Specialist?

E

EagleHammer

Active member
I consider myself more knowledgeble then the average joe.
But i can't for the life of me figur out what Specialist mean in the US military. EX: Specialist John Johnson.
I hear it often but still don't know.

And i would appreciate if anywone can answer it.
 
Hah! We will never allow such information to fall into enemy hands!
Watch an unrealistic movie and find out for yourself. ;)
 
the_13th_redneck said:
Hah! We will never allow such information to fall into enemy hands!
Watch an unrealistic movie and find out for yourself. ;)
Click to expand...

"We"? :roll:

It's a rank in the Army, equivalent in pay to Corporal but still technically subordinate to it. It's E-4 in our pay scales; OR-4 in the NATO scales.
 
Also known as the Shield of Sham. Spec's are supposed to have a firm grasp of their MOS. They are paid the same as a Cpl. but have none of the command responsibilities of a Cpl (hard stripe). Spec's are not considered NCO's despite their pay grade they are still snuffies although some do serve as team leaders etc. if there is a shortage of NCO's.
 
In their MOS. They are supposed to have enough time in the field to be Specialists in that field.
 
Are new guys who have a college degree who go in as Specialists considered Privates in every way except in terms of wage?
 
First you have to understand what the Spec ranks were actually meant to be when they were orginally instituted. Specialist ranks at one time went from Spec4 to Spec9, although the 5 thru 9 were gradually phased out until only Spec (E4) remains. Orginally Specialists were assigned to tech and support MOS's hence the "Specialist" designator. They were not required to excercise command roles and go to the leadership courses that hard stripe NCO's were required to, although they could apply to cross over to Hard Stripe and complete the requirements. The Spec rank is actually a carry over from the Tech Ranks of WWII.

Right now the Contract Specs are just that. It's in their contract that because of their education they are given the Sham Shield. It's more about pay than anything, they are still part of the E4 Mafia and are in reality E4 Privates.

The PFC's promoted to Spec run the gammet as to why. Some of them are high speed but haven't had a chance to go to PLDC a requirement for Cpl. Some units don't have but a handful of hard stripe Cpl billets and use them sparingly. Due to hard stripe requirements it's much easier to promote a deserving solider to Speedy 4, give him time to work up his requirements to SGT.

Others are promoted time in grade/time in service sorta a gimmie rank.

So all in all Spec is just a rank. No special meaning. They are E4 Privates. They fill the same role as a Private but get E4 pay.

Clear as mud right?
 
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