 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Essay Five
Rank and Insignia
To anyone not familiar with army ranks, all this talk of lieutenants, sergeants, and
T/5's must be confusing, especially since several changes have been made in the ranks of
enlisted men since WW II. So let me tell you about each rank as it was at the time I was
in combat in WW II. Enlisted men wore their insignia of rank, called chevrons, on each
sleeve, between elbow and shoulder. [Sometimes a short master sergeant had trouble
squeezing them all on-but we'll get to him later.]
We'll start at the bottom, with the rank of Private, abbreviated Pvt, nicknamed
"Buck" Private [I never actually heard one called a "yard bird."] A private was so low on
the totem pole that he didn't wear any rank insignia at all, just a bare sleeve. He was not
addressed as "Private, " but only by his last name. If you didn't know his last name, you
could call him "Soldier," or sometimes "Son," if you were an officer.
Next came a Private First Class, abbreviated
PFC, who wore one stripe, or chevron, on each
sleeve, between elbow and shoulder. A PFC, like a
private, was addressed by his last name alone.
Private First Class
One step above the PFC was the corporal
(Cpl), the lowest ranking noncommissioned officer
(NCO), with two stripes. He was addressed as
"Corporal" or "Corporal Jones," especially if his
name was Jones.
Typical jobs for a corporal included the
gunner of a howitzer section and the chief of a
telephone wire crew.
Corporal
The Technician Fifth Grade (T/5) drew the
same pay as a corporal, but ranked vaguely lower.
He wore two chevrons with the letter T just below
them, and was nicknamed "Model T Corporal." I
never did figure out what to call one. Some
addressed him by his last name, others called him
"Corporal." The computors in the fire direction
center could be T/5s.
Technician Fifth Grade
105
|
 |
|