Lance sergeant

United Kingdom

In these regiments today, all corporals are automatically appointed lance sergeant on their promotion, so lance sergeants perform the same duties as corporals in other regiments and are not acting in place of sergeants. The Household Cavalry equivalent is lance-corporal of horse.

The appointment originated in the British Army and Royal Marines, in which it could be removed by the soldier's commanding officer, unlike a full sergeant, who could only be demoted by court martial.^{[citation needed]} Lance-sergeants may have first appeared in the 19th century, although they are mentioned in the late-18th century military essay "The Elements of Military Arrangement" (John Williamson, 1781):

"When from sickness or other causes there are not in a company a sufficient number of non-commission officers to do the duty, the captain can appoint corporals to do the duty of serjeants, who are called lance serjeants, and private men to do the duty of corporals, who are called lance corporals."

The appointment was abolished in most regiments and corps in 1946.^{[citation needed]} Some cadet units also retained the rank in addition to corporal into at least the 1980s.^{[citation needed]}

Lance sergeants wear three rank chevrons, the same insignia as a sergeant. In full dress, Foot Guards lance sergeants are distinguished from full sergeants by their white chevrons (full sergeants wearing gold); and in working dress, primarily by wearing an other ranks cap badge instead of a senior NCO variant.

Some sources claim that the use of the appointment of lance-sergeant was introduced by Queen Victoria, who stated that her guards would not wear only one chevron when mounting guard outside the royal palaces. Guards lance-corporals therefore wore (and still wear) two chevrons. That left the problem of what the full corporal would wear, so the appointment of lance-sergeant was introduced. However, the Guards regiments still had corporals until after the First World War and the appointment of lance-sergeant was used throughout the army (not just by the Guards) until 1946,^{[citation needed]} so the veracity of the story is questionable.

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  A lance sergeant (left) of the Coldstream Guards is addressed by one of the regiment's colour sergeants.

Canada

Prior to 1968, Lance Sergeant was an appointment in the Canadian Army. Much like his counterpart in the British Army, a soldier holding the rank of Corporal could be appointed a Lance Sergeant. He would receive the pay of a Corporal, but wore the rank insignia of a "full" Sergeant and was permitted to belong to the Warrant Officers' and Sergeants' Mess. Also in common with the appointment of Lance Corporal, the appointment could also be removed by the Commanding Officer at any time without administrative action (i.e. a court marshal); unlike in the case of a substantive sergeant.

Following Unification, both the appointments of Lance Sergeant and Lance Corporal were abolished.

In the current Canadian Army, a corporal may be given the appointment of master corporal. This appointment functions similarly to that of a lance sergeant in that the appointee may occupy a position normally held by a sergeant, such as a section commander or platoon second-in-command.