The establishment of the position of Command Sergeant Major in 1967 was the pinnacle of a decades-long movement to provide senior Noncommissioned Officers with levels of authority and prestige commensurate with the many years of service they had devoted to the Army, in turn encouraging them to continue their careers and pass their knowledge along to rising NCOs. The first step in the process was the passage of the Military Pay Act of 1958, which added two new pay grades, E-8 and E-9, to all branches of the Armed Forces of the Unite States. In the Army, these new higher-echelon ranks became t First Sergeant / Master Sergeant and Sergeant Major.
Another milestone in the creation of the Command Sergeant Major position was the establishment of the Sergeant Major of the Army (SMA) in 1966. Designed to provide enlisted soldier’s with a voice at the highest levels of Army Command, the SMA understood the problems faced by NCOs when they tried to provide input to commanders at the battalion level and higher. Army Chief of Staff Harold Johnson, who helped create the office of the SMA, put it bluntly when he said that the reason for basis for the establishment of the Command Sergeants Major Program was to provide greater prestige for the senior noncommissioned officer.
William O. Wooldridge, the very first SMA, proposed the establishment of a Command Sergeant Major Program to General Johnson as a way not only to provide senior NCOs with much-needed respect, but also to solidify their spheres of authority and the parameters of their roles. On July 13, 1967, General Johnson approved the idea of a CSM program, which included the new title, a distinct insignia, and a new Military Occupational Specialty code.
Because Command Sergeant Majors represent enlisted personnel from a broad array of branches, they do not wear the color or colors of the branch from which they served. Instead, their color is Teal Blue for Branch Immaterial—i.e., no specific branch—and their collars device are discs emblazoned with the Coat of Arms of the United States.