How well, if at all, do E-4s in your Service exercise NCO authority and take NCO responsibility?

Lt Col Jim Coe - I rarely saw them when I was in (<2013), and never an infantry corporal.

I think I've only ever seen one, and it was at the Army Hospital.

Most SPC don't like the idea of taking more responsibility for the same pay.

PFC Jim Wheeler - Jesus, that got messed up.

I rarely saw corporals when I was in (got out in 2013), and I never saw an infantry corporal.

Most of the SPC I ran into were not too high on extra responsibility for the same pay. Plus, I don't know that it was ever offered as an option for the senior SPC, they were always just going to the board for SGT.

I was one of the few hard striped CPl E4 was a specialist that had PLDC under my belt and deployed to the gulf. Where is was Laterally promoted to CPL as a track commander of a Infantry squad. E-4 who have taken initiative and show leadership kills can fill in for an NCO position where either None availiable or allowed.

I was an Army CPL back in the mid 90's. Points were maxed at 798 and despite making Commandants list in PLDC maxing the Promotion Board etc I couldn't be promoted. We were short on E-5s as a few had just ETS-ed and hadn't been replaced.
We were OPFOR for Armor Officers in Ft. Knox so it was a pretty small group. I was a track commander and was made a Corporal since I was working in a SGT slot and there was no indication that Points were going to drop anytime soon. I found that being a CPL was pretty lonely TBH. You are really the Private of the NCO corp. I was the only CPL I knew and while I did have friends both higher and lower than I it changed the relationship and there was no one else that could truly relate. I was above all my lower enlisted friends and rightly held to different standards but lower than all the other NCOs so there was no one on the same level.