Herbert J. Sweet

History

Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps

The Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps is selected by the Commandant of the Marine Corps to serve as his advisor and as the preeminent and highest ranking enlisted Marine with a protocol equivalency of a three-star general officer.

The Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps typically serves a four-year term, though his service is at the discretion of the Commandant of the Marine Corps.

'Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps' is the full wording of the rank, but the verbal address is Sergeant Major.

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Although not officially considered a Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Archibald Sommers was appointed to the grade of Sergeant Major on January 1, 1801. It was a solitary post, similar to the modern billet of Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps.

In 1833, an act of legislation made the rank of sergeant major permanent for the Marine Corps. By 1899, five Marines held the rank of sergeant major. The rank was abolished in 1946 and re-introduced in 1954 as part of the Marine Corps rank structure.

The post of Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps was established in 1957 as the senior enlisted advisor to the Commandant of the Marine Corps. It was the first such post in any of the five branches of the United States Armed Forces. The first official Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps was Sergeant Major Wilbur Bestwick.

In 1970, the distinctive rank insignia of the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps was authorized. It features the Eagle, Globe and Anchor flanked by two five-point stars, as opposed to the standard Sergeant Major rank insignia, which has a single five-point star in the center.

Find Previous Sergeants Major photos at Defense Visual Information.

Previous Sergeants Major of the Marine Corps

Sergeant Major
HERBERT J. SWEET
USMC (DECEASED)
17 Jul 1965 - 31 Jul 1969

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4th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps

Herbert J. Sweet

Sergeant Major Herbert Joseph Sweet was born 8 October 1919 in Hartford, Connecticut, and the following year moved to Troy, New York where he grew up and received his schooling. As a child, Sergeant Major Sweet made his home with his uncle, Harold J. Nash of Troy.

He enlisted in the Marine Corps on 26 February 1937. Following recruit training at Parris Island, South Carolina, he saw duty with Marine detachments at Quantico, Virginia; at the 1939 World's Fair in New York; and in Trinidad.

Throughout World War II he served with the 21st Marines, 3d Marine Division moving with the unit to New Zealand and Guadalcanal for training. He saw combat on Bougainville where he was promoted to platoon sergeant then gunnery sergeant. He was wounded in action during the landing on Guam in July 1944 and, following hospitalization, rejoined the 21st Marines for the Iwo Jima campaign. There he earned the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" for exposing himself to enemy fire in order to rescue his wounded company commander, two other Marines and a corpsman. Wounded twice, he was evacuated twice.

On his return to active duty, he served as First Sergeant of the 4th Recruit Training Battalion, Parris Island; on the Marine Detachment at the Naval Ordnance Plant, Macon, Georgia; and on the Marine Detachment of the USS Missouri. He also served two separate tours at Camp Lejeune, first as an infantry chief, and following the Korean conflict, as Regimental Sergeant Major of the 2d Marines and Field Sergeant Major of the 2d Marine Division, respectively.

He requested duty in Korea on the outbreak of hostilities there, and in 1951 saw combat as rifle company First Sergeant with the 5th Marines. He was wounded in action that October and earned the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat "V".

He returned from Korea in July 1952 and served thereafter as Assistant to the Professor of Naval Science, NROTC Unit, Columbia University, New York City for two years. Following his second tour of duty at Camp Lejeune he was stationed in the Philippine Islands as Barracks Sergeant Major, Subic Bay from 1958 to 1960. Then he served as Sergeant Major of the 6th Marine Corps Reserve and Recruitment District, Atlanta, Georgia. In July 1964 he was named Division Sergeant Major, 3d Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force in the Far East. While serving in this capacity, he was selected as the 4th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps by a board convened in Washington and assumed his new post on July 16,1965.

Sergeant Major Sweet died 18 June 1998 of respiratory failure at his home in Alexandria, Virginia. He was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

His personal decorations include: the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V"; Navy Commendation Medal with Combat "V"; Purple Heart with three bronze stars in lieu of the forth award; Navy Achievement Medal; and the Combat Action Ribbon.