Arms of the QM Sgt

[Rich Pisarski]

What arms were issued to the regimental qm sgt? I looked in various texts and cant get anything beyond an nco sword.

[Clark Badgett]

Well I can't answer this with any documented answer. But being that he was a staff member, that wasn't expected to fight, he probably only got issued a sword. I have never seen a photo of any QM, Ordnance, or SgtMaj that were carrying anything other than swords, and to be be honest the Sergeants Major I've seen photoed have all carried Junior officer's swords. Now a little commoon since would tell me that a small privately purchased pocket pistol for an emergency, would not be out of the question for staff NCOs.

[markj]

Greetings,

On a day-to-day basis, I certainly can't envision QM Sergeants wearing any arms at all. Given their administrative responsibilities, they were usually busier than one-armed paperhangers. Once contact with the enemy was made, they were usually ensuring that ammunition got up to the firing line. You might want to check Kautz's "Customs of Service for NCO's..." to see what he says about this position.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger