
aviator
A Royal Air Force flight sergeant

History

The rank was introduced into the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in 1912 and passed to the Royal Air Force on its formation in 1918. RFC flight sergeants wore a four-bladed propeller between the chevrons and the crown.

On 1 July 1946, aircrew flight sergeants were redesignated aircrew I and replaced their chevrons with three six-pointed stars within a wreath and surmounted by an eagle and a crown. This proved unpopular however, and in 1950 they reverted to their old rank and badge, although flight sergeants aircrew wear an eagle between chevrons and crown.

Between 1950 and 1964, the rank of chief technician was equivalent to flight sergeant and was held instead of that rank by technicians, but now chief technician is a junior rank (still held only by technicians), although classified by NATO in the same grade.

Current usage
  • Rank badge of a Royal Air Force flight sergeant
  • Rank badge of a Royal Air Force flight sergeant aircrew
  • Rank badge of a Royal Air Force flight sergeant as it appears on dress uniform
  • Rank badge of a Royal Air Force flight sergeant aircrew as it appears on dress uniform

Apart from the RAF, the rank of flight sergeant is also used by many Commonwealth air forces, including the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, the Sri Lanka Air Force, the Ghana Air Force, the Bangladesh Air Force, the Sri Lanka Air Force, the South African Air Force and the Air Force of Zimbabwe.[1] It was also used in the former Royal Rhodesian Air Force. In Canada, since the unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968, this rank has been replaced by warrant officer. It is also used in the Irish Air Corps, where it is equivalent to the Irish Army rank of company sergeant. The flight sergeant rank in the Indian Air Force was replaced with the rank of junior warrant officer (JWO), which ranks below a warrant officer and above a sergeant.

In the RAF, the rank insignia is three downward pointing chevrons below a crown. Flight sergeants are usually addressed as "flight" and never by the more junior rank of "sergeant".

Flight sergeant is also used in many cadet organisations around the world, such as the Air Training Corps, Combined Cadet Force (RAF Section), Australian Air Force Cadets, and Royal Canadian Air Cadets.

See also

References
  1. "RANKS AND BADGES IN THE AFZ". Air Force of Zimbabwe Website. Air Force of Zimbabwe. 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
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