Posted on Oct 24, 2017
2LT Infantry Officer
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I deal with cadets a lot, and they insist they out "rank" every NCO in the army. My usual response is somewhere around the guides of "uh-huh." Can I get some clarity of this?
Posted in these groups: General of the army rank insignia OfficerEnlisted logo EnlistedThcapm08l9 ROTC
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Responses: 971
SGT Dave Tracy
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647
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Yes, but...
(always a good start to a story)

If you want to have a good time, grab you some popcorn, have a seat, and watch what happens when a know-it-all cadet tries to tell a battle-hardened Infantry Platoon Sergeant what's-what. Having watched that show before, I can tell you, that's some good entertainment!
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A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
23 d
6f71fc1f
SGT Karen Emanuelson - ....
MANY Various T's Are Through TEMU.COM ... Even This One, And I Also Own Several More...
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A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
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A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
23 d
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SFC Barbara Layman - ........
BARB... A Sense Of Humor Is Developed...
Ya Can't Buy One At Wall-Mart.
Like I Did This Shirt.
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A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
23 d
Capt Mark Miller - ......
CADETS Do NOT Out Rank ANYONE,
They Just Smell That Way
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SGT Eliyahu Rooff
438
438
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I'd love to see one try pulling rank on a CSM. The show would be well worth the price of admission.
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CPT Special Forces Officer
CPT (Join to see)
4 mo
SGT (Join to see) - Ugly isn't it.
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Capt George Wolf
Capt George Wolf
4 mo
General Bernard Trainor told me that when he arrived in Korea, a brand new lieutenant from the States, he had trouble locating our positions. Finally, he found the command bunker and was quickly briefed by the outgoing Platoon Commander. As dark set in, shooting erupted from our positions dug into one hill and their positions across the valley. Tracers were everywhere. Trainor noticed his platoon sergeant handling phones, giving orders, etc. Trainor, a second lieutenant, asked his platoon sergeant if it wasn't time to fire the Final Protective Fires (I forget his older term for them). He said everyone in the bunker shut up and looked at him. Finally, the Platoon Sergeant said something like, "Sir, why don't you go have a cup of coffee and let me handle this?" Trainor said it was a month later that the sergeant began to trust him with the decisions.
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CPT Leo Coleman
CPT Leo Coleman
24 d
Ha. Ha ha.

Until cadet becomes commissioned. It can be and sometimes is awkward, but rank/grade and authority are established by law.
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CPT Leo Coleman
CPT Leo Coleman
23 d
TSgt Sean LaPlante - Was the LT right? Was the battalion commander a pussy?
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SGM Erik Marquez
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Edited >1 y ago
2LT (Join to see) See AR 600-20 table 1-1
You will find Academy Cadets and Senior ROTC cadets are in precedence between Warrant officers and NCO.
Generally a Senior ROTC cadet is a 3rd or 4th year scholarship contracted cadet.
So a 1st and 2nd year non contracted cadets have no rank as it applies to service members.

Though in the Cadet command and working with them, we commonly referred to all cadets as "sir" or "Ma'am" Or "Cadet Name"
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A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
8 mo
LTC George Morgan -
Coronal, I Know EXACTLY What You Mean.
You May Or May Not Already Know This, But I'm a Junior High School Drop Out.
Never Even Completed The 9th Grade; But Realizing My Need For Education, I Took Advantage Of All The Educational Benefits The USAF Could Provide DuringMy 4 bYeares Of Enlistment. Then Eventually, But Soon After, Became Mid-Management For FMC And Interviewed College Graduates For Employment; And Quite Frankly, Found Many Of Them To Be Rather Uneducated... And, From What I Recall, It's Not Becoming Any Better, Either.
Here's Another Very Sad "Kicker":

Resolved, that the US education system does not adequately ...
archives.jsa.org/2010/12/resolved-that-the-us...
rest of the world is catching up, and as recently as 2008, U.S. students have fallen to 12th in higher education attainment and 16th in high school graduation rates. The world has grown to be interdependent and Americans who do not possess the level of training essential to the global market will be effectively disenfranchise
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Pvt Gomer Pile
Pvt Gomer Pile
6 mo
So, the real question is at what point (in time line) do Cadets receive their Commissions? Whenever that is that's when they become Officers; that's when they start out ranking other ranks (as the Brits say). I'm a little rusty on this : E7s, 8s, &9s can work for a 2nd Lt. but it takes a O-7 or above to take any disciplinary actions. Another point; the Oath Of Enlistment says we have to obey the Officers appointed over us. Does that mean you can ignore the 2lt. or Sgt. from another Unit, Command, or Service? Traditional wisdom teaches you always follow your last order.. given all the variables it could be pretty easy to get into trouble if you look at the literal without any wisdom. I have received contradictory orders when I have I informed both (all) parties and have asked them to work it out and until then I will hold off until I hear from them. I also gave them my recommendation concerning the situation being as I was the "BOOT" "on the ground". I thought the person on scene, the one (under ideal conditions) whose job was most closely related to the issue/task at hand thought the best solution was.
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CPT Special Forces Officer
CPT (Join to see)
4 mo
I prefer "Mister" such & such.
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LTC(P) Christina Moore
LTC(P) Christina Moore
4 mo
The real question is who appointed them over you....If a Commander says you are in charge and someone outranks you by date of rank or time in service...YES it is the one who the Commander appointed.
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