How do we make Corporals in the Army relevant?

How to make them relevant, do what my 1SG did with me when I was a CPL, trust them and empower them to take charge. You'd be amazed at the real talent we have in our formations if you simply trust your people! Give them guidance, ensure they trust you enough that they can come to you for additional guidance if needed and allow them to surprise you with their initiative and injenuity.

SSG David Dickson you are spot on with your thoughts and I completely agree. I often get pushback from senior leaders not wanting to go along this same route...."the CPL is an NCO and should be serving on an NCO position"....my thought is the CPL is a 10 level position, let them learn about themselves, let them learn about leadership before they are a hard striped SGT....keep pushing your idea and get traction where you can - you are on the right path to leader development!

You might ask the Marine Corps, our Corporals are pretty relevant.

I think that is spot on. When I passed the E-5 board there was a freeze on spending, so all promotions were frozen. I was slotted for a squad leader spot. So they gave me a lateral promotion from Spec. 4 to Corporal. Then I could fill the squad leader spot. It was kind of cool, I was the only Corporal in the whole Battalion. I think it would be the best way to set these E-4's apart from the others and give them some leadership training and better prepare them to be NCO'S.

Yes, I do agree with you. Spc P's should earn the Cpl stripes. This will empower them and motivate other jnr enlisted as well.

I really think that this would be a good idea for the hard charging specialists. They need it to stay motivated and move up in leadership positions. We need more of that motivation and drive not the sham shield types.

I agree on the waving the Magic wand. Before the Board put them to the test. Give them stripes, Make them leaders. Also stops the bitching and the moaning of the other E-4's in the squad saying that they are the same rank and they don't have to listen! it's just a lateral. A 4187 giveth and can taketh away. No ART-15's demotions, no bad counseling statements to ruin the career. Just the fact that dude you are young and suck as a leader. Thanks for your time and swap the stripes for a shield and move on. Then the soldiers gets a little more experience more training. Knows where he messed up and can change. Not pin the stripes on and oh you suck as a leader. Try and transfer said soldier of art-15 to reduce back to an E-4 and ruin a career!

Honestly, with the new pin-on requirements for E5, it makes sense to make more use of the CPL rank.

http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/careers/army/enlisted/2015/08/17/changes-ncos-new-requirements-and-promotion-points/31410931/

Now I think it would be different per unit. Because when I first arrived at my unit shortly after I was acting squad leader while I was rear d plus also I held squad leader position as a pv2. Love the idea wish BIG army would notice our intelligence

SSG David Dickson Just because a SPC is promotable doesn't mean they can be a CPL. By regs they need to be in a leadership position and not all SPC(P) are in such a position. Now for your question of how to make them relevant. I treated my CPLs exactly like they were SGTs. Not all NCOs do that. A lot of them hammer CPLs with the lesser taskings because they have to have an NCO present. I did not do that. It was like when you get frocked. You get to do the work of the rank you are frocked to but don't get the pay.

In the late sixties we had lots of corporals in basic training units and AIT schools. We were always short of drill sergeants so the 3rd Army NCO Academy created a drill corporal course. It was the same as the drill sergeant course except two weeks shorter. People selected for the course could be either specialists or PFCs. Upon completion of the course they got corporal stripes and were assigned as an assistant to a drill sergeant. When they were promoted to E5 they could go back to the academy and take the other two weeks and become a regular drill sergeant. If they didn't hack it as a drill corporal they went back to being a Sp4 and were sent on their way. Most did a pretty good job and it helped them get promoted fast. It was easy to get rid of the ones who didn't. I don't know if a program like that would work today or if it would work for other jobs but it worked for us then.