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 The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

and several other

air force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

s which have adopted all or part of the RAF rank structure. It is equivalent to a

staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a Military rank, rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administr ...

colour sergeant Colour sergeant (CSgt or C/Sgt) is a rank of non-commissioned officer found in several armies and marine corps. Australia In the Australian Army, the rank of colour sergeant has only existed in the Corps of Staff Cadets at the Royal Military ...

in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, a colour sergeant in the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

, and a chief petty officer in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, and has a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

rank code of OR-7. In the RAF, flight sergeant ranks above chief technician and below

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a Military rank, rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ...

History

The rank was introduced into the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

(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

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 Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

, the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF; ) is the aerial warfare, aerial military service, service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Perm ...

, the

Sri Lanka Air Force The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF; ; ) is the air force, air arm and the youngest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. It was founded in 1951 as the Royal Ceylon Air Force (RCyAF) with the assistance of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The SLAF played a major r ...

, the Ghana Air Force, the

South African Air Force The South African Air Force (SAAF) is the air warfare branch of South African National Defence Force, with its headquarters in Pretoria. The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920. The Air Force saw service in World War II a ...

, the Air Force of Zimbabwe and the Royal Thai Air Force. It was also used in the former Royal Rhodesian Air Force. In Canada, since the unification of the

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

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 The Irish Army () is the land component of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. ...

rank of company sergeant. The flight sergeant rank in the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

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 sergeant is also used in many cadet organisations around the world, such as the Royal Air Force Air Cadets, Australian Air Force Cadets, and Royal Canadian Air Cadets.

Rank insignia

File:Australia RAAF OR-8.svg, (

) File:Irish Air Corps OR-7.svg,
( Irish Air Corps) File:Kenya-AirForce-OR-7.svg, ( Kenya Air Force) File:Blank.svg, ( Nigerian Air Force) File:Malaysia-Air Force-OR-7.svg,
( Royal Malaysian Air Force) File:RNZAF OR-7.svg, (

) File:SAAF-OR-7.svg, (

) File:04. SLAF-SSG.svg, (

) File:04-Tanzania Air Force-SSG.svg,
( Tanzania Air Force) File:British RAF OR-7b.svg, (

) File:British RAF (Aircrew) OR-7.svg, Flight sergeant aircrew
(Royal Air Force) File:Zimbabwe Air Force OR-7a.svg, ( Air Force of Zimbabwe)

References

{{UK enlisted ranks Military ranks of the Commonwealth Military ranks of Australia Military ranks of Canada Military ranks of Ireland Military ranks of the Royal Air Force Air force ranks Former military ranks of Canada

History

Current usage

Rank insignia

See also

References