Can a Specialist make a Private stand at Parade Rest for him?

Never have asked anyone to parade rest, that's some senior specialist made up bullshit

No, that is not within regs. You stand at parade rest when addressing or addressed by an NCO, a specialist is not an NCO.

I would only think it would be appropriate if the SPC was a member of cadre. In Basic training summer of '86, our company Armorer was a SPC, wore a cadre belt to indicate such. We were expected to take orders from him like all other Cadre.

Normally privates would stand at parade rest, if the spc was in a team leader position. Or in my last year, our plt Sgt wanted privates to stand at parade rest for all spc , so depends.

I've only seen this unit specific. When I was Regular Army we didn't until we had one platoon sergeant to made it platoon policy. This was in the mid 90s, around 1994.
I hadn't heard of it happening much elsewhere until I met a few Rangers who said that they had to do it, and even a SPC who wasn't tabbed had to stand at parade rest for any SPC who was tabbed. That would have been 3/75 in the late 90s.

Depending on the circumstances this could help with instilling discipline and respect for those who are senior. Especially for those SPCs who are Fire Team Leaders, or AVLB commanders, or other NCO positions. It could also be incredibly silly if some SPC were to try and be a dick about it.

Well to tell you the truth I saw that only happen at the 2nd Armored Division (FWD) when I was assigned to them. It was high stupidity because Specialist Rank has no real command authority and a Specialist would need a NCO to take any disciplinary action. Also, the Specailists that did that in that Infantry unit were losers, no way would the Army retain them long-term. 101st Airborne was far more interested in training than political BS, so I never saw it there and to tell you the truth the NCO's at the 101st would not tolerate it there, nor did I ever see it in my NG unit.

General military authority, no. But I have seen units make it mandatory, i.e. my last active duty unit, where my 1SG put that policy in place for a while as a response to soldiers losing their sense of discipline and courtesy. I never *liked* it, but I did enforce it as a SPC in a supervisory capacity over our problem child. I would only correct other soldiers if there were higher-ups around, because they had earned my respect and were pretty squared away.

Even as an NCO now, having soldiers stand at parade rest feels kind of weird. Lol

Probably not, but do it anyway, and sound off with, “YES, Command Specialst Major!” everytime they “require” it.

Yes, provided that the Section Sgt, senior NCO, or officer gave you the authority to put you in charge, even if temporary. That authority gives you the authority to conduct the sections business, or detail. Also if the individual has committed an offense and you saw it, I would say general military authority to enforce standards would apply.

Sounds like a Specialist on a power trip.