Historical records of the New Brunswick Regiment, Canadian Artillery

1 86 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THECHAPTER XVII.The Sergeant-Major and Non-CommissionedOfficers.I^IGH in importance among the elements of a successfulf/T corps are the non-commissioned officers. It is notnecessary to repeat the trite language of the drill booksas a definition of their duties. No mere words can describetheir usefulness, and their duties can only be learned by experienceand common sense. Much of the success which hasattended our corps in the past and a great measure of itspresent strength lies in the ability and good judgment of themen who wear the stripes. Under the present excellent system,which requires each non-commissioned officer to answera number of questions each year ensuring some theoreticalknowledge on their part, and by the judicious selections forappointment which have been made in all the companies, theefficiency of the non-commissioned officers hasbeen maintained.Too much importance cannot be attached to the manner inwhich a recruit receives his first instruction, and as this isgenerally given by a sergeant or corporal, their ranks shouldbe held in high regard. An excellent feature of the regimentis that many of its officers have served in the ranks and are,by practice, well acquainted with the adaptation of drill to theneeds of the soldier and the service.Among the non-commissioned officers of the regiment theSergeant-Major is of course chief in rank, but more than that