Quartermaster Sergeant - United Kingdom

United Kingdom

A Quartermaster Sergeant in the British Army and Royal Marines is usually a non-commissioned officer or warrant officer who is responsible for supplies or stores. However, in the Army this definition is extended to almost any Warrant Officer Class 2 who does not hold a Sergeant Major appointment, as well as a number of Staff Sergeant and Colour Sergeant appointments. In the British Army, Quartermaster Sergeants are frequently addressed and referred to as "Q".

Examples of Quartermaster Sergeant appointments include:

• Battery Quartermaster Sergeant
• Company Quartermaster Sergeant
• Quartermaster Sergeant Instructor
• Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant
• Squadron Quartermaster Sergeant

In the Household Cavalry, the designation is replaced with Quartermaster Corporal (QMC), as in Squadron Quartermaster Corporal and Regimental Quartermaster Corporal.

In the Royal Marines, Quartermaster Sergeant was an actual rank between Colour Sergeant and Regimental Sergeant Major (and equivalent to Warrant Officer Class II in the Army) until the Royal Marines themselves re-adopted the ranks of Warrant Officer Classes I and II in 1973 (although the term continued to be used interchangeably for Warrant Officers Class II until at least 1981). Quartermaster Sergeants could hold the appointment of Company Sergeant Major and Staff Bandmaster.