Posted on Jul 21, 2019
Why did the Army do away with the specialist ranks of SP/5 and above?
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It was a measure to thin the ranks of combat service support soldiers and reclassify the specialist Military Occupation Skills to combat support and Combat Arms. The specialist E-4 rank was maintained because at the time only Corporals were former NCOs that were busted to E-4. This was done during the early post Vietnam days when the army was involved in a reduction in force. I remember reclassified SSG & SFC into the Infantry that couldn't lead a fire team. I had a platoon sergeant that spent more time on sickcall than on duty. I was glad to see him sent to the motor-pool. There were a lot of SP5 & SP6 that ETS to keep from going into combat arm. I also, saw a lot of good Officers RIF back to NCO Ranks during this period. There was a lot of BS Drills conducted to drive people out! Same patterns were started in 2008. Think about it..................
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The 'Powers That Be' (Congress) decided that every soldier equal to NCO rank should be (another McNally-ish sentiment) a leader and that everyone wanted to be (if I were in charge I could do it better) a leader. That's my opinion.
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Cpl Bernard Bates
I was a Cpl. in the Marine Corp.I had to join the Army as a PFC. 15 months later I was a SP/5. The problem I had with the SP/5 rank was that if the situation called for and NCO. you acted as an NCO. If a Pfc or below was needed you were it. Sometimes Sgt. of the Guard sometimes walking a Post. I don't think that was right. I bet a lot of other SP/5,s were put in that same position. Semper Fi.
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I was a SP/5 but officially a Corporal was a NCO and I was not. A guy in my unit was buck SGT. He was given that because our authorized SSG was not due in for 90 days. He got busted to Corporal for stealing a painting off the wall in the rod and gun club one night when he was drunk. Camp Peri, Weisbaden Germany 1968. The accountable officer a new 2LT said bobby you are to supervise police call. And the barracks for the next 30 days and stay away from Craig. He is the boss. Bobby Fairchild was his name. He got out after his enlistment was up. You never recover from a court martial.
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SP5 Leo Fitz
i was a SP5 late 60s to early 70s. The notion that we weren't leaders is misleading. Most people posting now in the new army weren't even born yet. I was in aviation and hard stripes below E6 were hard to find. WE were in charge of shops, squad leaders, and assistant platoon sgts. We had jobs to do and did them. I know the grunts were different bur don,t throw stones if you weren't there.
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My HonDiscCertificate had “Sepcialist”Five misspelled so reprinted with a chuckle. I have both certificates!
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I can only speak for myself, but I was in MEDCOM most of my career, and between '82 and 2000 I was Spec4, 5 and 6, until promotion to SFC in 2000. I'm not sure, but I'm not aware of any Army-wide, unversal cutoff date for the specialist ranks during my time in - maybe it had to do with MEDCOM being a large part of my career, or maybe it was gradually (& dependent on MOS perhaps) phased out. Sorry I don't have a better answer for you.
Warriors Forever!
-Ed Boles
Warriors Forever!
-Ed Boles
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My thought is that the Army should've kept SP5 and SP6. I can see the higher E-7 and above being reserved for SNCO positions only, but it would be good for people who are very proficient in their occupational skills to be able to move up to E-5 and E-6 outside of the NCO regiment.
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Oddly enough I was an sp5, but my last DD214, listed my as a Sgt. That was 1979
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