Should the Army bring back the Specialist titles?

I agree. Although an armor officer CG cleaned house in signal bn and I was bn xo. I learned that there were many soldiers who were good technically but had no concept of leadership. The real NCOs were not always technically as proficient as their troops but could get them to do the job quickly and correctly.

Yes.

I Think So!

There were very good reasons they were eliminated. Quit trying to reinvent the wheel. Having a SGT supervising a SP8 just didn’t work

I think we should get rid of the SPC rank Completely. I have met alot of people that were great at there mos and were just couldn't lead. But I have also seen some soldiers with great leadership Potential that were stuck at SPC and could not get a promotion to CPL do to the fact of they only use it to hold E5 slots for the most part now. All most every other branchs E4s are expected to be jr NCOs why should we be any different.

When I served it was emphasized that everyone must learn to lead, that's what sets the US armed forces apart from the rest of the world, being able to step in and lead during combat. Those technical ranks are useless if you can't lead and everyone can be taught to lead. If we have a bunch of tech savvy people that are only followers, God help us! Our armed forces are designed to make leaders regardless of your mos. Look back at the Gulf War, a convoy of non combat arms personnel took a wrong turn and veered off into enemy hands, a direct lack of leadership and people lost their lives.

Yes yes. I got out of the regular Army as Specialist 5. I earned that rank, went in front of a board and worked hard. As I moved up in rank I had the knowledge of what my responsibilities were and what was expected of me. I went into the National Guard after a break and I was told I was a Sergeant and that the specialist ranks were something of the past. I was hurt and up until I retired I mentioned this to officers and Sergeant Majors. They agree with me. I did retire as a SFC but when I was a new private I always wanted to be the Specialist 8. I have found that many soldiers move up in rank and have no idea what they are doing in their MOS for the rank they hold.

Had a Sp4 at Ft Bragg named Meckler. He was top shelf and he knew his stuff better than anyone else in the whole chain of command. He knew how to get stuff done and make stuff happen..quick. Thing was, he didn't put up with anyone's crap at all. He would tell anyone to go to hell in a heartbeat. Didn't care if it was officer or not. He didn't give anyone any trouble, and he would not allow anyone to push him around-period. When the Commander or CWO came down to visit, they wanted to talk to Meckler most of the time. This pissed off the chain of command big time. He is what I think of when I think of SP6. He had no desire to lead, and he was so freaking squared away it just pissed people off. We learned a lot from him. He finally got tired of it and got out. Started his own business and has more money than he can spend now. It was the Army's loss. Should have let him do his job and left him alone.

Yes. I served with some Spec-5's and -6's, though the ranks had been discontinued, there were some who had not been changed over. As you say Major, some are not leader material but their knowledge, within a limited field, should not be wasted.

In this day of JOINT commands. Army requires technical expertise, without calling upon other services.