General MacArthur as commander of United Nations Command in Korea and General Bradley as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. MacArthur's successors in the role after he got relieved were not 5-star generals. Eisenhower was Supreme Commander of Nato (as a 5-star) at the time of the conflict. Arnold had transferred to the new Air Force with the 5-star rank but died in 1950. Marshall was acting as Secretary of Defense and had to get a waiver for being an active duty military officer to hold the position normally held by a civilian.
I made it to Spec 4, the rank they called best in the Army. High enough in rank to be exempted from all shit details, low enough in rank to not be held responsible when shit wasn’t right.
That's exactly what a Canadian Corporal is all about.... particularly if you've held the rank for a few years. We have "Corporal's for life" in our Army and Air Force.... Leading Seaman in our Navy. Some folks just don't want to rank up.
@@haggis525 there were people in the US Coast Guard who were content to remain PO3's (E-4) for 20 years... but it's much different now. None of that BS.
I earned my commission at E-6. I had worn my O-2 bar for 6 days and became a company commander. People would laugh. I retired (Medical) as an O-5 LTC while laying in a hospital bed in Germany. I never got to command a Battalion.
Great video!! Served US Army from 1981-2001 and remember all those SPECIALIST ranks. Think was early-mid 1980s when ALL the specialists ranks (-E4) were converted to their respective NCO ranks. One of the main reasons was for simplicities sake AND another (unofficial) reason was that NOBODY took the specialists ranks seriously. Spec5s-7s would get all kinds of POed when nobody listened to them when they were trying to issue orders, "You're a SPECIALIST, so bite me" was usually the response they got back from even privates. Then, when the rank conversion came into affect, some of them relished the new POWER/RESPONSIBILITIES bestowed upon them while others LOAFED the POWER/RESPONSIBILITIES. You could pretty much figure out which person would make a good leader literally just by looking at them when the conversion took place. Also, can remember that actual E-7s (non-specialist types), you had to either address them as SERGEANT 1ST CLASS (staff position) or PLATOON SERGEANT (line position). Since there was no way to tell the difference between the two, it was a bit "confusing". IF you addressed a Platoon Sergeant the wrong way, you were in for one heck of a butt-chewing for they did NOT want to be associated with the Sergeant 1st Class because they were considered REMFs (rear echelon mother f.....rs and were useless). The term PLATOON SERGEANT was also dropped during the time frame as described above. Also, also, think this was the time frame that the Army re-introduced the GREEN TAB, a piece of cloth colored green roughly 1" in width. This cloth would be worn on the epaullettes thus signifying an NCO/Officer in a LEADERSHIP position . Thus the term "GREEN TABBERS" was re-born. The green Tabs were used during Korea/Vietnam. As probably stated already, the IDEAL rank would have been SPECIALIST 4: high enough/experienced enough to have responsibilities and really not get pooped on, but low enough to say, "I'm not an NCO therefore do not know what I'm doing" when things go wrong. I, myself, made it to E-6.
I was a Spec 5 with Pershing 1a Nuclear Missiles from 1971-1973 in Germany. We had to pull hard stripe duty all the time since there were so few Sergeants to pull the duty. Just about everyone in our Platoon were Spec 5's. I was with the 1/41st Field Artillery 56th Field Artillery Brigade in Schwabish Gmund Germany. Great video and too bad that the rank of Spec 5 was retired.
I know a man from the opposite side, might have been in a few years later. He was in a Hungarian SCUD unit, the longest range missile they had back then. They weren't allowed to discuss anything about thejr service back then, not even to the people serving at the same base. Officially they did not have any nuclear payloads but that is something only the soviets would have known.
Regards! My service: 1970 german 1./ Rakentenartilleriebattalion 250 at Grossengstingen (sergeant missile) together with US 84th Art. Detachment for the nukes.
I was at 1/41st at the same time. 2/‘73-9/‘74, Pershing 15E10, but SVC Btry. Tower Rat, and Hardt Gate Guard, last 3 mos there. Major Hoffen offered me E5 if I would extend 6 mos. Had to get back to the world!
I was Specialist 6 in 1979. I got out of the Army then back in as Staff SGT in 1983. Warrant Officer 1 in 1991. Commissioned 2LT in 1992. Captain in 1997. Retired O3E which is a low Commissioned rank to be retired but still better retirement pay than E9.
I did kind of the same. I was E for 9 years and O for 11 years and retired as O3E as well. Enlisted I was a crew chief and then got out and went to college and then back in to Army Nurse Corps. There are actually a lot of prior enlisted who retire as O3E. I just retired last summer. Two deployments to Iraq OIF and OIR. Took a couple months off and back to work as civilian.
Seems like they should've promoted you after a year or given the role to someone else if they really didn't want to promote you to the proper grade (that's how it used to be in the Marine Corps when Lance Corporal was an appointment rather than a permanent rank)
@@BattleOrder Big Army kept the cutoff scores maxed out. They finally dropped and got promoted. Until then we had one hard E-5 as PSG and three acting SGT's as SL.
@@BattleOrder don't know how the Marines work their promotion system. In the Army Construction Engineers E-5 Sgt that was on the E-6 Staff Sargent promotion list had to compete with 5 other Military Operation Specialist ( M.O.S.'s). They didn't know a damn thing about Heavy Equipment Operators as well as how to build a class 60 tank trail or a 3000 meter tactical air strip in the middle of nowhere.
As an 11B with the 101st -- 69-70 -- we really didn't wear anything on our jungle fatigues other than usually, but not always, a Screaming Eagle on our left shoulder (and not subdued!). Mainly because we didn't have our own uniforms. Spending 90% of our tour in the field, what we wore was basically whatever came out of the resupply bag.
Yeah, uniforms can be weird. A friend who was drafted showed me his fatigue he brought back. One has a previous soldier's name stenciled over his pockets, which were partially covered by his name tapes. He also had a CIB and patch he removed from the jacket. Both his uniforms had Vietnsmese army tapes and rank. He didn't wear any unit patches Did well after his conscription wss over and became a real estate and property president
Not only Spec 4 through Spec 7 needs to be brought back, but they should require that all WOs be appointed from Specialist ranks; those who are Spec 7s either going straight to the rank of CWO2 or E-8 (which in truth, the Army's E-8 and E-9 ranks need to be split and arranged in the same manner as the Marine Corps E-8 and E-9 ranks being divided into Specialist SNCOs [E-8/Master Sergeant and E-9/Master Gunnery Sergeant] and Command SNCOs [E-8/First Sergeant and E-9/Sergeant Major]).
@@rwboa22 I don't agree with the WO part. But am on board with the E8/E9 part. I have argued that for ages. We don't need 1000s of CSMs running around. But we do need to keep the expertise of Soldiers around. I know NCOs that are great at their job but bad leaders and some that suck at the job but are great leaders.
I heard they are bring back the specialist ranks ...i was in the motor pool we had WO in our battalion very smart new their shi_. Other than that WO were with the helicopters..i was in the late 70's when they got rid of the specialist ranks they only keep the e4 ...the people that had e5 and up were switch to strips..like i said i read some were the specialist were coming back
Nah, Army's in a good place right now with rank structure. No reason to overly complicate things. Spec/E4 nowadays is what I'd call a seasoned private. I find that when Soldiers reach this rank they usually start working hard to be a team leader and promote, or just fade into the background.
Lol, I was a “Spec” 5 and I was in when they converted all of us to sergeant E5. They also still had spec 7’s, but they were in the medical or dental fields. I think some of them did not convert, until they were ordered to
Same here in ASA. Our situation was different from many others in that we were actually "owned and operated" by the NSA, which really didn't give a rip about anything other than the product we produced. We were largely left alone by the rest of the soldiers and for good reason. It's too bad they blended ASA into the regular MI Corps and eliminated the SP5-7 ranks, since we were technicians not combat types.
When I made PFC, E-3, I had a single chevron and called the insignia mosquito wings. When E-2s were allowed a stripe, or shortly before, there sometimes was confusion and some people thought a PFC was actually an E-2. As to corporals, an assistant gunner in field artillery units was a corporal and some training units had drill corporals in the 1960s.
if officers didn't learn NOT to wear their shinny rank insignia in the bush. enemy snipers would pick em out just fine, and a lot of silly officers went home in closed coffins. didn't want to show the relatives, the bullet holes in the backs of their heads. yeah right, killed by friendly fire. :)
@@terryv didn't actually see it, but army personnel who came aboard our ship for a hot meal, shower and safe place to sleep, would tell us "war stories" about what happened in the bush. could be just that A story. were you there, can you confirm or deny?
@@dennismckown4951 - Yes, I was an infantry sergeant there in 69-70. I can’t prove a negative. But I do know that there are veterans who are bullshit artists of the highest order. You’ll do yourself a favor if you take all such urban legends with a huge grain of salt. But, think what you like.
@@terryv i was there, on different ships from 1967-74, all amphib navy. although we didn't go on shore, we did support troops inland via gun support. i was on one ship, that sat on the rivers supporting the river craft, ie. monitors, gunboats, etc. if we'd of gotten hit, we'd look like an ammo dump exploding. we were the only ship in the squadron that didn't get hit by B-40 rockets, although we received small arms fire which got us the Combat Action Ribbon. our new XO was the only crewman that never got one. although he tried hard enough in "Square Bay." while we blew up a fishing village. the Viet Cong weren't stupid. they stayed hidden or were moving against Saigon, further north.
The Army effectively froze certain people and MOSs out at E-4 by eliminating Spec 5 and up, thereby losing qualified, trained in and experienced personnel. Basically shows the Army's disdain for a lot of it's enlisted. Glad I served in another branch which had a much fairer enlisted promotion process ! For a while we had our own version of the "E-4 mafia"... That doesn't exist anymore !
I made Spec 5 on 1 May 1973...thanx to SSG George (NMN)Sampson & Lt 'Rick' Lagerstrom...I made that rank with less than 2cyears TIS and less than 1 TIG...My time in Germany was the happiest time if my life...bar none!!!!
In 67 I was assigned to a 3 member Intel unit...Spec 9 was CBR and Intel...Spec 8 Intel..I made Spec 5 from E3 in 11 months. Total time in Service 1 year 9 months ..,early out for school. In mid 67 Spec 9 was made SgtMajor...Spec 8 was made1st Sgt
Good video... it really cleared up some confusion I had concerning the Army's use of the E-5 and E-6 Specialist ranks! Have you done a video explaining USAF enlisted ranks and the elimination of the Warrant Officer Program form that service?
I grew up on US Army military base housing in the 1960-1970. The lower rank insignias and the specialist insignias always had me confused. This video will help clear a few things up when I watch the movie "Platoon" again.
Awesome video man, I didn't even know there were different rank insignia during Vietnam. I learn so much from this channel. Think you could make a video about the ranks of the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War?
Made Spec 4 in less then 8 months in service while in Nam. They wanted to make me a sargent brfore I had 11months in the serbice to set the black boxes in helichopters every midnight. Turned it down because I was making at least $80 a month pulling guard duty for chicken shits who were scared of guarding flight line & choppers. Did have 5 choppers blow up one night when I was on guard duty.
In Vietnam (and other countries in the area) We didn't wear ANY insignia on our uniforms (flight suits) in case we went down and were captured by the enemy. Assuming, of course, we weren't killed attempting to evade or had already been killed by our own people...or committed suicide.
In the US Army in Thailand we didn't wear rank, I don't remember us wearing US Army tab either, out of Camp off duty other than Bangkok or Karat we were wearing Civies.
@@terryv The fact you were Caucasian was a DEAD giveaway. But the longer you could keep the bad guys guessing who..an what... you were, the better your chances.
I was in Vietnam late '70 to late '71. I was a SGT/E-5 at 16 months time-in-service, but that was a meritorious promotion that came with an award. Was PFC out of AIT from being honor graduate, SP4 @ three months time in country. The minimum time-in-grade and time-in-service requirements were waives many times then, depending on unit requirements and meritorious promotions. I suspect the time-in-service numbers here were averages ranges?
A SPC transferred from a special weapons depot that doesn't exist if you know what I mean. We were in Hanau, FRG assigned to the 127th MPC. He stated that his MP company was super short on NCOs. The FSG was an E6, all PSGs were E5 with 40 to 50 GIs in each plt. SLs were CPLs and TLs were SPCs. Goes to show you there are leaders amongst us if you give them a chance.
There was once talk of giving Gen Schwarzkopf a 5th star after Desert Storm, given the large multinational command he had led. I wonder what had happened to that, as he never did get that star. I believe the last General of the Army was Omar Bradley, if I am not mistaken.
This video is close to historically accurate. Specialist ranks actually went up to E-9. Also, as far as the General Of The Army rank, there were only 5 people promoted to this rank. General MacArthur had this rank during the Korean war and General Bradley was awarded this rank in 1950, 5 years after WWII.
I believe there are now 6 persons ever promoted to General of The Army, as General Ulysses S. Grant was recently and posthumously promoted to this rank in the latest Defense Authorization Bill.
One thing that interests me about the Specialist/NCO system is whether it was possible for a soldier to "switch tracks", so to speak. E.g. could a SPC5 become a SGT (perphaps after receiving training at NCO school), or vice versa? On a related note: did Specialist promotions essentially stop at E-7, or was it possible for them to become E-8s and E-9s as well?
@steelrat116: You didn't need special training to switch from SP5 to SGT. If you moved into a leadership position, you became an NCO. Yes, the rank system had a place above E7 but quite often at the E8 grade they were absent an NCO so you became an NCO rather than a specialist.
Congress authorize the ranks of SP8 and SP9, but DA never promoted anybody to these ranks. I served with SP6's, and I've seen a few Sp7's, but nothing beyond that.
Something you forgot or didn’t know, was the RA and US on serial numbers, you know the number on the dog tags. Basically US 56419226 or RA 56428564 , the US was drafted, the RA was regular army. The US were specialists, the RA was command. You may want to research your info, that’s the basic. Puts a whole different perceptive on the whole thing of ranks. I could go further, but I don’t want to write book! Check it out you’ll see it differently after further research!
If you signed up for more than 3 years of active duty, you were classified as RA from the start. ASA was a four year hitch, so I was RA from my date of entry until I got out in 1972.I was a SP5, so I was not involved in any command role, and I liked that a lot.
I read that in Vietnam, actual corporals were rare in the US Army though the equivalent Specialist rank was fairly common. If corporals were encountered it was sometimes assumed that they had been sergeants who had done something wrong and had been demoted.
Not in my unit. My Lt got really pissed off about the f king rear echelon motherfuckers (remf) snatching us right off the helicopters when we came in for a stand down. Everybody he could got promoted to coporall so the bastards couldn’t put us their shit details. After col Ware took over our battalion, he put a stop to that bullshit. Told them that if he caught them screwing with us grunts again, guess who was going back out and visit the Nva.
1972 - 1974 U.S. Army Spec4 91R Food Inspection specialist. Detached from Presidio SF working out of U.S. Naval Supply Center Alameda. Lived and worked in the civilian community on DOD contracts. Safest Job in the U.S.Army. Blessed by God.
I was SP4 in Army Security Agency. I saw a SP5 or two but none above that. I believe the SP ranking went to SP9. The ASA didn’t offer much in the area of promotion and almost no ASA people ever re-uped. I got out in July of 1964 as SP4. They never bothered asking any ASA people to reenlist since none ever did.
ASAer here, too. I was in a rather rare MOS (98J, 250 or so of us in ASA at the time). I made SP5 with 21 months service time while I was in Berlin, Germany. Many of us were SP5s. I was a bit different from most of the newer soldiers in ASA, since I had an MA degree when I got drafted in 1968. The deal with SP5s in ASA was a matter of pay. The Agency wanted to retain as many of us as possible, and better pay was one of the ways they did it. With the big draw down in MI staffing that came in 1972, Field Station Berlin went from about 1000 men to 500 or so in less than 2 months. I was offered SP6 rank, if I re-upped, but I wanted to go back home, back to grad school, and to hopefully teach college history in the future. I enjoyed the work I did, but that wasn't enough to keep me in the service. My first NCOIC at my work site was one of the smartest people I have ever known. He was a lifer, SFC at that time, put in 20 years, retired as a W-2. He went to work for the Company ,and retired about 20 years later. He was one of the few people I've ever seen who earned the Legion of Merit as a senior NCO.
You missed the Specialist "Super Grades" SP8 & SP9, which were in place from 1958 to 1968. They were Specialist ranks, even though nobody was ever promoted to those ranks.
In my experience, SGM (E-9) in the modern Army is more concerned about the perks, prerequisites, pomp, and circumstance of their office, than in representing the enlisted below them.
I'm an Army vet (28 May '71 - 20 Jul '74) I had the subdued pins on my fatigues...Ieft as a Spec 5 (DoR 1 May '73)...my former 1st Sgt retired as a CSM
@@vladimirtsvetanov4895 hell yeah man! It's not about the size of the dog in the fight, it's about the size of the fight in the dog! Hard work, dedication! Work till I die, train till I cry! The grind doesn't stop, and the gains wait for no man.
@@vladimirtsvetanov4895 hell yeah man! It's not about the size of the dog in the fight, it's about the size of the fight in the dog! Hard work, dedication! Work till I die, train till I cry! The grind doesn't stop, and the gains wait for no man.
I was a draftee... 2 yrs in army....1st oversees assignment was Germany made specialist 4 with 10 months in the army. Volunteered for Vietnam and spent my last 10 months as a squad leader as a spec 4 ... was offered. Sgt e-5 if I re-enlisted for 3 more years and extended my tour in Nam. ..I declined... I could never understand why we were in Vietnam. It appeared to me that politicians and companies were making a lot of money from being there.
My dad would always say he was an E5 specialist during Vietnam. I didn’t believe him since nowadays a specialist is E4 only, until now. Damn now I feel bad.
It went higher than Spec 7 during the Vietnam era. The rockers above the eagle proceeded from Spec 5 to Spec 7...Spec 8 and 9 were upsided down chevrons below the eagle. Just didn't see many of them.
I had to get my CAC redone a little under a year before I got out. Apparently the place I had to get it done had a weird glitch or wasn't updated. So I have a CAC from 2009 that says SP4 instead of SPC. Makes other members of the mafia a bit envious.
In 1969, I was a SP 5 in air defense , 38th Artillery Bde. SP 5 was a great rank if you had to be in the military. It kept you from less desirable duties, but also kept you “under the radar” when the shit hit the fan.
I enjoyed the video, but you got Master Sergeant and First Sergeant backwards and the last General of the Army in a combat command was MacArthur in the Korean War. When I went in Spec 6 was getting phased out.
Wasn't there also a rank at one time called General of the Armies? I heard it was five stars but also had some kind of pin. I think Pershing maybe held that rank?
I believe that Pershing was the only person ever to hold that rank while alive. He selected his own rank insignia: four gold stars. Don’t know why he picked four, instead of five (or even six), but apparently he did. George Washington was promoted to the same rank as Pershing - but with higher seniority - many years after his death, so that he would always be recognized as the highest-ranking general in American history.
I didn't realize how little these guys were paid! For example , in 1971 I graduated from college and took a summer job with the St. Louis Globe Democrat newspaper covering for the advertising salesmen who took vacation. I was taking home 108.00 a week which is 432. 00 net a month, more than an E--8 in 1965. Thank God pay went up dramatically when I entered the Air Force as a Captain in 1977. With savings that I had put away since i was 11 years old, my wife and I were able to buy a house with a VA loan and I made enough so she did not have to work and we could start a family.
@@josipbroz3866 I received those back in '89. They told you not to move when being injected or you would have a long scar. Watching them cleaning out those "guns". The stream was about 2 to 3 feet.
Yes the did. The term was NEXT. I contracted a nasty viral infection that reared it's ugly presence 2 - 3 times a year and persisted for over 15 years.
My boss in Berlin 1963, was the ranking W4 in the US Army. He joined the Army in 1936 at 16 years old. By 1942 he was a E-6 Sgt. He was made a 1st Lt. By 1945 he was age 25 and a Full COL. He took the rank in WO and retired in 1963 with the rank of Brig Gen. Some story!!!
Fellow ASAer in Berlin here. 1-1-7- to 3-6-72. Good times back in the day. I'm still in contact with a couple of my buddies from that era and my first NCOIC out at Rudow. The community might be small, but it's still alive.
@@78asasou I don't know if this is possible, but the E-7 I worked for in Berlin at the start was a man named Al Murdock. Let me know if that rings any bells with you. Thanks.
at 4:33, the man on the left is Melvin Morris. He was a special forces soldier in Vietnam. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions over there. I went to high school with his son.
The rank of Corporal E4 was and is still somewhat rare as everyone was a Specialist 4. From the time I was in the U.S. Army from 1970 until 1974, even an E5 Sergeant was extremely rare as almost everyone with a pay grade of E5 was a Specialist 5. Rarely did I encounter a hard striper Sergeant E5. We had a couple of Specialist 6's (E6) in our unit and once in a great while I'd come across a Specialist 7 (E7) but they were at battalion level. We had a Major (O4) at Battalion HQ which was rifted down to a Staff Sergeant (E6) because he hadn't acquired a college degree yet and was transferred elsewhere. However, it was my understanding that when he retired after serving 20 years, he would retire as a Major (O4).
During my active duty time in the 80s, if you wanted Corporal you had to have a billet in your unit and attend PLDC. Specialist Smiley (his real last name) attended PLDC and was moved to Corporal because they needed a 'leader' but there wasn't a Sargent in that MOS in the Battalion. About 6 months later he was promoted to Sargent after he was able to do a Battalion promotion Board to gain the required points.
