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A Master-at-Arms (MAA) is a rating responsible for discipline aboard a naval ship.

Contents 1 Royal Navy 2 British Army 3 United States Navy 4 See also

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 addressed 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.

In the British Army, the Master at Arms is a Commissioned officer of the Army Physical Training Corps (APTC) and is responsible for overseeing the fitness training in a large Regiment, Battalion, or Unit, i.e. a training unit.

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 rate(MA) is also supplemented by DoD personnel and contractors on many Navy bases. There is also the use of the 9545 qualification, which allows for Navy personnel of other rates to work as an MAA, either aboard a ship, or ashore, while not taking on the rate of MA. 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 Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection duties rather than in law enforcement. MAs who get assigned in the law enforcement field are becoming the minority. Some Law Enforcement duties include Military Working Dog (MWD) handlers, Protective Services Specialists, Command Investigators, Patrolmen, Gate Sentries and at some bases Harbor Police. The Navy's MA force is being forward deployed to many places around the world including Iraq, Afghanistan and South African countries. MA's may be assigned to a Mobile Security Force Detachment, where they will complete many AT/FP missions. These missions typically include; embarking aboard a ship with minimal defense capability, fortifying landside locations, and securing foreign ports for use by US warships.

• Shore patrol