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Maréchal des logis

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Marshal of lodgings
Maréchal des logis
Shoulder insignia of Maréchal and Maréchal...-chef
Camouflage insignia of Maréchal and Maréchal...-chef
Country France
Service branch French Army
National Gendarmerie
AbbreviationMDL
MDC (chef)
Rank groupSub-officer
NATO rank codeOR-5
OR-6 (chef)
Next higher rankAdjutant
Next lower rankCaporal-chef de première classe
Equivalent ranksSecond-Maître
Maître
(chef)

Maréchal des logis (French for 'marshal of lodgings') is a sub-officer rank used by some units of the French Armed Forces. It is traditionally a cavalry unit rank. There are three distinct ranks of maréchal des logis, which are generally the equivalents of sergeant ranks (although they generally have less responsibility than a British or Commonwealth sergeant).

  • Maréchal des logis-chef (equivalent to sergent-chef). This is a superior rank to maréchal des logis and wears three chevrons, gold or silver.[Note 1]
  • Maréchal des logis de carrière (equivalent to sergent). Wears two chevrons. A maréchal des logis may be shortened to "margis" in military jargon.
  • Maréchal des logis sous contrat. Wears one chevron. This rank is increasingly uncommon in the French military since the end of conscription.

The maréchal des logis usually commands a section, tank, or gun, and therefore corresponds approximately to the British or Commonwealth rank of corporal, the U.S. Army rank of staff sergeant, or the U.S. Marine Corps rank of sergeant.

The rank of maréchal des logis is used by the armoured cavalry, the artillery, the materiel, the commissary and the transport corps, all of the French Army, and by the Gendarmerie Nationale.

The term logistics is derived from maréchal des logis, by Antoine-Henri Jomini.[1][2]

Notes

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  1. ^ The colour of the chevrons of the maréchal des logis depends on his unit; the vast majority of armoured cavalry units use silver, but a few of them, like the spahis, use gold.

References

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  1. ^ Baron de Jomini (1830). Tableau Analytique des principales combinaisons De La Guerre, Et De Leurs Rapports Avec La Politique Des États: Pour Servir D'Introduction Au Traité Des Grandes Opérations Militaires. p. 74.
  2. ^ For details, see Logistics § Origin.