Originally Posted by
The Oberon
There was always disagreement in the Army as to who was the most senior WO1 in the organisation. The ACSM Sandhurst would lay claim, the GSM London District said it was him and certain WO1s in the RLC were appointed Conductors and when you looked into the history, it was the RLC Conductors that had seniority but the other 2 contenders struggled to accept it. In order to stop the arguments, a few years ago, a new appointment of Army Sgt. Major was created and from day one, he was officially the senior soldier.
As OD has said some of these positions are held by WO1s who have been commissioned but are still acting in senior WO1 posts.
The seniority of conductors is and always was a myth, except that
between 1879 and 1881 they were the ONLY Warrant officers. At various times since before Waterloo, Hospital Mates, Schoolmasters, cavalry Troop QMs and Master Gunners held army Warrants, issued on behalf of the Sovereign, in early days by Regimental Colonels, subsequently by a Secretary of State...
In 1881 a whole raft of the most senior NCOs including sergeant-majors were warranted, and the official top grouping was defined as alphabetical, thus Conductor looked senior. The conductor was always in this top bracket but seniority within that bracket was by date of promotion or appointment, and in practice was determined by who was the expert on the ground.
Since 1989, when the RA appointed "The RA Sergeant Major" with a special badge, there has been grade and badge inflation at an absurd, Disney-style pace, emulating the USA practice..
There are now two new, exalted strata among WO Class 1 in the army: They are The Army Command Sergeant Major, and a slack handful of Command Sergeant Majors, , one for each Corps and major grouping. All at this level hold LE commissions.
The Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chiefs of Staff could, in theory, be the RN or RAF equivalent of The Army Command Sergeant Major. I would not hold my breath .........