<P> The posts of regimental and squadron corporal major are the Household Cavalry's equivalent of sergeant majors, as the Household Cavalry traditionally does not have ranks named sergeant . The Rifles use the spelling "serjeant major". </P> <P> There is a new' Army Sergeant Major' of the British Army due to the reforms of the British Army . </P> <P> The first British use of the term was around 1680 and was applied to the senior sergeant in the colonel's company of an infantry regiment, but it wasn't formalised until 1797, when the sergeant major was added to the battalion or regimental staff . When chevrons were introduced as badges of rank, he wore four, later under a crown . </P> <P> In 1813, cavalry regiments introduced the troop sergeant major to replace the quartermaster as the senior NCO of a troop; this required the existing position to be explicitly redesignated the regimental sergeant major . Later, the rise of the squadron as the principal sub-regimental unit saw the corresponding introduction of the squadron sergeant major . The infantry, however, hung on to the undifferentiated, one - per - battalion sergeant major until the eve of the First World War, when the introduction of the company sergeant major forced them to adopt the RSM title as well . (As an infantry regiment could be, and usually was, made up of a number of battalions, one would logically expect the new title to be battalion sergeant major rather than regimental sergeant major . Perhaps the infantry felt this would imply a lower status than their cavalry equivalents .) </P>

What is the role of a sergeant major