Slight questions about the military complex...

[Agent Oracle]

My players are in a campaign right now where they are disguised as military personelle to infiltrate a specific place... i don't feel like playing fast and loose, so if any of you can help me...

1. Does a Sgt. at Arms outrank a: (First Sgt, Gunnery Sgt. Regular old Sgt.?)

2. What is the lowest rank you can be, and be allowed to fly? (Do you have to be an officer, or can the enlisted men get their wings as well?)

 

[Hypersmurf]

Sergeant-at-Arms isn't, to my knowledge, a rank in a military structure. It's a position for someone who keeps order in a Parliamentary session, or something similar.

To get an idea of how the enlisted ranks fit together, Wikipedia is handy...

-Hyp.

 

[Sejs]

To the best of my knowledge, you can be a pilot at the rank of Airman, in the USAF. The equivalent of being a Private. You've just got to be trained for it, the same way you need to be trained to drive a tank.

As for sergeant ranks. Sergeat-at-Arms isn't a military rank; it's a fancy way of saying assistant of operations. Actual sergeant ranks go: sergeant, staff sergeant, sergeant first class, master sergeant, first sergeant, sergeant major.

 

[vulcan_idic]

Speaking as a USAF Airman, All pilots currently in the US Air Force are officers. It has not always been this way though. Back when the Air Force was first created on September 18th, 1947 by splitting the Army Air Corps out of the Army and creating a separate service there were enlisted pilots. At some point this practiced was discontinued. This is only the US Air Force however, other countries may well still allow enlisted pilots. What comprises enlisted and officer jobs and who can do those jobs sufficiently varies from country to country and even within a country over time.

 

[Kwitchit]

In most Air Forces, only sergeants and up fly in the normal run of things. This includes as gunners. The main reason is because fliers in WW2 were considered more likely than ground troops to be taken prisoner, and sergeants and officers got better conditions in PoW camps.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

You will probably want to use a stripped down version.. just to keep things striaght..

Enlisted:
Private {lowest scum-bucket worker bee}
Sergeant {in charge of said worker bee's}
Sergeant Major {in charge of the all the enlisted troops}

Officer: You need to be one to be a pilot..except UAVs...
Lieutenant{low scum bucket.. but paid alot more}
Captain {In charge of the company/unit}
Lt Colonel {in charge of the base/Brigade}

Sure, in 'real life' there are alot more ranks than this, but for a game session {and hollywood} it seems to work.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

There's also a lot of warrant officer helicopter pilots in the Army. They're officers, but with a lower grade of "commission" ("real" officers are commissioned by the President, warrant officers are given a warrant by the appropriate Secretary).

 

[Delta]

U.S. Military Ranks: http://www.ecsu.ctstateu.edu/personal/faculty/pocock/ranks.htm