Corps Regimental Sergeant Major

For the USMC equivalent, see Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps.

The Corps Regimental Sergeant Major^[1] (Corps RSM) is the most senior warrant officer of the Royal Marines. Responsible for maintaining standards and discipline within the Royal Marines, they act as a parental figure to their subordinates and also to junior officers, even though the latter technically outrank the RSM.

Corps Regimental Sergeant Major
Incumbent Nick Ollive since 9 December 2021
Ministry of Defence
Style	Mr or Sir
Type	Senior enlisted advisor
Abbreviation	Corps RSM
Reports to	Commandant General Royal Marines
Nominator	Commandant General
Appointer	Navy Board
Term length	Not fixed, typically 1–4 years
Formation	1 January 1989
First holder	David Malcolm Stollery MBE

Post creation

The post was created in 1989.^[2] He is addressed as "Mr" by officers and "Sir" by all other ranks. Routinely known as "the Corps RSM"

"It has been decided to appoint a representative Regimental Sergeant Major, who will be responsible for centralised events involving Warrant Officers and Senior Non Commissioned Officers and upon who the Commandant General can call for advice should he so desire. The Warrant officers so appointed will be called the Corps Regimental Sergeant Major (Corps RSM)"

Royal Marine Routine Orders, Monday 20th February 1989. (signed by Maj. Gen. H. Y. La R. Beverley)

List of Royal Marines Corps Regimental Sergeant Majors

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1		Stollery, DavidDavid Malcolm Stollery MBE	1 January 1989	22 January 1990	1 year	[2][3]
2		Palmer, JohnJohn "Jan" Kenneth Palmer MBE	9 December 1989	4 April 1992	2 years, 3 months	[3]
3		W, JJoseph Desmond "Des" Wassall MBE MM	1 April 1992	24 April 1994	2 years	[3]
4		S, WW. J. "Willy" S.	21 September 1993	6 March 1995	1 year, 5 months	[3]
5		W, WW. N. M. "Nev" W. MBE	4 January 1995	4 April 1998	3 years, 3 months	[3]
6		R, KK. R.	2 December 1997	16 November 1999	1 year, 11 months	[3]
7		T, RR. T. MBE	13 September 1999	14 October 2002	7 years, 1 month	[3]
8		F, JJohn Anthony "George" Forster	14 October 2002	28 November 2004	2 years, 1 month	[4][5]
9		C, EE. A. C. MBE	29 November 2004	31 January 2007	2 years, 2 months
10		D, BB. A. "Baz" D. MBE	1 February 2007	19 October 2009	2 years, 8 months
11		Wicks, MarcMarc Wicks MBE	20 October 2009	14 July 2011	1 year, 8 months	[6]
12		McGill, AlistairAlistair Iain "Ally" McGill MBE QGM	21 July 2011	19 November 2014	3 years, 3 months	[7]
13		Gilby, PhilipPhilip Steven "Phil" Gilby	19 November 2014	April 2018	3 years, 4 months	[8]
14		Mason, DaveDave Mason MBE	April 2018	31 July 2020	2 years, 3 months	[9][10]
15		Angove, RichardRichard Angove	31 July 2020	9 December 2021	1 year, 4 months	[11]
16		Ollive, NickNick Ollive	9 December 2021	Incumbent	2 years, 11 months	[12]

See also

• Warrant Officer of the Royal Air Force – Royal Air Force equivalent
• Warrant Officer of the Naval Service – Royal Navy equivalent
• Army Sergeant Major – British Army equivalent

References

1. Note that in the British Armed Forces, the plural is "sergeant majors" and not "sergeants major". "No. 48587". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 April 1981. p. 5671. "No. 25044". The London Gazette. 2 December 1881. p. 6467. The earliest usage of "sergeant majors" in The Times is in 1822. The last of the (very occasional) usages of "sergeants major", except when referring to American NCOs, is in 1938.
2. "Appointment of Corps Regimental Sergeant Major" (PDF). Royal Marines Badge & Insignia Reference. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
3. Forster, J. A. Register of the Royal Marines Regimental Sergeant Major. Royal Marines Museum, Eastney, Portsmouth.
4. "Commander Presents Fathers RSM Cane to Corps Museum". Royal Navy. 22 March 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
5. "Roll". The Queen's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
6. "Command Senior Enlisted Leader". NATO. 23 August 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
7. "Trustees". Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund. Archived from the original on 18 March 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
8. "Sword presentation to the Royal Marine Corps at Royal Marines Museum". National Museum of the Royal Navy. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
9. "WO1 (CRSM) Dave Mason RM Corps Regimental Sergeant Major". The Royal Marines Charity. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
10. @MajGenHolmes (31 July 2020). "On behalf of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, I'd like to thank WO1 (RSM) Mason profusely for his 28 years of dedicated and distinguished service. An outstanding Corps RSM, he hands the cane and the responsibility to WO1 (RSM) Angove" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
11. @AdmTonyRadakin (31 July 2020). "Thank you, WO1 Mason, for your magnificent service and all that you have done for @RoyalMarines and @RoyalNavy. Congratulations on an exemplary career. And welcome to WO1 Richard Angove as the new Corps RSM. Well done on your appointment, and looking forward to working with you" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
12. Lt Cdr Speedy Steedman Royal Navy [@LtCarlSteedman] (9 December 2021). "A genuine pleasure to have worked with the 15th Corps RSM WO1 Rick Angove & the very best in the next stage of your career. So a warm welcome to a good friend & the 16th Corps RSM..WO1 Nick Ollive …looking forward to the exciting times ahead. @RoyalNavy @RoyalMarines #OneNavy" (Tweet) – via Twitter.