Hawkish sarge gives ground (10)
I believe the answer is:
aggressive
'hawkish' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'sarge gives ground' is the wordplay.
'ground' is an anagram indicator ('grind' the letters into a new form).
'sarge'+'gives'='sargegives'
'sargegives' with letters rearranged gives 'AGGRESSIVE'.
(Other definitions for aggressive that I've seen before include "Combative - pushing" , "Vigorous" , "Belligerent" , "Rudely hostile" , "Forceful" .)