What was the purpose of the higher Specialist ranks?

I wore SP4, SPC5, and SP6. The history of ranks is found at:http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Catalog/HeraldryMulti.aspx?CategoryId=9168&grp=2&menu=Uniformed%20Services. I note that at least one comment said that the Specialist ranks went away as Warrant Officers came online. That is not correct, Warrant Officer goes back to 1896 (http://usacac.army.mil/organizations/cace/wocc/woprogram#history) predating the Specialist Ranks.

While at one time the intent may have been to differentiate between leadership and technicians, by the time I was in it was pretty much an MOS thing. Everyone I knew in Combat Arms was hard stripe from E5 and up, Satellite Communications on the other hand (at least from 75-80) was Specialist through E6, then hard stripe after that, although I and some others were erroneously promoted to SSG rather than SP6 and we wore that rank for a year. When our rank was pinned on the SGM pointed out that even though we wore SSG rank, we would still report to and follow the direction of the SP6 that we were working for the day before.

As a former specialist I would disagree with the notion that we should bring back those ranks. The specialist ranks had cutoff scores for promotion, just like the hard stripes. There had to be a slot for promotion just like all the other ranks. As far as the "leadership" idea went, in my reality if there was a perk associated with the NCO rank, then I was not an NCO. If there was a duty that folks would prefer not to do, then the Specialists were considered to be on a par with the NCO of the same pay grade. And in those MOSs that were promoted as Specialists, junior Specialists were under the supervision and control of senior Specialists.

As it was explained to me the biggest difference was a specialist had no command authority where hard stripes did. Many of the specialist MOS's had no corresponding MOS in hard striped MOS's.

I know the original idea was to recruit and retain skilled blue collar workers.

Just to keep it real... i once witnessed a Sgt E-5 tell a Spec-7 to shut up & do as he was told. Womack Army Hospital, Ft Bragg NC, Sept 1974.

They were specialist in there feels but there were not in command positions

The SPC rank/rate was set apart from the NCO to distinguish the Technical/Medical/Admin personnel. With that being said the corporal E4 is considered an NCO as opposed to the SP/4 grade and hence, the NCO would just about always be put into the position of Leadership rather than a SPC. These remarks can be expanded further but too much space is needed.

The Specialist ranks were created to reward personnel with higher degrees of experience and technical knowledge. Appointment to either specialist or non-commissioned officer status was determined by military occupational specialty (MOS). These are solders, who are highly trained at a particular skill, but whom you would not necessarily want to be in the position of an NCO.

Allow for higher ranks in technical fields.

Great question and SFC Anonymous explained it very well!

My Dad was a SP-5 at Bien Hoa and Phu Loi Army Airfields in Vietnam. He was a Powerplant mechanic for the AH-1 (Cobra) and mechanic & Crew Chief qualified on the UH-1 Iroquois (Huey) helicopters, from 1970 to 71'. He said that he preferred the SP rank as he did not have to deal with people, their personalities or their politics, just machines. While he did not hold an infantry MOS, he said that he had his fair share of combat. From manning the M-60 on the Huey/Slick, performing perimeter guard watch at night, to going into the jungle to retrieve dead pilots and soldiers while stripping the helicopters for parts. If we did not get to the crash sites soon enough, they would already be stripped and the parts they needed would appear on the black market.

Regarding the Specialist 5 rank, he stated that as long as none of his birds did not get red tagged for poor maintnance and sub-par engineering, he was left alone by the NCOs'. It makes it easier to stay out of the cross hairs or under the proverbial radar as long as you do your job.