[1] Staff Sergeant Affiliation UNSC Marine Corps Higher Rank Gunnery Sergeant Lower Rank Sergeant Command 9-11 Marines Known Staff Sergeants Marcus Banks Avery Johnson Marvin Mobuto Nolan Byrne K. Stark Pete Stacker
	[Source]

Staff Sergeant is the sixth enlisted rank of the UNSC Marine Corps and the UNSC Army (E-6), and the fifth enlisted rank in the UNSC Air Force (E-5). It is a staff non-commissioned officer rank. The rank insignia is represented by three gold "chevrons" over one "rocker" in the Army, three red chevrons and one rocker with crossed rifles in the middle field for the Marines, and four white rockers for the Air Force.^[2]

Army and Marine Staff Sergeants are equal to a Technical Sergeant in the Air Force or a Petty Officer First Class in the Navy. Air Force SSgts are equal to a Sergeant in the Army and Marines, and a Petty Officer Second Class in the Navy.

Staff Sergeants typically command squads of 9 - 11 Army Infantry and serve as Platoon Sergeants in the Marines, which are the second in command of the platoon. Avery Johnson and Nolan Byrne were platoon leaders on Harvest, and were tasked with training a Colonial Militia, with each responsible for a platoon-sized group of men. Although a bit different from the other services, it is the Air Force's first non-commissioned officer rank as well as the first rank to which promotion is on a competitive basis.

Trivia Edit

• Compared to other services, the rank of SSgt. in the Air Force is relatively low despite being a position given to flight sergeants.
• The most notable staff seargent was Avery Johnson, who first saw action at Harvest. He died when the war ended at installation 04

Sources Edit

1. ↑ Halo 3: ODST Screenshot of the Rookie - Upper left chest plate has clear sign of one chevron and two crossed rifles of a United States Marine Corps Lance Corporal. It is assumed that the UNSC uses the same insignia for its Marines.
2. ↑ Contact Harvest, page 47

UNSC Defense Force enlisted ranks
	E-1	E-2	E-3	E-4	E-5	E-6	E-7	E-8	E-9	Senior Enlisted Advisor
Air Force:	AB	Amn	A1C	SrA	SSgt	TSgt	MSgt	SMSgt	CMSgt - CCM	CMSAF
Army:	PV1	PV2	PFC	SPC - CPL	SGT	SSG	SFC	MSG - 1SG	SGM - CSM	SMA
Marine Corps:	Pvt	PFC	LCpl	Cpl	Sgt	SSgt	GySgt	MSgt - 1stSgt	MGySgt - SgtMaj	SgtMajMC
Navy:	CR	CA	CN	PO3	PO2	PO1	CPO	SCPO	MCPO - CMDCM - FORCM - FLTCM	MCPON