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Because King Shaka kaSenzangakhona was a BantuThere are more than 400 million of Bantu speakers that live in Central, East and Southern Africa.There is strength in numbers. In addition, there is a strong Bantu consciousness among us. More importantly, European colonizers “encountered” Bantu speakers almost “everywhere” in Africa south of the Sahara. There is a colonial narrative of a Bantu Expansion from Chad or a border zone between Nigeria and Cameroon. The colonial narrative of a Bantu Expansion is contested.Former projects of the GIS groupThis is an overview of research projects pursued by Curdin Derungs, leader of the GIS Group from 2014 until mid 2018, and his team colleagues.Expansion of Bantu LanguagesThere are contested theories on the expansion of Bantu languages, most centrally involving debate between two paradigms: one positing an early-split and the other a late-split model. We aimed at reconstructing the most probable expansion of Bantu languages, starting in Nigeria and from there, following the paths associated with least travel costs, towards the east and south. We thus conducted a least cost path analysis with the aim of spatially reconstructing the Bantu language tree.Bringing together linguistic and genetic evidence to test the Bantu expansionThe expansion of Bantu languages represents one of the most momentous events in the history of Africa. While it is well accepted that Bantu languages spread from their homeland (Cameroon/Nigeria) approximately 5000 years ago (ya), there is no consensus about the timing and geographical routes underlying this expansion. Two main models of Bantu expansion have been suggested: The ‘early-split’ model claims that the most recent ancestor of Eastern languages expanded north of the rainforest towards the Great Lakes region approximately 4000 ya, while the ‘late-split’ model proposes that Eastern languages diversified from Western languages south of the rainforest approximately 2000 ya.Furthermore, it is unclear whether the language dispersal was coupled with the movement of people, raising the question of language shift versus demic diffusion. We use a novel approach taking into account both the spatial and temporal predictions of the two models and formally test these predictions with linguistic and genetic data. Our results show evidence for a demic diffusion in the genetic data, which is confirmed by the correlations between genetic and linguistic distances. While there is little support for the early-split model, the late-split model shows a relatively good fit to the data. Our analyses demonstrate that subsequent contact among languages/populations strongly affected the signal of the initial migration via isolation by distance.https://www.tanqueverdeschools.org/downloads/egypt.pdfchapter 3. Early African Societies And The Bantu Migrations EARLYAGRICULTURAL SOCIETY IN AFRICAThe BantuAmong the most influential peoples of sub-Saharan Africa in ancient times were those who spoke Bantu languages. The original Bantu language was one of many related tongues in the larger Niger-Congo family of languages widely spoken in west Africa after 4000 B.C.E. (NigerCongo languages include also those spoken by Mande, Kru, Wolof, Yoruba, Igbo, and other peoples.) The earliest Bantu speakers inhabited a region embracing the eastern part of modern Nigeria and the southern part of modern Cameroon. Members of this community referred to themselves as bantu (meaning “persons” or “people”). The earliest Bantu speakers settled mostly along the banks of rivers, which they navigated in canoes, and in open areas of the region's forests.…..Unlike most of their neighbors, the Bantu displayed an early readiness to migrate to new territories. By 3000 B.C.E. they were slowly spreading south into the west African forest, and after 2000 B.C.E. they expanded rapidly to the south toward the Congo River basin and east toward the Great Lakes, absorbing local populations of hunting, gathering, and fishing peoples into their agricultural societies. Over the centuries, as some groups of Bantu speakers settled and others moved on to new territories, their languages differentiated into more than five hundred distinct but related tonguesBantous — WikipédiaBantu speakers are citizens of 27 countries in Africa, circa half of the countries in Africa have populations of Bantu speakers.Democratic Republic of the Congo (80% of the Congolese population)TanzaniaSouth AfricaKenyaMozambiqueUgandaAngolaMalawiZambiaZimbabweRwandaBurundiCamerounRepublic of the CongoBotswanaEquatorial GuineaLesothoGabonNamibiaEswatiniSomaliaSão Tomé and PríncipeSeychellesComorosCentral African RepublicMadagascarMayotte (France)Because he was a military genius whose “fighting spirit” survived more than 50 years after his death in 1828. The Zulu defeated the British, one of the best armies of Europe in 1879. Shaka is called the African Napoleon.There is a long list of military defeats suffered by European armies in Africa. In the colonial discourse, they are usually omitted because African were victorious.Here is a short list of them.RugaroElbejetMinongeFort JohnstonePembe DriftBirikiweCunene,NsamankowEfutu,KitomboIntombe,WoyowayankoDabaduguSoyoDogaliIsandhlwanaDabaduguViervoetShaka Zulu, The Incomparable Military Leader | The African Exponent.It is quite astounding how history remembers or reflects on great African men and women, despite the audience, there is a tendency to mention them in comparison to a white man.They tune the narrative to ensure the African person is positioned directly in the shadow of the white man. The white man is elevated to a position that reveals them as the personification of greatness and the African is applauded for aspiring, but never reaching or surpassing such levels of greatness as allegedly set by the white men.African stories must be told from an African perspective especially to a foreign audience. There is a need to show that certain levels of greatness began and ended only on this continent and are totally incomparable to anything far removed from the “dark continent”.Despite Napoleon Bonaparte [1769 – 1821] and Shaka Zulu [1787 – 1828] being contemporaries the narrative of the latter’s great leadership and military genius is placed in their shadows.Historical judgments of men and women in different settings fighting different regimes are often inaccurate. They are extremely unfair and the result often unjustified. When an African person is compared to a white person the African is deemed as a failure and will always be put below the white men. African stories are best compared against fellow Africans who had similar setups and challenges as opposed to white people. In most instances, the white people brought the challenges the Africans had to overcome.THE ZULU MILITARY ORGANIZATION AND THE CHALLENGE OF 1879by Cmdt S.Bourquin, DWDThe War of 1879AttitudesUnder Cetshwayo the Zulu military system was restored to its full vigour and the Zulu fighting force reached what was probably the highest point of its perfection, consisting of some twenty-six regiments. Shepstone's influence, however, prevented the army from being used on any major campaigns. This attitude did not, however, prevent Cetshwayo from collecting the old regiments and forming new ones, and selecting his commanders and subordinate officers with great care. He formed numerous military kraals, and regularly assembled his regiments for training and exercise. He lost no opportunity of encouraging the military spirit of his army and of strengthening the cords of discipline in his regiments. Death was again the punishment for most offences; the king's nod must be obeyed, no matter what consequences followed.Captain Parr(25) relates that not long before the Zulu war broke out, a missionary was expatiating to Cetshwayo, who had one of his regiments seated around him, of the danger he ran of hell fire. 'Hell fire!', repeated Cetshwayo, 'Do you frighten me with hell fire? My army would put it out. See!' he continued, pointing to a veld fire which was burning over a considerable tract, and calling to the officer commanding the regiment, 'Before you look at me again, eat up that fire.' In an instant the whole regiment, shouting the war cry, was bounding towards the fire, which was 'eaten up' without regard to those who were maimed and permanently impaired.Out of a population of over half a million people on the eve of the Zulu War, Cetshwayo could call on almost 50 000 of probably the fastest infantry and finest close-combat troops in the world at that time. It was Cetshwayo's tragedy to be caught up in the politics of Boer and Briton. Like Shaka and Mpande before him, he was anxious to avoid conflict with white forces, but the mere existence of his army was a cause of offence. Its individual members had again developed a very high opinion of themselves which showed itself at times in truculence and arrogance towards, and a kind of contempt for, every European. There was also a growing dissatisfaction at the growth of the black population of Natal, largely at the expense of the Zulu nation.The unity which the Zulu nation had presented in the early stages of Shaka's reign had crumbled somewhat in subsequent times when not only individuals but whole clans had fled Zululand under the terror rules of Shaka and Dingane, and again as a result of the revival of stricter discipline and lesser freedom under Cetshwayo. Shortly before the Zulu War a whole section of the Gobamakhosi regiment had defected and had sought refuge in Natal. The attitude of these, at the time so called 'Natal Natives', notwithstanding that many were of Zulu origin, was far from sympathetic towards the Zulu regime. On the contrary, many were openly hostile and were thirsting for an opportunity to take revenge for real or imaginary injustice, hardship, or injury they had suffered. They willingly assisted the whites to break the military system which had broken them. This fact explains, amongst others, why it became possible for the Natal Government on the eve of the Zulu War, to recruit close on 7000 'Natal Natives' within a matter of weeks, to serve in the Natal Native Contingent (NNC) on the side of the British against Cethswayo.AdaptationsWeaponsThe basic weapons of the Zulu Army were those introduced by Shaka. By 1879, however, in addition, a crescent-shaped battle-axe which had been in use by tribes to the north, as well as to the west, of the Drakensberg, had found its way into the hands of Zulu warriors and was being used in small numbers.In regard to the shields, the traditional large war-shield (isiHlangu) had been modified by Cetshwayo before his fight at Ndondakusuka in 1856. He had produced a war shield which was about three and a half to four feet long by two feet wide and was more sturdy and less unwieldy than the isiHlangu. This new pattern, which became known by the name of umBumbuluzo came into general use in the Zulu army and was the popular pattern during the Zulu War, although a few of the veteran regiments may have retained the larger type.During the long reign of Mpande and under Cetshwayo there was a growing demand for firearms and gun-running, although frowned on and declared illegal by the white governments in Natal and Transvaal, became a lucrative business in certain quarters. The generality of Zulu warriors, however, would not have firearms - the arms of a coward, as they said, for they enable the poltroon to kill the brave without awaiting his attack.The firearms which had found their way into Zulu hands were mainly muzzle-loaders of cheap commercial manufacture. Individual Zulus, such as Chief Zibebu, one of Cetshwayo's generals, had become excellent marksmen; most others were mediocre shottists who tended to shoot high or close their eyes when pulling the trigger.However, the large number of rifles captured at Isandlwana were put to good use by the Zulus, and even if their fire was not highly accurate it had considerable nuisance value. Instances of this kind were reported in connection with the defence of Rorke's Drift and the attack on Khambula.TacticsThe military system developed by Shaka had prevailed, as had to be the case, when there was no very great inequality between the opposing forces, and discipline was all on one side. But when discipline was opposed to discipline, and the advantage of weapons lay on the side of the latter discipline, the consequences were disastrous to the former. Thus it was with the Zulus. The close ranks of warriors, armed with shield and assegai, were irresistible when opposed to men equally armed but without any regular discipline, but, when they came to match themselves against firearms, they found that their system was of little value.The shield could resist the assegai well enough, but against the bullet it was powerless, and though the stabbing-assegai was a terrible weapon when the foe was at close quarters, it was of no use against an enemy who could deal destruction at the distance of several hundred yards, and who, when mounted, could outdistance even the fleetest warrior on foot. Moreover, the close and compact ranks, which were so efficacious against the irregular warriors of the country, became an absolute element of weakness when the soldiers were exposed to heavy volleys from the distant enemy. Therefore the whole course of battle needed to be changed when the Zulus fought against the white man and his firearms.True enough the traditional tactics had achieved the desired success, almost at Inyezane, but certainly at Isandlwana, Intombi, and Hlobane; but they had failed at Rorke's Drift, Khambula, Gingindlovu, and ultimately at Ulundi. In other instances the Zulus found themselves obliged to revert to the old system of skirmishing, although the skirmishers fought under the commands of an induna, instead of each man acting independently, as had formerly been the case. However, there was no time for re-training the regiments.CasualtiesIn the Zulu army there had been no changes in the treatment of the wounded since Shaka's days. Seriously wounded friends or foes were put out of their misery through the merciful application to their skulls of the knob-kerrie. The walking wounded had their assegai wounds, invariably flesh wounds, treated by herbalists and other iNyanga, but bullets caused far more horrible wounds, shattered bones and the like which no Zulu 'doctor' could treat. Many warriors who escaped from the battlefields died on the way, or at home, or remained crippled for the rest of their lives. In their fight against the white man the Zulus endeavoured to remove their own dead whenever circumstances and numbers permitted this to be done. At Isandlwana, for instance, the Zulu dead who could not be removed at once were subsequently removed and disposed of in dongas or in the grain pits of the abandoned kraals in the vicinity. As the latter were filled to capacity many kraals were relocated on the return of the inhabitants.Contrary to general belief amongst whites, it was not Zulu custom to torture fallen wounded soldiers. They were killed on the spot, but according to Zulu custom a dead enemy had to be disembowelled to release evil spirits and to prevent the swelling up of a corpse. Exceptions to the rule were notable, such as the case of trooper Raubenheim, captured and tortured to death by the Zulus at Ulundi. No prisoners were taken on either side; any encounter ended either in escape or death.Assets and LiabilitiesThe war of 1879 forced the Zulu army, for the first time in over sixty years of its existence, to take stock and to 'balance its books'. Time-honoured assets had become liabilities, and the net result was liquidation. Their discipline, their weapons, their tactics, their courage, and their belief in the strength of their war medicine, had been tremendous assets in fighting an enemy of similar background and standing but who lacked these attributes. However, these assets were either equalized or turned into a liability when they faced the British troops.The incredible speed at which a Zulu impi could move could only be off-set, to a degree, by mounted troops. Over broken terrain Zulu warriors were still faster than horses. British army orders directed commanders who contemplated action against a Zulu impi to plan as if facing enemy cavalry. But British troops matched Zulu discipline with their discipline, and their firepower and means of defence turned what in the past had been a Zulu advantage into a liability, inasmuch as the Zulus suffered extraordinary losses on account of their very courage and magic beliefs. Massed rank after rank bit the dust under volley fire, bullets which should have turned to water, and fallen like rain-drops off the doctored shields, found their mark.Their subservience to ritual and magic beliefs, which in the past had sustained them and encouraged them under difficult and adverse circumstances became an encumbrance when, after every battle, the warriors had to return home to undertake certain cleansing ceremonies, and when before every battle the army and its individual members had to be 'doctored'. These requirements inhibited the evolution of new tactics such as hit-and-run actions, relentless harassment, and pursuit, attacking troops on the march, and many other methods which would have saved their manpower and would have prolonged the war even if they had lost it in the end.ConclusionIn retrospect the only conclusion that one can draw is that the Zulu War was unjust. Circumstances and the views prevailing at the time demanded that the Zulu must be humbled. A pretext was found for war and Cetshwayo was faced with an ultimatum, which was physically impossible of implementation within the given time, and which, furthermore, demanded the demolition of the entire Zulu state system. There is ample evidence that Cetshwayo was completely unprepared for war and that he believed that war could be averted, and that when war came his heart was not in it. As late as January 9th, 1879, the day before the expiry of the ultimatum, two of Bishop Schreuder's men arrived from Cetshwayo's kraal and reported that the king was sitting still, in a miserable state of indecision and dejection; that no regiments had as yet been assembled and no preparations had been made to resist the British troops - adding, however, that they would fight, no doubt, if they must. They would fight to defend their country but the king had no intentions of invading Natal.(8)That they did fight, with the utmost bravery, is common knowledge. Whatever other motives or ideals might have imbued them, whether 'in defence of the old Zulu order' or merely for freedom and independence is open to speculation. Certain, however, is the fact that, like the Spartans under Leonidas, they fought as their laws demanded - the king's laws.At one stage during the battle of Isandlwana, the British fire was so hot that the Zulus seemed to have had enough and a movement of withdrawal became noticeable, when, according to tradition, a lone voice filled a moment's silence and trailed across the field of battle: 'Ihlamvana bul' umlilo kashongo njalo!' 'The little branch which extinguished the fire (started by Walmsley and Rathbone at the battle of Ndondakusuka in 1856: a euphemistic reference to Cethswayo the king) never gave such an order!' The backward movement stopped immediately, the Zulu army rose as one man and made its final devastating rush upon the British camp.Even though they achieved this signal success at Isandlwana neither Cetshwayo, nor the Zulus generally, were much elated by it - they paid too dearly for it. With pride, tinged with deep sorrow the victory hymn of Isandlwana was sung throughout the country:S'ya y'vum inkani (we admit to dauntless na Se Sandlwana defiance, Se sa b'ehlula even at Sandlwana; be zil' abelungu! we have by now defeated Imnandi, Si y'xox the white invaders. 'enkosin'! It is good; we report this to the king!)Cethswayo's repeated peace overtures were disregarded. The Natal government demanded that the war, once begun, had to be fought according to Shaka's rules: no quarter given - unconditional surrender or death. There was no surrender. Thrice after Isandlwana the Zulu warriors faced the concentrated firepower of an entrenched modern army: Khambula, Gingindlovu, Ulundi.When the Zulu Army Gave the British a BeatingBy Nick DallIt was dusk on Jan. 22, 1879, when Frederick Augustus Thesiger, better known as Lord Chelmsford, returned to camp at iSandlwana (spelled with a lowercase “i” in Zulu, as opposed to the Anglicized “Isandlwana”). As he and his men picked their way through the corpses of their colleagues — naked and mutilated, strewn among broken bags of tea and sugar — their first reaction was disbelief. “But I left a thousand men to guard the camp,” said Chelmsford, whose incredulity soon turned to horror.The final tally showed that the Zulus had killed 858 white men and 471 Black soldiers who had been enlisted to fight for the British. A mere 350 non-Zulus emerged from the battle alive, making iSandlwana one of the bloodiest defeats of the Victorian era, and far and away the most catastrophic defeat by a “primitive” volunteer army. When a telegram bearing news of the battle reached Britain, it was said at first to be a hoax.Throughout the 1870s, the British controlled the coast of South Africa; the Boers — Dutch-speaking settlers, predominantly farmers — held most of the interior. Scattered in between were various African tribes who had managed to survive that long, the Zulu kingdom being the strongest. “The British weren’t bothered with the interior until diamonds were discovered in Kimberley,” says Ian Knight, a historian specializing in Anglo-Zulu wars. “Then they suddenly became very bothered with the interior!”The idea was that once the British had defeated the Zulus, the weaker tribal groups would quickly fall into line. But the Brits had underestimated King Cetshwayo and his impi. “The Zulu army was a very well-organized part-time militia,” says Knight. “Every Zulu man was enrolled in a regiment at the age of 18 or 19. Each regiment was divided into companies, and officers were appointed from the older, more experienced men.” Zulu men spent most of their time farming with their families, but when the king needed them, they would be called up for duty.On Jan. 6, 1879, Chelmsford and some 3,500 men left the British colony of Natal and marched into Zululand. Apart from a few skirmishes, the first two weeks of the campaign were largely uneventful. Two weeks later, on January 20, Chelmsford made camp at the lion-shaped outcrop called iSandlwana, a spot chosen for its excellent outlook over the surrounding valleys. Rumors of an impending Zulu attack circulated, and at 2 a.m. on the 22nd, Chelmsford received the confirmation he had been waiting for: A strong Zulu force had been spied near the Mangeni Falls, roughly 12 miles away. Chelmsford immediately mobilized about half of his force for a surprise attack on the Zulu impi, leaving his subordinates Pulleine and Durnford with the altogether less glamorous task of guarding the camp.But the main Zulu force of approximately 20,000 men was really resting in the Ngwebeni valley just 4 miles from iSandlwana. The Zulus had planned to delay their attack because the 22nd, being a new moon, was considered an inauspicious day for a battle. When they were spotted by British spies under Durnford’s command, however, they had no choice but to spring into action.Employing the characteristic izimpondo zankomo (chest and horns) formation invented by King Shaka some 50 years earlier, they swarmed toward iSandlwana. Armed with spears and old-fashioned muskets they weren’t adapt at handling, the Zulus should have been no match for the Brits with their modern rifles and 7-pound field guns. And at first, the battle appeared to be going according to expectations: “Dozens of the enemy were dropping with each British volley,” writes Alan Lloyd in The Zulu War: 1879, “sending ripples of hesitation through the masses around them.”But a brief delay in getting ammunition to the British front line gave the Zulu impi an opportunity to turn the tide. “When you look back on the various Anglo-Zulu battles, a clear trend emerges,” Knight says. “Whenever the British were able to keep the Zulus at arm’s length, they won the battle. But as soon as the Zulus were able to engage in hand-to-hand combat, they were unstoppable.” The Zulus, he explains, had grown up stick-fighting: “They were brutal with their assegais.”The Zulus suffered great losses at iSandlwana — approximately 1,000 dead and 2,000 mortally wounded — but there was no doubt which side had won the battle. “So inconsiderable was the number of exhausted and terror-haunted survivors who eventually reached Natal,” writes Lloyd, “that it was widely held that the slaughter had been complete.”The defeat at iSandlwana resulted in a strong British backlash that allowed them to conquer the Zulus and capture King Cetshwayo before the year was out. Cetshwayo was imprisoned in Cape Town and subsequently exiled to England, before finally being allowed to return to Zululand. Not until the election of the current president of South Africa, 126 years later, has a Zulu leader again been in control of his own land.Because his conquests never were “world conquests” but a military revolution in a specific region of Southern AfricaThe Zulu Iklwa: Evidence of an African Military Revolution in the Nineteenth CenturyBy Jacob IveyThe Zulu, an Nguni-speaking ethnic group, were one of a wide range of “clans” in what is today KwaZulu-Natal in the Republic of South Africa. By 1818, Shaka had consolidated this group along with the much larger Mthethwa under Dingiswayo to create the Zulu nation. The Zulu kingdom under Shaka experienced a military revolution during this consolidation in the early nineteenth century that triggered a wide expansion of Zulu power. The cause of this revolution has been widely attributed to the implementation of new military tactics, including the famous “bull’s horns” of envelopment, the banning of sandals to toughen the feet, the regimental association with specific cow hide patterns and warrior’s shields, and a diet of beef and cereal porridge, which meant capturing more cattle and grain supplies.Shaka’s short-stabbing umkhonto, a spear sometimes also known as assegai or iklwa, was perhaps the most iconic of these military innovations. This weapon, designed for close quarters combat and used with devastating effects across the eastern portions of Southern Africa, became the visual representation of this military revolution, with Shaka, in turn, becoming a “Black Napoleon,” leading Zulu warriors with amaiklwa in hand, and cutting a bloody swath through all who opposed him. While an oversimplification, this military revolution did have a fundamental impact on the region, and created an entrenched narrative in the minds of many Europeans of the brutal “wars of Shaka” (sometimes called the mfecane), which were facilitated by the iklwa.The history of the iklwa reveals the oft-violent, cultural transformation associated with Shaka’s revolution within the Zulu kingdom. Shaka was not the sole inventor of the nineteenth-century Zulu military revolution. Despite popular discourse, Shaka did not fashion the short-stabbing spear on his own, nor was he the first to make use of this weapon. More likely, Shaka learned of its use from the regiments of his cousin Makhedama, who grew up with Shaka during the exile of his youth.[3] Before this, soldiers would typically use different kinds of spears, including an isijula for the attack, and the iklwa against fleeing enemies.By the time of Shaka’s rise to power, the iklwa was associated with a tactic called “stabbing the ibece melon,” because it involved stabbing fleeing warriors in the back.[4] While Shaka’s warfare was defined by a greater level of swift violence—including instructions to his impi (or regiment) to “‘Let no one remain alive,’…every soul was to be killed, even a child being nursed on the back”[5]—Shaka’s contributions lay in organization and control, and not the reinvention of military technology. The iklwa, in turn, would remain only one of many tools of warfare used by the Zulu for at least another generation, despite the emergence of “Shaka’s” military breakthrough.[6]Shaka did not invent this weapon, nor was he the first to use it. Why, then, does it remain largely associated with him? Shaka dominated the nineteenth-century Zulu imagination, but he left no written records of his actions or innovations. The majority of early information about Shaka came from Francis Farwell and Henry Francis Fynn, two fortune seekers who established the first British outpost at Port Natal. These two men were amongst the first Europeans to interact with the Zulu king, and both left a written legacy that has been foundational for our historical understanding of Shaka. But despite their proximity to the Zulu king, Farwell and Fynn were not the most reliable of narrators.Farwell was not a loyal representative of the crown as he claimed, Fynn was no benevolent physician, and neither were the romantic adventurers they have sometimes been depicted as in literature and film. Instead, they were part of an exhibition that was never given permission by the Cape Colony’s governor to make contact with the Zulu kingdom, despite Farwell assertions that he was an envoy for King George IV. The Diary of Henry Francis Fynn, first published in 1950 as an authentic account of the life of the man who met Shaka, has been dismissed by some as fabrication or fiction, written years after Shaka’s death, and informed by the Fynn’s bias as “lower-middle-class Englishmen of the early nineteenth century seeking adventure and fortune in Africa.”[7] Historians even critique the accounts of Shaka that appear in the James Stuart Archive from Africans who were eyewitnesses to (or at least contemporaries of) the Zulu king’s reign as designed to accentuate the brutality and violence of the rise of the Zulu kingdom.[8] This has only been exacerbated by popular presentations of Shaka, such as the widely rebroadcasted mini-series Shaka Zulu (1986), with the iklwa literally “stabbing” through Shaka’s name in the title graphic.Despite Shaka’s assassination in 1828, the weapon he is credited with creating would continue to be a staple of the Zulu nation throughout the nineteenth century. Even after his death, his praise song celebrated “The voracious one of Senzangakhona [Shaka], Spear that is red even on the handle.”[9] The weapon would be outlawed within city limits in the British Colony of Natal in the 1860s, and would achieve a level of infamy after the Zulu victory at Isandlwana in 1879 when over seven hundred British regulars were wiped out by a Zulu force of over ten thousand, most equipped with the iklwa and shield. And emphasis on this weapon continued well into the 20 th entury. In the early 1990s, for example, during the violence that rocked KwaZulu-Natal, a member of the Inkatha Freedom Party claimed that, “The Zulu Nation is born out of Shaka’s spear.”[10] Yet the spear’s continued association with Shaka highlights one of the major problems with an attempt to associate a tangible object with the military transformation that took place in South Africa in the early nineteenth century. A single spear did not create the Zulu kingdom, just as the tactics which made it infamous did not come from a single source. Instead, the iklwa presents an opportunity to highlight the vibrant complexity and transforming narrative that allowed Shaka to become one of the most famous Africans in history, and allows historians to examine and reexamine his role in the emergence of this African kingdom during the Age of Revolutions.Because pre-colonial southern Africans are all depicted as “bush savages” who never invented a script or built in stone in colonial discourse. They were “Stone Age” people when they were “discovered” by the Portuguese and the Dutch.https://www.jstor.org/stable/40983243From the Outside In: A Place for Indigenous Graphic Traditions in Contemporary South African Graphic DesignAuthor(s): Piers Carey Source: Design Issues , Winter 2011, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Winter 2011), pp. 55-62African Graphic SystemsAfrica is currently home to approximately 2,000 languages4 and it is likely that all of the cultures using these languages have had, at one time, some systematic form of graphic communication. In my own research5, 1 have identified over 80 such systems, a figure certainly incomplete. Saki Mafundikwa (2004)6 has also written on these systems in the context of the African diaspora in his book, Afrikan Alphabets, which I believe is the first such study from a graphic design perspective.Forms of graphic communication include alphabets and syllabaries, easily recognizable as comparable to those used in European or Indian cultures, as well as collections of less compre- hensible symbolic pictographs and ideographs. Examples of the former, such as the Ethiopic alphabet of Christian Ethiopia (Figure 1), were accorded a certain respect by European explorers and colonizers, particularly for religious reasons. Pictographic and ideographic systems, unfortunately, were often misunderstood or rejected as being part of "primitive" cultures, which, in the colonial ethos, were to be either suppressed or "developed." The complex pictographic system created by the Bamum people of Cameroon, for example, was developed into a sophisticated syllabary (Figure 2) before its suppression by the French.Part of the problem also stemmed from the use of forms or substrates in African graphic communication, which were unfamiliar to colonial-era Europeans: The systems might have been inscribed on wood (carvings), the ground (sand diagrams), cloth, or the human body (as body painting, tattooing, or scarification) (Figures 3 and 4). Because of these dissimilarities, European writers often failed to recognize these systems as texts; nonetheless, they fulfilled that function in their own cultures. The Portuguese explorer, Duarte Lopez, writing at the end of the sixteenth century, refers to Congolese carvings, for example, as "devil's images cut in wood, in all kinds of horrible shapes: many worship winged dragons, others worship snakes as their gods, others again bucks, tigers, or other loathsome and abhorrent animals."Semiotics provides very broad descriptions of a "text." Barthes describes a text as "a work conceived, perceived and received in its integrally symbolic nature" and discusses, as examples, professional wrestling, actors' haircuts in a film of Julius Caesar, a new model of Citroen car, and so on.10 Noble and Bestley broaden the definition even further, identifying a text as "anything that carries meaning and that could be 'read' by an audience,"11 as well as any sequential printed or written.…..The cultural resonance refers to a system or group of traditional graphic symbols used by the amaZulu and a lot of African peoples. Credo Mutwa has described "Bantu Symbol Writing" as having once been widespread among the black peoples of sub-equatorial Africa but as having "died out fast as the people learned the European alphabet."He gives approximately 250 symbols that cover a wide range of meanings, some presented in the form of short texts, others as lists of related concepts. All are linear in execution but vary in style: Some are completely abstract; some are simplified pictorial or pictographic representations; some resemble the angular geometric style of Ndebele house decorations (Figure 6). How many of these symbols are widely understood today is not known, but some clearly do still have currency in isiZulu- speaking culture. They are familiar to many, particularly in the more remote rural areas, where the population remains substantially separate from Westernized South African culture.…..South Africans had kingdoms, (Bokoni, Thulamela, Mapungubwe, Dzata-Venda etc.), left beautiful sculptures (Lydenburg heads), they also built stone cities.There is detailled document on stone structures in Southern Africa, including South Africa written in 1960. It has a wealth of information on stone structures and walled cities in pre-colonial Southern Africa.The legendary British archeologist, James Walton, who visited South Africa wrote several articles and books on pre-colonial cities in South Africa.James Walton | VASSAWalton published papers regularly in African Studies, the South African Archaeological Bulletin and African Notes and News in South Africa and, in England, in Country Life, Man and Antiquity.He gave his archive of articles and notes (annotated in his neat calligraphy), pen and ink drawings and photographs to the University of Stellenbosch, where they are deposited in the J S Gericke Library for the use of future researchers.Many of Walton’s pioneer studies in Britain, Europe, Southern Africa and elsewhere have engendered more extensive research in those fields by successive students and this is, perhaps, the most important aspect of his work.His drawings and photographs are often the only surviving records of hundreds of buildings, now demolished. They have also provided a basis for subsequent restoration.Patterned Walling in African Folk Building | The Journal of African History | Cambridge Corehttps://www.jstor.org/stable/179703Patterned Walling in African Folk Building Author(s): James Walton Source: The Journal of African History, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1960), pp. 19-30 Published by: Cambridge University PressPatterned Walling in African Folk Building…..Bokoni - WikipediaBokoni (meaning 'land of the people from the north') was a pre-colonial, agro-pastoral society found in northwestern and southern parts of present-day Mpumalanga province, South Africa.Iconic to this area are stone-walled sites, found in a variety of shapes and forms. Bokoni sites also exhibit specialized farming and long-distance trading with other groups in surrounding regions. Bokoni saw occupation in varying forms between approximately 1500 and 1820 A.Thulamela: Iron-Age Kingdom in South AfricaThe city of Thulamela flourished in South Africa between the 13th and 17th centuries. Its inhabitants imported goods from as far away as China.Covering nine hectares (22 acres) and located on the northern tip of Kruger National Park in northeastern South Africa, the site was excavated during the 1990s and contains a series of stone enclosures built on a hillKingdoms of southern Africa: ThulamelaWhere is Thulamela?Thulamela is in the north-eastern part of South Africa near the South African border with Zimbabwe and Mozambique in the Limpopo Province. This area is also known as the Pafuri area of the Kruger National Park and sits next to the Levuvhu River, which flows into the Limpopo River. The city lies at the edge of a plateau that borders on the floodplain of the Levuvhu River (See Mapungubwe map).What does Thulamela mean?Thulamela is a Venda word that means "the place of giving birth".Who lived at Thulamela?The city of Thulamela has been carbon dated. This confirms that the kingdom existed between about 1240 AD to 1700 AD. This was determined by the researchers from the Thulamela Project, a venture by the Gold Fields Foundation and the Kruger National Park to explore and develop the site for educational purposes.Scientists believe that the ancestors of the Shona people established Thulamela.Thulamela - WikipediaThulamela is the most dramatic of the around 300 archaeological sites identified in Kruger National Park. It is located on heights south of the Levubu River offering a panoramic view. Sidney Miller led excavations from December 1993 to July 1995, and the site has also been partially reconstructed.The opening of the rebuilt Thulamela was attended by a hundred guests, including then Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Pallo Jordan and then SANParks chairman, the late Dr. Enos John Mabuza. The name Thulamela comes from a portmanteau of thulwi ("mound") and mela ("growing") in references to the tall anthills in the area.The Makahane, a subtribe of the Vhalembeth branch of the Venda people, inhabited the Thulamela stone fortress from 1250 to 1700 C.E. Glass beads, Chinese porcelain, imported textiles, ivory bracelets, gold, bronze, and other jewelry testify to extensive trade links. Skilled goldsmiths, the inhabitants traded the metal as currency, and they also mined iron ore that they forged into iron for export. Both metals were traded for ivory, glass beads, and grain from merchants closer to the east coast. There were likely also trade links with West Africa.The graves of a 16th-century king and queen were unearthed in the 1990s excavations. Archaeologists named them King Losha and Queen Ingwe, and their castle was estimated to house 1,000 people. Dwellings along the ruined walls on the hillsides beyond could regularly have housed 2,000.Similar village ruins can be found in the Mateke Hills on the other side of the Limpopo River in Zimbabwe. The Makahane Cliffs can be found in the same area of Kruger National Park, northeast of the Punda Maria Gate near the Levubu, and was also a Vhalembethu settlement.https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/lyde/hd_lyde.htmLydenburg Heads (ca. 500 A.D.)This group of seven fired earthenware heads is named after the site where they were discovered in the eastern Transvaal of South Africa. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal samples from the excavation site has established that the heads were buried there around 500 A.D., making them the oldest known African Iron Age artworks from below the equator.The reconstructed heads are not identical, but do share a number of characteristics. Modeled strips of clay form the thinly opened oval eyes, slightly projecting mouths, noses, and ears, and raised bands decorating the faces, while the backs of the heads are adorned with incised linear patterns. The columnar necks are defined by large furrowed rings. Necks ringed with fat have been and continue to be viewed as a sign of prosperity by many African peoples.Lydenburg headsTwo of the largest heads could have been worn like helmet masks. They are differentiated from the smaller heads by the animal figures poised on their peaks and the small clay spheres that articulate what appears to be raised hairlines. The animals, once covered by a heavy slip, are now difficult to identify but have disk-shaped faces reminiscent of a lion’s mane.The five smaller heads are similar to one another, with the exception of one that has an animal visage with a projecting snout. Too small to have been worn as helmets, these heads all have small holes on either side of their lowest neck rings that may have been used to attach them to something else.For a variety of reasons it has been speculated that the heads were used in initiation rites, perhaps even worn. Specularite, a variety of hematite whose crystals glisten when rotated, was placed strategically on the masks in incisions and raised areas such as the eyebrows. This has been cited as a possible indication that the heads were used in public ceremonies, as they would have shimmered impressively when moved in the light. The holes in the five smaller heads and the helmet size of the two larger ones could also indicate that these earthenware heads were masks worn for various ceremonies. None of this can be known for certain, however, and the use and meaning of the heads remain a matter of conjecture. Nevertheless, it is clear from the deliberate manner in which the heads were buried that whatever significance they may have held, they were respected enough to be interred with care.Kingdom of Mapungubwe - WikipediaThe Kingdom of Mapungubwe (or Maphungubgwe) (c.1075–1220) was a medieval state in South Africa located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers, south of Great Zimbabwe. The name is derived from either TjiKalanga and Tshivenda. The name might mean "Hill of Jackals".The kingdom was the first stage in a development that would culminate in the creation of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe in the 13th century, and with gold trading links to Rhapta and Kilwa Kisiwani on the African east coast. The Kingdom of Mapungubwe lasted about 80 years, and at its height the capital's population was about 5000 people.…..Spatial organisation in the kingdom of Mapungubwe involved the use of stone walls to demarcate important areas for the first time. There was a stone-walled residence likely occupied by the principal councillor.Stone and wood were used together. There would have also been a wooden palisade surrounding Mapungubwe Hill. Most of the capital's population would have lived inside the western wall.Dzata ruins - Alchetron, The Free Social EncyclopediaThe Dzata Ruins (or Dzana ruins) are an archaeological site in Dzanani in the Makhado municipality, Vhembe district, in the north of South Africa….There is no doubt that Dzata was the capital of united Venda.Documentary proof of this is found in Dutch records, which refer to an interview in 1730 with an African by the name of Mahumane, who had visited the kingdom of Thovhele some five years previously. Mahumane described a settlement built of dark-blue stone, with a wall enclosing the whole area. He also mentioned that the chief cities are made of the same stone.

Version:1.0 StartHTML:000000207 EndHTML:000171222 StartFragment:000066110 EndFragment:000171184 StartSelection:000066110 EndSelection:000171156 SourceURL:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staff_sergeantStaff sergeantFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to navigationJump to searchFor the butterfly known as the staff sergeant, see Athyma selenophora.This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "Staff sergeant" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(January 2013)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)showComparative military ranks in EnglishNaviesArmiesAir forcesCommissioned officersAdmiral of the fleetField marshalorGeneral of the ArmyMarshal of the air forceAdmiralGeneralAir chief marshalVice admiralLieutenant generalAir marshalRear admiralMajor generalAir vice-marshalCommodoreBrigadierorbrigadier generalAir commodoreCaptainColonelGroup captainCommanderLieutenant colonelWing commanderLieutenant commanderMajororCommandantSquadron leaderLieutenantCaptainFlight lieutenantLieutenant junior gradeorsub-lieutenantLieutenantorfirst lieutenantFlying officerEnsignormidshipmanSecond lieutenantPilot officerOfficer cadetOfficer cadetFlight cadetEnlisted gradesWarrant officerorchief petty officerWarrant officerorsergeant majorWarrant officerPetty officerSergeantFlight sergeantLeading seamanCorporalorbombardierCorporalSeamanPrivateorgunnerortrooperAircraftmanorairmanTalk·ViewStaff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of several countries. It is also a police rank in some police services.Contents1History of title2National variations2.1Australia2.2Israel2.3Norway2.4Singapore2.4.1Singapore Armed Forces2.4.2Home Team2.4.3Uniformed Youth Organisations2.5Republic of China (Taiwan)2.6United Kingdom2.7United States2.7.1U.S. Army2.7.2U.S. Marine Corps2.7.3U.S. Air Force3Cadet staff sergeant4Police rank5Other uses6See also7References8External linksHistory of title[edit]This section needs expansion.You can help by adding to it.(October 2018)In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administrative, supervisory, or other specialist duties as part of the staff of a British army regiment. As such they held seniority over sergeants who were members of a battalion or company, and were paid correspondingly increased wages. Their seniority was indicated by a crown worn above the three sergeant's stripes on their uniform rank markings.[1][2]National variations[edit]Australia[edit]In the Australian Army and Cadets, the rank of staff sergeant is being phased out.[3]It was usually held by the company quartermaster sergeant or the holders of other administrative roles. Staff sergeants are always addressed as "Staff Sergeant" or "Staff", never as "Sergeant" as it degrades their rank. "Chief" is another nickname though this is only used for the company chief clerk (in some instances the chief clerk role can be filled by another non-commissioned rank (but not warrant officer) and still be referred to as "Chief"). A staff sergeant ranks above sergeant and below warrant officer class 2.Israel[edit]For further information, see Israel Defense Forces ranks.In the Israel Defense Forces, soldiers are promoted from sergeant to staff sergeant (samál rishón) after 28 months of service for combat soldiers, and 32 months of service for non-combat soldiers, if they performed their duties appropriately during this time. Soldiers who take a commander's course may become staff sergeants earlier (usually after 24 months of service, or one year from becoming a commander). The rank insignia is composed of three clear-blue stripes (as is the rank of sergeant) with an embroidered fig leaf, a biblical motif, in the center of the rank insignia. Staff sergeants get a symbolic pay raise.Norway[edit]Staff sergeant insignia in the Army of Norway.For further information, see Military ranks and insignia of Norway.In the Norwegian Defence Forces, the tasks and responsibilities of the staff sergeant (oversersjant) are not clear; quite recently, in January 2016, Norway replaced their old rank system, and implemented a new, which is more adapted to other NATO members.[4]In 1975, all of the Norwegian military branches abolished the system of using non-commissioned officers.[5]Now, however, Norway is reintroducing the Non-Commissioned Officer Corps, allowing people to become officers without graduating from a military academy or having a university degree.Singapore[edit]Singapore Armed Forces[edit]A staff sergeant (SSG) in the Singapore Armed Forces ranks above first sergeant and below master sergeant. It is the second most senior specialist rank. Staff sergeants are addressed as "Staff Sergeant" or "Staff", but never "Sergeant".[6]Staff sergeants may be appointed as company sergeant major if they are due for promotion to master sergeant.[citation needed]They are usually addressed as "CSM" in camp, although in the past they were referred to as "Encik", which is now used to address only warrant officers.The rank insignia consists of two chevrons pointing up and three chevrons pointing down, with the Singapore coat of arms in the middle.[7]Specialist ranks of the Singapore Armed ForcesvteInsigniaRankThird SergeantSecond SergeantFirst SergeantStaff SergeantMaster SergeantAbbreviation3SG2SG1SGSSGMSGHome Team[edit]In the Singapore Prison Service, the rank of Staff Sergeant (SSGT) is above the rank of Sergeant, and is below the rank of Chief Warder (1). The rank insignia of SSGT is one Singapore coat of arms and three pointed-down chevrons below it.[8]In the Singapore Police Force, the rank of Staff Sergeant is currently being phased out with the newly overhauled "unified police rank structure" which allows a direct-entry Sergeant to be eligible for emplacement to the rank of Inspector without a degree.In the past, the rank of Staff Sergeant is above the rank of Sergeant, and below the rank of Senior Staff Sergeant; with the new rank structure being introduced, the rank and insigna of Staff Sergeant is being phased out, and being replaced with three grades of Sergeant, namely, Sergeant (1), Sergeant (2), and Sergeant (3), before being promoted directly to Senior Staff Sergeant. However, all three grades of Sergeants all don the same three chevrons insignia.Uniformed Youth Organisations[edit]In the National Cadet Corps, Staff Sergeants are cadets who have passed the 3-days 2-nights Senior Specialists Leaders Course successfully. The rank of Staff Sergeant is above First Sergeant and below Master Sergeant.[9]Staff sergeants wear a rank insignia of two pointed-up chevrons, one Singapore coat of arms and three pointed-down chevrons, with the letters 'NCC' located below the insignia to differentiate NCC cadets from SAF personnel.In the National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC) and the National Civil Defence Cadet Corps (NCDCC), the rank of Staff Sergeant is above Sergeant, and below Station Inspector and Warrant Officer respectively.[10][11]The rank of Staff Sergeant generally is awarded to cadets when they are in Secondary Four, before they pass out. NPCC and NCDCC Staff Sergeants wear a rank insignia of one Singapore coat of arms and three pointed-down chevrons. The letters 'NPCC' and 'NCDCC' are located below the insignia so as to differentiate NPCC and NCDCC cadets from Singapore Police Force and Singapore Civil Defence Force personnel respectively.In the St John Brigade (SJB), the rank of Staff Sergeant (SSG) is above Sergeant, and below Senior Staff Sergeant. Staff Sergeants in SJB wear a rank insignia of one St John coat of arms and three pointed-down chevrons.Republic of China (Taiwan)[edit]Rank insignia of Staff Sergeant (中士) in Taiwan.Staff Sergeant (Chinese: 中士; pinyin: Zhōng Shi) of the R.O.C Armed Forces in Taiwan ranks below Sergeant and above Corporal,[12]making it different from the armed forces of other countries where staff sergeant ranks higher than sergeant. The rank of Staff Sergeant exists in the Army, Air Force and the Marine Corps, and is equivalent to the Petty officer 2nd Class in the Navy.[13]United Kingdom[edit]Rank markings of a Staff Sergeant in the British Army.In the British Army, staff sergeant (SSgt or formerly S/Sgt) ranks above sergeant and below warrant officer class 2. The rank is given a NATO code of OR-7. The insignia is the monarch's crown above three downward pointing chevrons.Staff sergeants can also hold other appointments, such as company quartermaster sergeant, and are usually known by that appointment if held. The equivalent rank in infantry regiments is colour sergeant, and holders are known by that title no matter what their appointment. In the Household Cavalry the equivalent rank is staff corporal.British staff sergeants are never referred to or addressed as "Sergeant", which would be reducing their rank, but are referred to and addressed as "Staff Sergeant" or "Staff" ("Staff Jones", for instance) or by their appointment or its abbreviation. Quartermaster sergeants are often addressed as "Q". In most cavalry regiments, staff sergeants are addressed as "Sergeant Major", which is assumed to derive from the original rank of troop sergeant major, or as "Sir" by subordinates.Flight sergeant and chief technician are the Royal Air Force equivalents. Chief petty officer is the equivalent in the Royal Navy and colour sergeant in the Royal Marines.showvteRatings and other ranks of the British Armed ForcesServiceRoyal NavyRoyal MarinesArmyRoyal Air ForceOR-1PteACOR-2ABMnePteLACSAC / SAC(T)OR-3Not ApplicableLCplLCpl / LCpl (RAF Regt only)OR-4LHCplCplCplOR-5/OR-6POSgtSgtSgtOR-7CPOCSgtSSgt / CSgtChf Tech - Flt SgtOR-8WO2WO2OR-9WO1WO1WO1WO / MAcrUnited States[edit]Staff sergeant insigniaU.S. ArmyStaff sergeant insigniaU.S. Marine CorpsStaff sergeant insigniaU.S. Air ForceU.S. Army[edit]Staff sergeant (SSG) is E-6 rank in the U.S. Army, just above sergeant and below sergeant first class, and is a non-commissioned officer. Staff sergeants are generally placed in charge of squads, but can also act as platoon sergeants in the absence of a sergeant first class. In support units, staff sergeants ordinarily hold headquarters positions because of the number of slots available for them in these units. Staff sergeants are typically assigned as a squad leader or company operations non-commissioned officer in charge at the company level, but may also hold other positions depending on the type of unit. Staff sergeants are referred to as "Sergeant" except in certain training environments and schools. The NATO code is OR-6.The rank of staff sergeant in the U.S. Army, along with technical sergeant (renamed sergeant first class in 1948) and master sergeant, was created by Congress after the First World War.[14]In 1920 the Army combined several company/battery/troop level "staff" NCO ranks, including color sergeant, supply sergeant, radio sergeant, eleven grades of sergeant first class, three grades of sergeant, two grades of master gunner, and assistant band leader into the new rank of staff sergeant. Staff sergeant, as did the ranks it combined/replaced, then ranked above sergeant but below first sergeant. At that time, sergeants served as section leaders, platoon guides, and assistants to platoon commanders (the position of platoon sergeant, nor a separate rank for the position, did not yet exist), and included several formerly separate ranks such as mess sergeant, company supply sergeant, and stable sergeant, etc. In 1940, staff sergeant became the rank title of rifle platoon sergeants and in 1942 rifle squad leaders became staff sergeants, with platoon sergeants then being promoted to technical sergeants. (Perrenot, 2009)[15]U.S. Marine Corps[edit]Staff Sergeant (SSgt) is E-6 rank (NATO code OR-6) in the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), ranking above Sergeant and below Gunnery Sergeant. This grade is normally achieved after 4 years in service.A Marine Staff Sergeant is a staff non-commissioned officer rank (SNCO). These SNCOs are career Marines serving as staff sergeants through master gunnery sergeant/sergeant major/Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps in grades E-6 through E-9. Together, they are responsible to the commanding officer for the welfare, morale, discipline, and efficiency of Marines in their charge. Using their experience gained by time in service, including previous deployments, proven military skills and advanced leadership training, SNCOs are responsible for the proficiency, training and administrative issue of their Marines.Staff sergeants in infantry, and light armored reconnaissance units typically serve in the billet of platoon sergeant of a 42-member rifle platoon, an 18-member scout sniper platoon (infantry battalion H&S company S-2 section) or a 24-member light armored reconnaissance platoon. In reconnaissance battalions, staff sergeants usually serve as squad/team leaders of a 6-member reconnaissance team. When serving as a platoon sergeant, they are the senior tactical advisor to the platoon commander (an officer) and the second-in-command of the platoon.Staff sergeants also serve as a section leaders in weapons platoons (the platoon sergeant being a gunnery sergeant in weapons platoons) leading from 8 – 27 Marines in a crew-served weapons section (i.e., machine guns, mortars, assault weapons/rockets, and anti-tank missiles). In artillery batteries staff sergeants serve as either the local security chief/platoon sergeant of a firing battery's 94-member firing platoon or as section chief of a 10-member artillery section (viz., gun crew). In tank and assault amphibian units, they serve as section leaders in charge of 8 Marines manning two tanks or 9 Marines manning three AAVs, respectively, under a gunnery sergeant serving as platoon sergeant. When there is a shortage of gunnery sergeants, they may be assigned to a billet of platoon sergeant or company/battery gunnery sergeant, and in the event of a shortage of officers may be temporarily billeted as a platoon commander.Staff sergeants also serve as staff non-commissioned officers in military staff sections and headquarters and service companies/headquarters batteries at battalion/squadron, regiment/group, division/wing level. Typical staff sergeant billets found in combat support companies and battalion, regiment, and division headquarters are: Personnel Chief, Senior Administration Clerk, Career Planner, Human Affairs NCO, Education/Personal Affairs Assistant, Senior Combat Photographer, Substance Abuse Counselor, Reports NCO, MAGTF Plans Chief, NBC Defense NCO/Training NCO, Intelligence Chief, Senior Intelligence Analyst, Special Security Office Chief, Operations Chief, Operations Assistant, Logistics Chief, Maintenance Management Chief, Ammunition Chief, Senior Ammunition Technician, Local Security Chief, Senior Radio Technician, Wire Chief/Supervisor, Radio Supervisor, Senior Field Radio Operator, Supply Chief, Senior General Warehouseman, Senior Small Arms Repair Technician, Senior Electro-Optical Ordnance Repairman, Motor Vehicle Maintenance Chief, Motor Operations Chief, Assistant Mess Manager, Cook Specialist, and Senior Chief Cook.In Command Element, Combat Logistics Element, and Aviation Combat Element organizations, staff sergeants serve in basically similar positions of responsibility, authority, and accountability as their Ground Combat Element counterparts, with perhaps slightly different titles, such as Branch/Section Chief/NCOIC (Non-Commissioned Officer-In-Charge) in various work centers (e.g. mechanical, avionics, electrical, and ordnance divisions) within the aircraft maintenance department of a Marine aircraft squadron. Non Fleet Marine Force (or other operating forces) assignments may include supervisory or staff positions in recruiting, drill instructor, Marine Security Guard, Naval ROTC instructor or service school instructor, and major/joint/combined headquarters commands.Staff sergeants, as are all Marine Corps SNCOs, addressed and referred to by their complete rank title (i.e. "Staff Sergeant Jones" or simply "Staff Sergeant," with the abbreviation "SSgt").The rank of Staff Sergeant in the USMC was created in 1923 to coincide with the U.S. Army's ranks.[16]Until the end of WW2, the insignia of platoon sergeant was three chevrons and a rocker, with Staff Sergeant having a horizontal stripe instead of a rocker below the chevrons. After the separate rank of Platoon Sergeant was eliminated, the Staff Sergeant rank switched over to the rocker insignia and Staff Sergeants held the platoon sergeant's billet.U.S. Air Force[edit]Staff sergeant (SSgt) is E-5 in the U.S. Air Force. It ranks above senior airman and below technical sergeant. It is the Air Force's first non-commissioned officer rank, as well as the first Air Force rank to which promotion is attained on a competitive basis. Sergeants, also known in Air Force jargon as "buck sergeant"', no longer exist, having been eliminated in the 1990s after sharing the same pay grade with that of the rank of senior airman (E-4). Staff sergeants are expected to be technically proficient and function as first-line supervisors within a 'work center'. After being selected for promotion, senior airmen must attend Airman Leadership School, which teaches them basic leadership skills and how to write performance reports to become staff sergeant. The term of address is "Staff Sergeant" or "Sergeant". High year of tenure is 20 years as of 2018.showvteUnited States enlisted ranksPay gradeBranch of serviceE-1E-2E-3E-4E-5E-6E-7E-8E-9ArmyPVTPV2PFCSPC – CPLSGTSSGSFCMSG – 1SGSGM – CSM – SMAMarine CorpsPvtPFCLCplCplSgtSSgtGySgtMSgt – 1stSgtMGySgt – SgtMaj – SMMCNavySRSASNPO3PO2PO1CPOSCPO – CMDCSMCPO – CMDCM – FORCM, FLTCM – MCPONAir ForceABAmnA1CSrASSgtTSgtMSgt – 1st SgtSMSgt – 1st SgtCMSgt – 1st Sgt – CCM – CMSAFCoast GuardSRSASNPO3PO2PO1CPOSCPOMCPO – CMC – Area CMC, CGRF-CMC – MCPOCGCadet staff sergeant[edit]The rank of cadet staff sergeant (CSSG or C/SSgt) is used by many cadet organisations around the world, including the Army Cadet Force and the Army Section of the Combined Cadet Force in the United Kingdom, and the cadet program of Civil Air Patrol in the United States.Police rank[edit]The rank of staff sergeant is used in some police forces to indicate a senior supervisor. The rank is used, for example, in most Canadian police services. Other national police services (for example, Cyprus) have a corresponding rank of senior sergeant. In the United Kingdom, a few police forces formerly used the rank of station sergeant, with the same rank insignia as an army staff sergeant. The Hong Kong Police Force still uses this rank.Other uses[edit]A number of other organisations, basing their structure on military ranks, have historically used, or still use, the rank of staff sergeant. The rank of staff sergeant was, for example, phased out of the rank structure of St John Ambulance (England and the Islands) in the early 1990s.See also[edit]Police rankComparative military ranksUnited States Army enlisted rank insignia of World War IUnited States Army enlisted rank insignia of World War IIU.S. Air Force enlisted rank insigniaU.S. Army enlisted rank insigniaU.S. Marine Corps enlisted rank insigniaU.S. Navy enlisted rate insigniaUnited States military pay

Noradsanta dot org is the Official NORAD Santa Tracker referenced by media.“NORAD Tracks Santa is an annual Christmas-themed program that starts on December 1st, but the actual Santa-tracking starts on midnight of December 23rd. It has existed since 1955.[1]It is a community outreach function of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Every year on Christmas Eve, NORAD tracks Santa Clausleaving the North Pole as he journeys around the world on his mission to deliver presents to children.[1][2][3]The program is in the tradition of the September 1897 editorial "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" in the New York Sun.[4][5]History and overviewEditThe 1955 Sears ad with, according to legend, the misprinted telephone number that led to the NORAD Tracks Santa programHarry Shoup, the Santa ColonelOriginEditOn December 24, 1948, the United States Air Force issued a communique claiming that an "early warning radar net to the north" had detected "one unidentified sleigh, powered by eight reindeer, at 14,000 feet [4,300 meters], heading 180 degrees." The Associated Presspassed this "report" along to the general public. It was the first time that the United States Armed Forces issued a statement about tracking Santa Claus's sleigh on Christmas Eve, although it was a one-time event, not repeated over the next several years.[6]The program originated before the actual formation of NORAD, as an annual event on December 24, 1955. According to legend, a Sears department store placed an advertisement in the Colorado Springsnewspaper The Gazette, which told children that they could place a call to Santa Claus and included the number ME 2-6681.[7]A call allegedly came through to Colorado Springs' Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Center as one digit was misprinted.[8]In some versions of the story, the calls were coming in to the "red telephone" hotline that connected CONAD directly to command authorities at the Strategic Air Command. Colonel Harry Shoup, who was a Crew Commander on duty, answered the first call and supposedly told his staff to give all children who called in later a "current location" for Santa Claus.[9]A more accurate description of the events of 1955 appears to be that on November 30 a child trying to reach Santa Claus on a hotline number provided in a Sears advertisement misdialed the number and instead reached Shoup at his desk at CONAD. Shoup responded gruffly to the child, and no additional Santa Claus-related calls came in to CONAD.[6][10]Shoup's daughter Terri remembers her dad had two phones on his desk, including a red one. "Only a four-star general at the Pentagon and my dad had the number," she says. "This was the '50s, this was the Cold War, and he would have been the first one to know if there was an attack on the United States," Rick says. The red phone rang one day in December 1955, and Shoup answered it, Pam says. "And then there was a small voice that just asked, 'Is this Santa Claus?' " His children remember Shoup as straight-laced and disciplined, and he was annoyed and upset by the call and thought it was a joke — but then, Terri says, the little voice started crying. "And Dad realized that it wasn't a joke," her sister says. "So he talked to him, ho-ho-ho'd and asked if he had been a good boy and, 'May I talk to your mother?' And the mother got on and said, 'You haven't seen the paper yet? There's a phone number to call Santa. It's in the Sears ad.' Dad looked it up, and there it was, his red phone number. And they had children calling one after another, so he put a couple of airmen on the phones to act like Santa Claus."However, when a member of Shoup's staff placed a picture of Santa Claus on a board used to track unidentified aircraft that December, Shoup saw a public relations opportunity for CONAD, and he asked CONAD's public affairs officer, Colonel Barney Oldfield, to inform the press that CONAD was tracking Santa Claus's sleigh. In his release to the press, Oldfield added that "CONAD, Army, Navy and Marine Air Forces will continue to track and guard Santa and his sleigh on his trip to and from the U.S. against possible attack from those who do not believe in Christmas."[6]Over the following years, the legend of how the annual event originated began to change. By 1961, Shoup's version of the story was that he had not been gruff with the child, but instead had identified himself as Santa Claus when he spoke to the child on the phone. Shoup and his family later modified the story further, adding that the child had dialed the "red telephone"—an impossibility, because the hotline was connected with the Strategic Air Command by an enclosed cable, and no one could dial into from the outside—rather than the regular phone on Shoup's desk, that it was a misprint in an advertisement that led the child to call him rather than the child misdialing the number, and that a flood of calls had come in from children on Christmas Eve 1955 rather than from just one child on November 30.[6]Shoup did not intend to repeat the stunt in 1956, but Oldfield informed him that the Associated Press and United Press International were awaiting reports that CONAD again was tracking Santa Claus. Shoup agreed that Oldfield should announce it again, and the annual tradition was born.[6][9]In 1958, the North America Air Defense Command (NORAD) took over the reporting responsibility from CONAD, and the reporting became more elaborate as the years passed. On December 24, 1960, for example, NORAD's northern command post at Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Canada, provided regular updates of a sleigh operated by "S. Claus" which it identified as "undoubtedly friendly". During the evening, NORAD reported that the sleigh had made an emergency landing on the ice of Hudson Bay, where Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) interceptor aircraft sent to investigate discovered Santa Claus bandaging his reindeer Dancer's front foot, after which the RCAF planes escorted him when he resumed his journey.[6]Eventually, NORAD, which was renamed the North American Aerospace Defense Commandin 1981, openly published a hotline number for the general public to call to get updates on Santa Claus's progress.[6]Recent historyEditToday, NORAD relies on volunteers to make the program possible.[11]Each volunteer handles about forty telephone calls per hour, and the team typically handles more than 12,000 e-mails and more than 100,000 telephone calls from more than two hundred countries and territories. Most of these contacts happen during the twenty hours from 4 a.m. on December 24 until midnight MST on December 25.[9][11]A website called Official NORAD Santa Tracker was established to allow project access for Internet users.[12]Google Analytics has been in use since December 2007 to analyze website traffic. As a result of this analysis information, the program can project and scale volunteer staffing, telephone equipment, and computer equipment needs for Christmas Eve.[13]Volunteers include NORAD military and civilian personnel.[14]In 2014, NORAD answered more than 100,000 phone calls. In 2015, more than 1,200 U.S. and Canadian military personnel volunteered to staff the phone lines.[6]In 2018, more than 1,500 volunteers staffed the phone lines despite the shutdown of the US government.[15] [16]The NORAD Tracks Santa program has always made use of a variety of media. From the 1950s to 1996, these were the telephonehotline, newspapers, radio, phonograph records and television. Many television newscasts in North America feature NORAD Tracks Santa as part of their weather updateson Christmas Eve.From 1997 to the present, the program has had a highly publicized internet presence. As mobile media and social media have become popular and widespread as methods of direct communication, these newer media have also been embraced by the program.[17][18]The layout of the NORAD Tracks Santa website and its webpages have changed from 1997 to the present due to changes in internettechnologies, and changes in partners and sponsors for a particular year. In September 2008, NORAD started a Twitter account, @NORADSanta, as part of its social media presence.[19]Between 2004 and 2009, people who visited the NORAD Tracks Santa site were told they could "track" Santa in Google Earth.[20]They were given a link to download Google Earth, and then a KMZ file to download. From 2009 to 2011, the tracking in Google Earth has been done from the NORAD Santa site, and there is no KMZ file for Google Earth anymore.[21]In 2011, an iOS and Android application was introduced, which features updates and an interactive game similar to Angry Birds.[22]From mid-January until November 30, when one arrives at the NORAD Tracks Santa website, one is greeted with a message to come back on December 1 to "track Santa with NORAD". During December, one finds a NORAD Tracks Santa website with all the features available. On Christmas Eve, the NORAD Tracks Santa website videos page is generally updated each hour, when it is midnight in a different time zone. The "Santa Cam" videos show CGI images of Santa Claus flying over famous landmarks. Each video was accompanied by a voice-over until the end of the 2011 season, typically done by NORAD personnel, giving a few facts about the city or country depicted. In 2012 the voice overs were replaced with music done by the US Air Force Band. The voice overs returned in the 2013 season.[23]Celebrity voice-overs have also been used over the years. For the London "Santa Cam" video, English television personality and celebrity Jonathan Ross did the voice-over for 2005 to 2007 and the former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr narrated the same video in 2003 and 2004.[24][25]In 2002, Aaron Carter provided the voice-over for three videos.[26]The locations and landmarks depicted in some of the "Santa Cam" videos have changed over the years. In 2009, twenty-nine "Santa Cam" videos were posted on the website. In previous years, twenty-four to twenty-six videos had been posted.Since 2012, Analytical Graphics, Inc. has used their Cesium platform to build a 3D map for visualizing Santa's location with more accurate global terrain and satellite imagery than before.[27]NORAD reported that for Christmas 2013, it logged 19.58 million unique visitors to its website on Christmas Eve, and 1,200 volunteers answered 117,371 calls. Through social media, it had 146,307 Twitter followers and 1.45 million "likes" on Facebook.[28]That year, NORAD contracted with Bing Maps to provide 2D map tracking, ending a five-year contract with Google.[29]In 2014, NORAD logged almost 20 million visits to its Santa Tracker.[6]Sponsorship and publicityEditFormer First Lady Michelle Obama reacts while talking on the phone to children across the country as part of NORAD Tracks Santa 2016.NORAD Tracks Santa relies on corporate sponsorship, and is financed by neither American nor Canadian taxpayers.[11][30][31]U.S. military units have provided publicity for the program, including the Northeast Air Defense Sector of the New York Air National Guard and the U.S. Naval Reserve Navy Information Bureau (NIB) 1118 at Fort Carson, Colorado,[32][33]as have the Canadian Armed Forces.[34][35][36]Other U.S. federal agencies, such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), have helped publicize the service.[37][38][39][40][41]Former First LadyMichelle Obama participated in the program from 2009 to 2016, answering phone calls.[42][43][44]According to Gerry Bowler, a history professor at the University of Manitoba, the NORAD Tracks Santa program is "one of the few modern additions to the centuries-old Santa Claus story that have stuck." Bowler stated that the program "takes an essential element of the Santa Claus story—his travels on Christmas Eve—and looks at it through a technological lens," therefore bringing the Santa Claus mythology into the modern era.[45]See alsoEditOperation Christmas Drop, annual U.S. Air Force airdrop over MicronesiaReferencesEdit^ a b "Why we track Santa". NORAD. Archived from the original on December 24, 2011.^ "NORAD is Ready to Track Santa's Flight" (Press release). Newsline 360. November 29, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2018.^ Hughes, Trevor (December 23, 2017). "All eyes to the skies to track Santa's Christmas Eve flight". USA Today. Retrieved December 19, 2018.^ "Is There a Santa Claus?". NORAD. December 2009. Retrieved December 31,2009 – via Carl Wadsworth Tobey.^ "Yes Virginia ..." The Sun. New York. December 21, 2012. Retrieved June 14,2017.^ a b c d e f g h i Appelbaum, Yoni (December 24, 2015). "Yes, Virginia, There Is a NORAD". The Atlantic. Retrieved December 26, 2015.^ Kaplan, Karen (December 24, 2015). "How NORAD became the world's official Santa-tracker". Los Angeles Times. Science Now. Retrieved December 29,2015.^ Batz Jr, Bob (December 23, 1999). "Red (suit) alert!". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.^ a b c "NORAD Tracks Santa". NORAD. Archived from the original on December 24, 2009.^ Novak, Matt (December 23, 2014). "How the U.S. Military Turned Santa Claus into a Cold War Icon". Gizmodo. Paleofuture. Retrieved December 28, 2015.^ a b c Terdiman, Daniel (December 24, 2009). "Behind the scenes: NORAD's Santa tracker". CNN. Retrieved December 26, 2009.^ "NORAD Tracks Santa". Archived from the original on February 22, 2011. Retrieved November 26, 2006.^ Gillis, Jeff (December 9, 2008). "Santa Tracking with NORAD and Google Analytics". Google Analytics. Retrieved December 31, 2009.^ "NORAD's Santa trackers break own records for calls, emails, Facebook and Twitter followers". The Washington Post. Associated Press. December 29, 2011. Retrieved January 1, 2012.^ Maxouris, Christina (December 25, 2018). "Government shutdown can't keep NORAD from tracking Santa's journey". CNN. Retrieved July 17, 2019.^ Herbert, Geoff (December 25, 2018). "NORAD Santa tracker still following Christmas journey despite government shutdown". Syracuse NY Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather. Retrieved October 21, 2019.^ Franklin, Curt (December 24, 2009). "NORAD Deploys Network For Watching Santa". Network Computing. Archived from the original on January 11, 2010. Retrieved December 31, 2009.^ Gordhamer, Soren (February 8, 2010). "5 Levels of Effective Communication in the Social Media Age". Mashable. Retrieved February 10, 2010.^ "@NORADSanta". Retrieved December 25, 2015 – via Twitter.^ "Track Santa in Google Earth". NORAD. Archived from the original on December 25, 2011. Retrieved December 24, 2011.^ Martin, Jeffery (December 23, 2009). "This year, Santa is totally plugged in". Google Geo Developers. Retrieved December 24, 2011.^ Elliott, Dan (December 22, 2011). "NORAD Santa trackers stand by for another big day". Deseret News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. Retrieved July 17,2019.^ Sullivan, Danny (December 23, 2009). "From NORAD Santa Tracker To Twitter: Santa Tracking For Christmas Eve 2009". Search Engine Land. Retrieved December 31, 2009.^ Phillips, Michael (December 2, 2003). "'Starr' helps NORAD track Santa". United States Air Force. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2016.^ "NORAD Missile Agency Tracks Santa By Satellite". Sky News. December 24, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2009.^ Gelman, Jason (November 25, 2002). "Aaron Carter Named NORAD's Honorary Santa Tracker". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2009.^ Moore, Vanessa (December 5, 2017). "NORAD Santa Tracker Technology through the Years". Cesium. Retrieved December 21, 2017.^ "NORAD Tracks Santa logs 19.58 million web visits". Associated Press. December 27, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2014.^ Blagdon, Jeff (December 19, 2013). "Google keeps tracking Santa despite NORAD's switch to Bing". The Verge. Retrieved December 24, 2013.^ Dendy, John B. (December 2000). "Santa Trackers.Org". Airman Magazine. Retrieved December 27, 2013.^ Roeder, Tom (December 24, 2007). "NORAD will track Santa's trip". The Gazette. Colorado Springs, CO. Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2009.^ Davis, Brooke (December 21, 2007). "New York Guardsmen Lend Help to Track Santa's Flight Path". New York State Division of Military & Naval Affairs. Retrieved December 31, 2009.^ Brian, Eric; Arnold, Darin (December 24, 2002). "Naval Reservists Support NORAD's Annual Tracks Santa Project". United States Navy. Retrieved December 31, 2009.^ Lavallee, David (December 12, 2007). "NORAD getting ready to track Santa". The Maple Leaf. Archived from the original on May 23, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2009.^ Munoz, Alexandre (December 12, 2007). "Land force ready to help too". The Maple Leaf. Archived from the originalon July 3, 2013. Retrieved December 31,2009.^ Peterson, Lorinda (December 14, 2005). "Canadian institutions keep us believing in Santa, says Queen's researcher" (Press release). Queen's University. Retrieved December 26, 2011 – via Press Release Distribution Services.^ Viets, Pat (December 15, 2000). "NOAA to Aid NORAD in Tracking Santa Claus"(Press release). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on May 20, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2013.^ Herring, Kyle; Hawley, Eileen (December 20, 2002). "NASA to Track Santa". NASA. Archived from the original on September 19, 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2009.^ Diller, George (December 21, 2006). "NASA's KSC Providing Assistance to Santa on Christmas Eve". NASA. Retrieved December 31, 2009.^ Wrublewski, Tom (December 19, 2008). "NORAD Tracks Santa Update". NASA. Retrieved December 31, 2009.^ Atkins, William (December 23, 2006). "NORAD and NASA Help Santa Claus Deliver Toys to Children". iTWire. Retrieved December 31, 2009.^ Hills, Suzannah (December 24, 2013). "Michelle Obama answers calls for Norad's Santa hotline". The Daily Mail. London. Retrieved December 27, 2013.^ Cotton, Anthony (December 24, 2014). "NORAD-calling Santa-trackers receive surprise update from First Lady". The Denver Post. Retrieved January 5, 2015.^ Criss, Doug (December 25, 2015). "Where in the world is Santa? Michelle Obama and NORAD know". CNN. Retrieved January 5, 2015.^ Elliott, Dan (December 24, 2010). "Secret Santa helper: First lady pitches in with NORAD". NBC News. Associated Press. Retrieved May 30, 2011.External linksEditWikimedia Commons has media related to NORAD Tracks Santa.Official websiteNORAD Tracks Santa: Santa News Reports & Holiday Music Selections (1964 LP), produced by NORAD Directorate of Public AffairsCaption1Caption2Last edited 4 hours ago by GotchacoveredRELATED ARTICLESNorth American Aerospace Defense CommandCombined Organization of the US and Canada providing air defence for North AmericaThe Gazette (Colorado Springs)newspaper based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USASanta ClausFolkloric figure, said to deliver gifts to children on Christmas EveContent is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted.”Wikipedia. NORAD Tracks Santa. Accessed 12/24/2019.NORAD Tracks Santa - Wikipedia