Get Rid of the Marine Corps???

[Kaldak]

Yeah I’ve asked about that here too. The Army had weird (to me) rank structures. An Army E4 Specialist is not considered and NCO, while and Army E4 Corporal is.

So my question to the Army guys, can a specialist be promoted to E5 Sgt before holding the title of Corporal?

And how does a specialist become a Corporal?

@Cookie_ is correct. If you have a bachelor degree or higher, you enlist as a Specialist. From what I was told by guys at OCS who weren't prior service, E4s who assisted the DIs were made Cpl to automatically out rank everyone in boot camp. All OCS candidates were also promoted to Sgt while in OCS.

Otherwise, the only time I saw/head of Cpls was in the scenario @Cookie_ described.

 

[SpongeBob*24]

You can come in as an E4 with a college degree IIRC

You can become a SGT without being a CPL.


A SPC passes the promotion board but doesn't meet points to promote, and his/her unit is short an E5 SGT.

Congrats, you're now a NCO without the pay.

Great post!

I was a CPL in the 90s...Quite possibly the best or worst rank, depending on the day. Our Unit gave it to us as Team Leaders and it did help alot when dealing with other NCOs.

Pro - You were put on the JumpMaster OML....
Con - You were on EVERY detail noone wanted...



As far as The OG post, getting rid of the MARINE CORPS is a bad idea. I read it as a 2012 article and nothing more.

 

[Devildoc]

As far as The OG post, getting rid of the MARINE CORPS is a bad idea. I read it as a 2012 article and nothing more.

Every few years, or at least after every war, the topic comes up. The Royal Marines just went through a reinvention as well. This will fade away until the next time.

 

[ThunderHorse]

Yeah I’ve asked about that here too. The Army had weird (to me) rank structures. An Army E4 Specialist is not considered and NCO, while and Army E4 Corporal is.

So my question to the Army guys, can a specialist be promoted to E5 Sgt before holding the title of Corporal?

And how does a specialist become a Corporal?

So in line units it tends to be a thing as @Cookie_ basically mentioned.

When I was at Bliss the Cav Squadron I was in was super short of NCOs. So we had a lot of guys who went to the promotion board and passed and were made corporals to fill team leader or squad leader slots. Now, like with everything in the Army when it comes to Corporals, some of them should have been privates. I had one NCO who would never send a SPC we had to the board because the one time he did send him, his shit wasn't together. The entire time I was in that platoon that SPC was the best Soldier I had. That NCO moved on, a different NCO came in and took his slot as Senior Scout. And boom, SPC Miller gets mentored and prepared for the board, passes the board, makes Corporal. He's a SSG now.

 

[digrar]

Institutional leanness, don't own anything you're not prepared to tip off the end of an aircraft carrier at the end of the war. Cut away the dead wood at every rank level. No creating pointless jobs to keep a surplus of staff in a break glass in case of rapid expansion scenario. Brilliant way of staying lean.

 

[Ranger Psych]

Yeah I’ve asked about that here too. The Army had weird (to me) rank structures. An Army E4 Specialist is not considered and NCO, while and Army E4 Corporal is.

So my question to the Army guys, can a specialist be promoted to E5 Sgt before holding the title of Corporal?

And how does a specialist become a Corporal?

Specialist makes Corporal if there's a slot for a team leader unfilled, they fill it, and the command sees that there needs some extra spice in the mix to give said Specialist the collar power to exercise authority.

My 1SG and CO specifically saw no need for me to pin CPL for the months before PLDC and Sergeant orders date of rank.

You've met me, do you think back when I was in fighting shape any sane E3 or below would disobey any of my instructions, or that an insane individual of the same rank wouldn't learn the err of their ways without the need of UCMJ power?

I personally didn't require it (Corporal) to function as a Rifle Team Leader, and my uniform acouterments at that time (04-06 in a just-stood-up unit with a 1/3 at most combat experienced leadership corps, me fresh from my 3rd trip with 3/75) lent creedence to while I may be speaking politely in deference to one's rank, it might be a good idea to consider the options/tactics/techniques I presented.

 

[Teufel]

https://www.radio.com/connectingvet...HLApvUhn3_ODv42xxH7xu_oHGjRNpjmx230-6K8RM2qto

Looks like all infantry Marines will go through the scout swimmer, coxswain, raid leader, assault climber, and mountain leader courses. Raising the GT score for infantry Marines to 105 is a big deal.

 

[AWP]

https://www.radio.com/connectingvet...HLApvUhn3_ODv42xxH7xu_oHGjRNpjmx230-6K8RM2qto

Looks like all infantry Marines will go through the scout swimmer, coxswain, raid leader, assault climber, and mountain leader courses. Raising the GT score for infantry Marines to 105 is a big deal.

Crayola stock just tumbled.

 

[GOTWA]

So in line units it tends to be a thing as @Cookie_ basically mentioned.

When I was at Bliss the Cav Squadron I was in was super short of NCOs. So we had a lot of guys who went to the promotion board and passed and were made corporals to fill team leader or squad leader slots. Now, like with everything in the Army when it comes to Corporals, some of them should have been privates. I had one NCO who would never send a SPC we had to the board because the one time he did send him, his shit wasn't together. The entire time I was in that platoon that SPC was the best Soldier I had. That NCO moved on, a different NCO came in and took his slot as Senior Scout. And boom, SPC Miller gets mentored and prepared for the board, passes the board, makes Corporal. He's a SSG now.

When anyone talks about the Cav, all I can think about is this:

Crayola stock just tumbled.

Know what's more refined and sharper? Color pencils.

 

[Teufel]

Crayola stock just tumbled.

Should be soaring you mean?

 

[AWP]

Know what's more refined and sharper? Color pencils.

Go ahead and show yourself out.

 

[Gunz]

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[Devildoc]

How about flying helicopters underwater and farting Skittles. By the time they get through with all that their enlistments will be up and/or the war will be over. (Not to mention there ain’t a single 0311 smart enough to be an 0331.)

Well, the model is there. Now whether they should or should not is a different discussion, but it's not unheard of.

I did scout swimmer, that course was a ball buster. I am a good swimmer and it wore me out. I also did a couple courses in Bridgeport, and once I acclimated to the altitude it was fun as hell. A lot of infantry Marines go through these courses right now anyway, they go to them as add-ons and not as a required part of their skill set.

 

[Gunz]

.

 

[Devildoc]

Sounds like duffleblog to me. The only thing missing is jump school, so you might as well add that, then disband Recon and Raiders and absorb them into the one big homogeneous mass of Super Special Marines who can do anything—as my SDI used to say—but sew the crack of dawn shut and put wheels on a miscarriage.

I think it's a fair argument should vs should not. I agree, add jump, dive and ARC (BRC now) and it's pretty much recon. But since a lot of Marines go through a lot of those courses anyway, why not formalize the process?

 

[Ooh-Rah]

Raising the GT score for infantry Marines to 105 is a big deal.

A jump from the current 90; I looked it up because i was curious.

For perspective, 105 is the same GT you need to get a Ranger contract.

 

[Marauder06]

Yeah I’ve asked about that here too. The Army had weird (to me) rank structures. An Army E4 Specialist is not considered and NCO, while and Army E4 Corporal is.

So my question to the Army guys, can a specialist be promoted to E5 Sgt before holding the title of Corporal?

And how does a specialist become a Corporal?

yes, and in fact I think it's more common to go from Spec4 to SGT than Spec4-->CPL-->SGT.

 

[Cookie_]

yes, and in fact I think it's more common to go from Spec4 to SGT than Spec4-->CPL-->SGT.

Really showing your age using "Spec4" there, but it does make me wonder; when did that fall out of favor and get replaced with SPC?

 

[Marauder06]

Really showing your age using "Spec4" there, but it does make me wonder; when did that fall out of favor and get replaced with SPC?

Mid-1980s, I think.

 

[Gunz]

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