View source for Gunnery sergeant

{{short description|Military rank in the United States}}
{{Redirect|Gunny|the non-military nickname|Gunny (nickname)}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox military rank
| name           = Gunnery sergeant
| native_name    = 
| image          = USMC-E7.svg
| image_size     = 80px
| alt            =
| caption        = Gunnery sergeant insignia
| image2         = 
| image_size2    = 
| alt2           =
| caption2       = 
| image3         = 
| image_size3    = 
| alt3           =
| caption3       = 
| country        = {{flag|United States}}
| service branch = {{marines|United States}}
| abbreviation   = GySgt
| rank group     = [[Non-commissioned officer]]
| rank           = 
| NATO rank      = OR-7
| Non-NATO rank  = 
| pay grade      = [[Uniformed services pay grades of the United States|E-7]]
| formation      = {{start date and age|March 3, 1899}}
| abolished      = 
| higher rank    = [[Master sergeant#United States|Master sergeant]]
| lower rank     = [[Staff sergeant#United States|Staff sergeant]]
| equivalents    = {{ubl|[[Sergeant first class#United States|Sergeant first class]] {{small|([[United States Army|USA]])}}|[[Chief petty officer#United States|Chief petty officer]] {{small|([[United States Navy|USN]] & [[United States Coast Guard|USCG]])}}|[[Master sergeant#United States|Master sergeant]] {{small|([[United States Air Force|USAF]] & [[United States Space Force|USSF]])}}}}
| history        = 
}}

'''Gunnery sergeant''' ('''GySgt''')  is the seventh [[enlisted rank]] in the [[United States Marine Corps]], above [[Staff sergeant#U.S. Marine Corps|staff sergeant]] and below [[Master sergeant#U.S. Marine Corps|master sergeant]] and [[First sergeant#United States Marine Corps|first sergeant]], and is a [[staff non-commissioned officer]] (SNCO). It has a [[pay grade]] of E-7.

The gunnery sergeant insignia consists of two [[M1 Garand]]s centered vertically between three [[Chevron (insignia)|chevrons]] and two [[Chevron (insignia)#Rank insignia|rockers]].

==Responsibilities==
{{more citations needed section|date=February 2021}}
{{Cleanup rewrite|date=December 2021}}
Gunnery sergeants in [[infantry]] units typically serve in the [[billet]] of "company gunnery sergeant" or as the [[platoon sergeant]] of 23–69 Marines in a reconnaissance platoon or a crew-served weapons platoon (i.e., [[machine gun]]s, mortars, assault weapons/rockets, and anti-tank missiles).{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} In artillery batteries, gunnery sergeants serve as the "battery gunnery sergeant" in the headquarters section of the firing battery's 94-member firing platoon. In tank and assault amphibian units gunnery sergeants may serve as a platoon sergeant of a 16-member platoon of four tanks or a 39-member platoon of 12 [[amphibious assault vehicle]]s (AAVs), respectively. Tank and assault amphibian gunnery sergeants are also assigned as section leaders, in charge of either two tanks and 8 Marines or three AAVs and 9 Marines. Gunnery sergeants serving as platoon sergeants perform essentially the same duties as staff sergeant [[platoon sergeant]]s, with the additional responsibility of supervising other staff non-commissioned officers (i.e., the gunnery/staff sergeants leading the organic sections of the platoon).

The [[Company (military unit)|company]]/[[Artillery battery|battery]] gunnery sergeant serves as the unit's operations chief and works with the [[executive officer]] to plan and coordinate unit training and operations.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} In combat, as a member of the unit's command group, he/she serves as a tactical adviser to the commanding officer/battery commander regarding employment of the unit and assists in operating the command post or tactical operations center. In garrison, he/she is responsible to the company/battery commander for supervising and coordinating individual training for the enlisted members of the company or battery and may assist the company/battery first sergeant in the administration and non-tactical leadership of the unit and by supervising the property (logistics) NCO, advising the officers, mentoring subordinate ranking Marines, and performing other duties as assigned. The company/battery gunnery sergeant has been described as a "hands on disciplinarian". An approximate former equivalent in the [[United States Army]] would have been "field first sergeant".

Gunnery sergeants also serve as senior staff non-commissioned officers in military staff sections and headquarters and service companies and headquarters batteries at battalion/squadron, regiment/group, and division/wing headquarters levels. Typical gunnery sergeant billets in combat support companies and battalion, regiment, and division headquarters are: Personnel Administration Chief, Staff Secretary Personnel/Administration Clerk, Administration Assistance Chief, Division Reproduction NCO, Equal Opportunity Advisor, Human Affairs NCO, Career Planner, Intelligence Chief, Operations Chief, Operations Assistant, Watch Team NCOIC, Schools Coordinator, MAGTF Plans Chief, Cinematography Specialist, Logistics Chief, Embarkation Chief, Infantry Weapons Chief, Analyst and Review Fiscal Chief, Information Systems Maintenance Chief, Public Affairs Chief, Communications-Electronics Maintenance Section Chief, Radio Chief, Wire Chief, Motor Transport Chief, Battery Motor Transport Chief, Roadmaster, Assistant Roadmaster, Maintenance Chief, Assistant Maintenance Chief, Management Team Inspector, Engineer Equipment Chief, and Mess Manager.

In Command Element, Combat Logistics Element, and Aviation Combat Element organizations, gunnery sergeants serve in basically similar positions of responsibility, authority, and accountability as their Ground Combat Element counterparts, with perhaps slightly different titles, such as Division/Branch Chief/NCOIC or Department SNCOIC (Staff Non-Commissioned Officer-In-Charge) in the aircraft maintenance department of a Marine aircraft squadron. Non Fleet Marine Force (or other operating forces) assignments may include supervisory or staff positions in recruiting, drill instructor, Marine Security Guard, Naval ROTC instructor or service school instructor, and major/joint/combined headquarters commands.

==History and insignia==
{{more citations needed section|date=February 2021}}
The rank of gunnery sergeant in the Marine Corps was established by the Navy personnel act of March 3, 1899 ({{usstat|30|1009}}) reflecting the duties of Marines in ship's detachments. The original insignia was three chevrons point up with three straight "ties" with an insignia of a bursting bomb over a crossed rifle and naval gun. From 1904 to 1929 the insignia went to three stripes only over a bursting bomb on top of crossed rifles. In 1929, like the rank of [[first sergeant]], two "rockers" were added beneath the stripes with the same insignia in the middle. In 1937 the middle insignia was dropped. 

In December 1946, the Marine Corps eliminated the rank of gunnery sergeant, merging it with five other ranks into [[technical sergeant]], at the second highest pay grade of E-2. Another reorganization of the ranks in 1958 restored gunnery sergeant to the rank structure.<ref>{{cite document |last1=Nalty |last2=Strobridge |last3=Turnbladh |last4=Gill |first1=Bernard C. |first2=Truman R. |first3=Edwin T. |first4=Rowland P. |title=United States Marine Corps Ranks and Grades 1775–1969 |date=1970 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=[[United States Marine Corps History Division]] |type=Pamphlet |page=39–41}}</ref>

==Qualifications==
{{update section|date=February 2021}}
The qualifications and selection of gunnery sergeants in the "Old Corps" was explained in congressional testimony in 1912:<ref>{{cite journal|access-date=2010-01-03|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCkvAAAAMAAJ&q=General+George+Richards&pg=PA514|title=Hearings before Committee on Naval Affairs of the House of Representatives|year=1912|page=514|last1=Committee On Naval Affairs|first1=United States. Congress. House}}</ref>

<blockquote>
The following qualifications are required for appointment to the rank of gunnery sergeant:

A candidate for appointment as gunnery sergeant in the United States Marine Corps should be sufficiently proficient in the drill regulations to thoroughly drill recruits and to drill the squad and company. They should be thoroughly conversant with the nomenclature of the rapid-fire and machine guns used in the naval service and be sufficiently acquainted with their drill to be able to act as gun captains and to instruct the enlisted in their duties at such guns. They should have knowledge of the kinds and quantities of ammunition used in those guns. They should have a thorough knowledge of the instructions pertaining to target practice. They should have sufficient knowledge of the system of accountability of the United States Marine Corps to take charge of and properly render the accounts of a guard aboard ship, and should be competent in all respects to perform the duties of a first sergeant in charge of a guard on ship to which no marine officer is attached; also a knowledge of the duties involved in the subsistence of Marines ordered on detached duty, as well as the duties of an officer in command of a part of a landing party on shore.

Gunnery sergeants are selected from the sergeants of the corps on account of superior intelligence, reliability, and mechanical knowledge. The grade was provided with the idea that they should be somewhat higher in standard than first sergeants; that their knowledge of ordnance and of gunnery should be such that they would be able to make minor repairs to guns—to supervise all work in connection with guns; to command detachments which were of such size as not to warrant a commissioned officer being assigned to them. They are at present in command of marine detachments at naval magazines; are performing duty as first sergeants of regularly organized companies at various posts; in connection with the repair of guns at various Marine Corps stations; in connection with the training of recruits; and, in general, performing duties that require the utmost reliability. For a number of years candidates for promotion to this grade were required to take a special course of instruction before receiving their warrants, but recently, because of the lack of first sergeants and the numerous small detachments organized, it has been necessary to detail many of them for duty as first sergeants. As soon as there are a sufficient number of first sergeants available, it is intended to reestablish the school and to give gunnery sergeants a thorough course of instruction prior to their permanent appointment to this grade, in order that they may be experts in all matters pertaining to the care and preservation of naval ordnance.
</blockquote>

At the time of this congressional testimony there were 82 gunnery sergeants in the USMC.

==Culture==
Gunnery sergeants are commonly referred to by the informal abbreviation "'''Gunny'''" or "'''Guns'''". These nicknames, which are usually regarded as titles of both esteem and camaraderie, are generally acceptable for use in all but formal and ceremonial situations.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} Use of the term by lower-ranking personnel, however, remains at the gunnery sergeant's discretion.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

==See also==
*[[List of comparative military ranks]]
* [[United States Marine Corps rank insignia]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{US_enlisted_ranks}}

[[Category:Military ranks of the United States Marine Corps]]
[[Category:United States military enlisted ranks]]