master sergeant

noun

1. Army, Air Force, Marine Corps.,  a noncommissioned officer ranking next to the highest noncommissioned officer.

2. U.S. Air Force.,  a noncommissioned officer of one of the three top enlisted grades.

master sergeant

noun

1. a senior noncommissioned officer in the US Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps and certain other military forces, ranking immediately below the most senior noncommissioned rank

Word History and Origins

Origin of master sergeant¹

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

Livelsberger served as a Green Beret master sergeant in the Army.

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He achieved the rank of command sergeant major, one of the Army’s highest enlisted ranks, but retired as a master sergeant because he did not complete the required coursework required to keep the higher title.

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He did reach the rank of command sergeant major near the end of his service, but he officially retired one rank below as a master sergeant.

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The film is a melodramatic tale featuring Washington, who had appeared in the off-Broadway production of “A Soldier’s Play,” as the outspoken recruit who kills his master sergeant.

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And for nearly all that time, he was a model soldier, given awards for meritorious service and promoted all the way up to master sergeant in charge of training young tank crews.

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