Posted on Sep 3, 2015
What is the difference between a Specialist and a Corporal in the Army? Inquiring Marine minds want to know.
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CPL
SPC
Rank
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Specialists are E-4's who perform non-leadership duties. A Corporal is considered a NCO with leadership responsibilities. This rank has been seen less since WWII. All E-4's important.
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SSG (Join to see)
Yes They are. But, when I was an E4 in Korea. I was in second command in my section, but towards the end of my tour, my section had a CPL that came there. I felt some way because I had proved myself and now I had to answer to him instead of me discussing issues with the SGT. I had 3 months left, but when your in a leadership role,its hard to come down from that role.
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A corporal is a NCO and a specialist is not. Corporal can only be held by a combat MOS such as infantry or artillery where as specialist is any MOS.
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SSG Byron Hewett
As retired SSG I held the rank of Spc and then CPL because I was in combat arms unit - CPL does NOT require a combat mos. You mainly see CPL on the combat arms side of the house. If you see CPL in non combat arms units its because of 2 things - 1. The mtoe requires a CPL in a specific slot. OR - 2. Its because a CPL transfered in to a non combat arms unit. The Army is not going to demote you to Spc just because there is not CPL slot but they will try to promote you as soon as they can - not difficult to understand I hope.
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SGT Kristin Myers
From the Aviation perspective... We were lacking NCOs and they were needed for supervisor and signing off work done on the aircraft. Our MTOE slots for NCOs was full but we needed more, especially during deployment. Several of our more highspeed SPCs were promoted to CPL so we could have more of what we needed.
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SPC (Join to see)
Not true, any MOS can be a corporal, though it is a little more common in combat arms.
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As a specialist i was laterally promoted(4187 Personnel Action Form) to CPL because I was filling a Training NCO position (E-7) in operations. I held that position for two months before being laterally promoted. So even as a Specialist, if your work ethic is that of NCO, you can be put into NCO position.
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My advanced training instructor simply said, "Cpl is two mosquito wings fucking. You just a sergeants' bitch." He's essentially right. No offense to the readers, just quoting.
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CPL(P) (Join to see)
1LT William Clardy - of course I was being anecdotal LT. It's true it's the man not the rank, but when there is a pcs or tdy and nobody knows you, the rank meaning is amplified.
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1LT William Clardy
I can't honestly disagree with you on that point, CPL(P) (Join to see). I've always been fortunate enough that I seemed to get handed opportunities to establish my reputation quickly in new settings -- e.g., I attended BNCOC as a corporal, and somehow made honor grad ahead of the sergeants.
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1LT (Join to see)
LT, maturity goers along way with opportunity and respect by superiors. I would also interject that every command is different, regardless of how wonderful the soldier is as a leader. Honor grad is earned, not given away, so you must have exceeded your peers. Congratulations.
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The difference between minimal respect and outright dismissal. SP4 is a parking lot, where there are many qualified, but few spots to move into SGT stripes. I hated it and it was the primary cause of my ETS.
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1stSgt (Join to see) Top
Back in the day it was one of 4 things. 1 If you had CPL rank you were in combat arms and likely Infantry as a team leader. 2 you were in a support unit and you could almost walk on water and were being groomed for E-5. 3 you were a major kiss @ss and were despised by the rest of the E-4's. 4 you were in the national guard and that state did not use the PC4 rank (this applies to one state that I ever saw, I think it was Iowa).
Back in the day it was one of 4 things. 1 If you had CPL rank you were in combat arms and likely Infantry as a team leader. 2 you were in a support unit and you could almost walk on water and were being groomed for E-5. 3 you were a major kiss @ss and were despised by the rest of the E-4's. 4 you were in the national guard and that state did not use the PC4 rank (this applies to one state that I ever saw, I think it was Iowa).
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SGT Jerrold Pesz
Actually there is one other way to become a corporal and that is by court martial. When a sergeant is busted to E4 they usually make him a corporal so that he is still an NCO. I saw that happen a couple of times and the rank is permanent (until or unless he gets promoted again). We also had one E4 transfer in when I was at Ft. Jackson who was actually a corporal through that plan. He was approaching retirement as a corporal. He was actually a good soldier most of the time but had a drinking problem. In those days it was hard to get ran off because the army was dragging people in off of the streets and wanted warm bodies.
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SSG John Erny
SGT Jerrold Pesz - Right! I saw a Drill CPL once at FT Lee, at reception. That is the only time I ever saw CPL with a drill instructors head gear. Rumor was he bot busted from 5 to 4. This would have been 1988.
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The corporal is the base of the NCO ranks, serving as leader of the smallest Army units, principally; teams leaders. Like sergeant, corporals are responsible for the individual training, personal appearance and cleanliness of their soldiers. As the command sergeant major is known as the epitome of success in the NCO corps, the corporal is the beginning of the NCO corps. As the NCO corps is known as the backbone of the Army, the corporal is the backbone of the NCO corps.
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CPL(P) (Join to see)
In my case there wasn't any E5 slots available in the battalion even though I had enough points and had been to the board recommended for promotion.
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Specialist is a tech rank and has no command authority. A corporal is a NCO and is in charge of things like a crew served weapon. Machine gun and such
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