Ranks in Depth: Flight Sergeant

The Flight Sergeants in the guild have a very difficult time so I think I need to clarify a few things about the rank which my rank description fails to do while also shedding some thought on how I have noticed some Flight Sergeants struggle with the position.

It’s really not an easy task being a Flight Sergeant because although they are fully fledged officers with important roles to perform around the guild, there’s still superiors to look up to in Warrant Officer positions and of course there’s also the big bad guild leader who often does his own thing seemingly disregarding perceived general opinion.

There’s a clear pecking order and often a Flight Sergeant will be expected to just go with the decisions of Bigticket. I’m seeing things from a totally unique perspective which is very different from that seen by a Flight Sergeant. For me, a Flight Sergeant has a difficult job because they see themselves as an officer yet find it difficult to come to terms that they can only affect certain clearly defined areas of the guild that I have deliberately created for very good reasons.

A Flight Sergeant is very important in the guild but maybe for much different reasons than they believe. I know some Flight Sergeants do a great job in managing their specific area while providing leadership and setting excellent examples and of course there’s nothing stopping a Flight Sergeant from becoming so valuable to the guild and intimate with the way I see the running of the place that they are well capable of stepping further up into the realms of Warrant Officer and the deputising guild leadership that requires.  As I say, being an officer doesn’t necessarily mean you have the right to start trying to dictate the way the guild operates overall and although your thoughts and opinions are very welcome, attempting to strong-arm them into the guild leader’s thought process is likely to result in disappointment for the Flight Sergeant who soon realises that guild morals and direction are the sole remit of bigticket.

Part of stepping up to Flight Sergeant means being pushed into situations where you must manage your own decisions carefully as you will be forced to choose whether it’s time to lead or time to follow depending on the circumstances.  The decisions you make as a Flight Sergeant have the potential to affect many guild members depending on your current role and there will be times when I will ask you to take on more responsibilities but in matters of overall guild leadership, there’s only one GM.  Sometimes decisions made by me will be wrong in your eyes but that doesn’t make them wrong overall and if you feel I could have done something in a better way then feel free to speak to me about it, ask my why I did what I did and for what reasons.  In these situations, I love giving out all the info I can think up and am only too delighted that someone has taken the time and interest to notice and willingness to understand the process I go through.  I wouldn’t recommend doing it on public chat channels because if I offer you my insight and you don’t like it then you could end up in an un-winnable war 🙁

So in summary, a Flight Sergeant is a crucial part of the guild through which important work around the guild is carried out but as with all rank-based social systems, there are times to lead and there are moments where you are fully expected to support your leaders and failure to do so could result in mistrust, splintering and general dividing of the leadership team.  With all this clarification, if you’re a Flight Sergeant reading this or consider yourself a future Flight Sergeant then please don’t be put off by the complexities I have described here because everyone in the rank is there because they are well capable of easily fulfilling the great requirements of this rank and excelling with the perks and respect that come with being a trusted member of the Dambusters.  If you support your guild leader, I will stick right by you and hold you up for all the guild to see!

/Salute