The rank of technical sergeant existed from after World War I until 1948 when the rank was renamed sergeant first class. In 1920 the army combined several battalion/squadron level "staff" NCO ranks, including battalion quartermaster sergeant, battalion supply sergeant, ordnance sergeant, hospital sergeant, three grades of master sergeant (junior grade), and six additional senior-level technical and specialist ranks into the new technical sergeant rank. In 1944 when rifle squad leaders became staff sergeants, platoon sergeants were promoted to technical sergeants. In 1948 the army renamed technical sergeant as sergeant first class.[1]
Technical sergeant insignia, U.S. Army (1920–1948)
Marine Corps
Technical sergeant was a rank in the United States Marine Corps until 1958. From 1941 until 1946, the rank was equivalent to grade 2, ranking with gunnery sergeant and other technical ranks. From 1947 until 1958, the rank was reclassified as E-6 and became the sole rank in this grade. The rank gunnery sergeant replaced it and elevated to E-7 after the reorganization of grades in 1959.[citation needed]
Technical sergeant insignia, U.S. Marine Corps (1941–1946)
Technical sergeant insignia, U.S. Marine Corps (1946–1959)
Air Force
Technical sergeant, "tech sgt" or "TSgt" in informal parlance, is the sixth enlisted rank (pay grade E-6) in the U.S. Air Force, just above staff sergeant and below master sergeant. A technical sergeant is a noncommissioned officer and abbreviated as TSgt (with no period in official USAF and other military correspondence). Official terms of address are "technical sergeant" or "sergeant",[2] although many use "tech sergeant" in informal situations.[citation needed]
Cadets in the Civil Air Patrol can hold the grade of cadet technical sergeant (abbreviated C/TSgt). The grade of cadet technical sergeant is above cadet staff sergeant and beneath cadet master sergeant. Cadet technical sergeants typically serve as flight sergeants
Civil Air Patrol technical sergeant insignia
Civil Air Patrol cadet technical sergeant insignia
^Office of the National Commander – Civil Air Patrol (4 September 2018). "Memorandum for all CAP Members"(PDF). gocivilairpatrol.com. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
For the Army and Air Force, first sergeants are temporary and lateral ranks and are senior to their non-diamond counterparts, while Marine Corps first sergeants have no lateral movement within paygrade and is a permanent rank.
The rank insignia is used by other Coast Guard senior enlisted leaders.