Why is it so rare to see the rank of Corporal in the Army?

Cpl Ryan McGrath — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 00:08:33 -0400

Why is it so rare to see the rank of corporal in the army? In my interactions with the army I almost exclusively saw specialist. When I would see two stripes on a soldier I had to do a double take. What's the reason?

Response by SGT(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 31 at 2018 12:43 AM

SGT(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 00:43:56 -0400

At the duty station i'm currently at, there are plenty of CPL.
1. Usually that rank is given to that soldier once they appear before the board and received their promotable status.
2. SM didn't attended Basic Leader Course. But have a promotable status.
3. Have already completed the two, but did not make points for their specific MOS for SGT.
4. Their Chain of Command feels that soldier has potential to become a SGT.
5. Your not around a huge Army installation to see all of these CPL

I hope that helps.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 31 at 2018 3:10 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 03:10:00 -0400

Chances are, if you're a Marine around Army, you are around support MOS's. Combat units like a BCT are more likely to laterally promote a Specialist to Corporal than a support unit like a hospital, medical or the Reserves. It really comes down to the unit and whether or not the E4 is in a leadership position or not.
The USMC is notorious for filling vacancies with lower ranks (E4 team leaders, E5 Squad Leaders, E6 Platoon Sergeant), which is something SECDEF Mattis specifically addressed recently, so as a Marine you're going to be used to seeing a lot more Corporals than would be usual for the Army.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 31 at 2018 7:29 AM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 07:29:53 -0400

Corporal rank isn't part of an Army MTOE and is only used for very specific reasons. Reason being is if a unit latteral promotes (not really a promotion, but that's the best way to explain it) a SPC to a CPL they have to be filling a position of an E5 or above. The drawback to that is two-fold, that position is now being reported as filled at the higher rank and the individual is still filling one of the allocated SPC positions given to a unit from HRC. All of that is fine if the unit is cool with it, but most aren't and that in a nutshell is why you don't see it very much.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Aug 31 at 2018 2:27 PM

CSM Darieus ZaGara — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 14:27:26 -0400

The Army, generally only issues CPL. when a very high speed specialist exhibits the attributes of an NCO and the unit is short Sgt’s. Thank you for your service.

Response by SGT Christopher Hayden made Sep 1 at 2018 4:06 AM

SGT Christopher Hayden — Sat, 01 Sep 2018 04:06:08 -0400

Its not that rare at all at Fort Hood. I see them all over the place.

Response by CPL James Seal made Mar 7 at 2020 12:36 AM

CPL James Seal — Sat, 07 Mar 2020 00:36:34 -0500

When I was in you could work 2 paygrades up or one down. I filled an E--6 slot as a Corporal. Permanent orders to corporal were mandatory.

Response by CPL Sarah Stilwell made May 8 at 2020 2:44 AM

CPL Sarah Stilwell — Fri, 08 May 2020 02:44:22 -0400

CPL is mostly given in combat arms units who have a shortage of NCOs. My first three weeks in an aviation brigade in iraq we had three helicopter crashes and lost somewhere along 22 people both in and outside the brigade who were simply traveling to and from the fog. It was also stop loss so they were loosing even more people than they could retain. So CDRs started looking for high performing E3 and SPC ranks to fill the need of NCOs. This is typical of wartime and doesnt occur as often in peacetime. The most CPLs I knew were 11B (Infantry)