Master-at-arms
From Freepedia
A Master-at-Arms (MAA) is a rating responsible for discipline aboard a naval ship.
Royal Navy
The term has been used in the Royal Navy since the time of King Charles I. Originally the Master-at-Arms was a petty officer who looked after personal arms such as swords and firearms, ensuring they were kept in good order and their ammunition was prepared and ready for use in combat. He also instructed other members of the crew in the use of arms. He later also became responsible for discipline. The Ship's Corporals assisted the Master-at-Arms with his duties.
In the modern Royal Navy the MAA is both the ship's police chief and the senior rating, comparable in many respects to the Regimental Sergeant Major in the Army and the Station Warrant Officer in the Royal Air Force. A warrant officer or chief petty officer, the MAA is addressed as "Master"; even if the rating in question is a woman, she is still addresses as "Master" and known as the Master-at-Arms. The MAA is assisted by regulators of the Royal Navy Regulating Branch, of which he is himself a member. He is nicknamed the "jaunty", a corruption of the French gendarme. The non-substantive (trade) badge of an MAA is a crown within a wreath.
Royal Navy MAAs are infamous among young ratings for wreaking verbal havoc on the inattentive recruit who fails to notice their trade badge and addresses them as "Chief" or "Sir" (based on their substantive rank), which is all too common for new entrants to the Navy.
United States Navy
In the United States Navy, Master-at-Arms is the rating concerned with law enforcement. They serve as a military police force. The Master at Arms ( MA ) is also supplemented by DoD personnel and contractors on many Navy bases. There is also the use of the 9545 qualifaction, which allows for Navy personnel of other rates to work as an MA, either aboard a ship, or ashore, while not taking on the rate of MA, though the number of 9545 billets, by percentage, is decreasing. The current active duty MA's consists of roughly 10,000. The expansion from 3500 (avg.) to the current number is due to the expanding role of the Master-at-Arms in the US NAVY of today. Primary duties include force protection, and police and security duties. There are several NEC (Naval Enlisted Codes) available to MA's to specialize in certain law enforcement duties. These include customs officials, investigator, MWD or Military Working Dog (K-9), Protective Services, etc.
