Gunnery sergeant (E-7)
Gunnery sergeant (GySgt) is the seventh enlisted rank in the US Marine Corps, pay grade E-7. Its insignia is three chevrons over crossed rifles over two rockers.
Easily confused with
How to read it
Gunnery sergeant comes after staff sergeant (E-6) and is the last rank before the enlisted ladder splits in two. Above it, E-8 and E-9 each have two ranks, and the Marine Corps says gunnery sergeants state which promotion track they prefer on their annual evaluations: master sergeant, a technical specialist, or first sergeant, a senior enlisted advisor to a commander.
Also searched as: E-7 marines, gunny, GySgt.
Ranks and insignia as the Marine Corps’ own orders and pages set them out. Pay grades are the Department of Defense’s.
Gunnery sergeant or Army sergeant first class?
Both are E-7. The Army’s sergeant first class wears three chevrons above two arcs, the same count of stripes as a gunnery sergeant, without the crossed rifles.
Gunnery sergeant or master sergeant?
The master sergeant above has the same chevrons and rifles with a third rocker. Counting the rockers under the rifles tells the two apart.
More marine Corps ranks
Browse symbols drawn with crosses, curves and waves or lines.
Sources
- Marine Corps Ranks, marines.mil, Ranks, United States Marine Corps, Enlisted
- Officer Knowledge (Officer Development School), Officer Training Command Newport, ODS Knowledge Book, Naval Service Training Command, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps Enlisted Rank Structure
- U.S. Military Rank Insignia, Resources: U.S. Military Rank Insignia (enlisted and officer insignia by paygrade), U.S. Department of Defense (defense.gov), Enlisted insignia, E-7
- DA Pamphlet 670-1, Guide to the Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia, DA PAM 670-1, 26 January 2021, Headquarters, Department of the Army (Army Publishing Directorate), para 21-7a(7), p. 178
Last reviewed September 29, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research