U.S. Army Rank Insignia of WW2
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
- Join us today as we look at the ranks and rank insignia of the U.S. Army during WW2.
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Music:
Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault, Medal of Honor: European Assault, and Call of Duty (Classic) Soundtracks
Sources:
• "United States Army Grade Insignia Since 1776" by Preston B. Perrenot
• www.navycs.com...
• www.navycs.com...
• history.army.m...
• veteran-voices...
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Note: We accidentally omitted the Technician 3rd Grade rank (the technician rank at the Staff Sergeant pay grade). They were generally used in the same positions as Tech 5 and 4, but with more experience. If there were any authorized explicitly in the TO&E, there were far fewer Tech 3s than Tech 4 or 5s. They were paid the same as a Staff Sergeant and were addressed as Staff Sergeant in conversation.
Hey great video, quick minor correction it happens all the time and not a big deal but you seem very detail oriented so I feel like it matters. The plural for sergeant major is sergeantS major, not sergeant majors. Similar to attorneys general not attorney generals. I don’t know much about word stuff and why exactly that’s the case, just that it is. Thanks again for great videos.
How many units were in a field army and corps ?
@@patricofritz4094corps 2 or more divisions, Army, 2 + corps, Army group multiple Armies, sizes above division varied greatly. Look up 12 army group.
@@danmorris8594 My bad but I forgot the amount of soldiers in the smaller units so from squads to divisions can you talk about that too ?
Do you think about making a video for the korea war?
The first General of the Army created in 1944 was George Marshall. The Army decided on "General of the Army" rather than "Field Marshal" because they didn't want to call him "Field Marshal Marshall".
I think that would sound badass lol
The military gave a number of officers the fifth star that year because Eisenhower was technically outranked by Montgomery. Those titles had already been established. The highest title is General of the Armies. Supposedly reserved for Washington (6 stars). Marshall is said to have held that rank but never wore more than 4 stars.
Also because the term “General of the Army” had precedent as the rank created in the US Civil War and granted whoever was the current Commanding General of the Union Army forces and thus the one general answerable only to the President. It was an ad-hoc rank, was signified by 4 stars, and was discontinued soon after the Civil War, so had no continuity with the modern rank of the same name or number of stars, but was a historical excuse not to use the term Field Marshall.
@@IONATVS It was created for Grant. And yes, wasn't used again until WW2.
It probably was decided on also because the Germans called theirs Field Marshal.
I've been doing heavy research for a game I am developing. These videos have been extremely valuable. Keep it up!
Glad it's helpful!
@devin Morse is it on mobile or console
@@ewashington4425 prob PC
@Mr shovel can you make it on mobile early access try it out for free
CONSOLE
Lt Gen Lesley McNair was killed in Normandy by a US aerial bomb that fell short. They found his three-star insignia, but apparently not much else. He was one of four US lieutenant generals to die in WW2.
😳
@@reidparker1848 How the hell can you cheer over the death of a US soldier in ww2 regardless ? If you are not Forrest-Gump-dumb I look down at you.
@@harcomou8395 Unless they're special cases, never look down upon Generals.
You know which special cases.
@@wisemankugelmemicus1701 Like Benning or Bragg?
@@warrenpuckett4203 I was talking more about war criminals in general
My father was a "Tech" 5th grade in WW II. He was in the D-day invasion as a Radio-Telephone man (mostly did Telephone work) and severed during the first part of the War trials after war.
My wife's step father was a Tech 5. he was a cook in an infantry company in Alaska.
Army vet here. This is so confusing lol
Former member of the E-4 mafia
Well let's be honest, this rank structure has changed ALOT since then.
@@andrewpestotnik5495 Yeah the only thing that didnt change much is the symbols for rank.
@@bigmoniesponge exactly
Check out the super specialist grades in the 60s sp5 sp6 sp7 sp8 😅😅😅
@@Lupinthe3rd. My dad was a spec5 in the 70s, they didn't do away with them until the 80s, maybe early 90s
My great grandfather was a tech 4th grade in ww2. The only reason I know is from his discharge papers and some of the medals and rank insignia he left behind. On his discharge papers is says his MOS was something to do with anti-aircraft guns.
I love the fact that you put the
Medal of Honor Vanguard music in this. The nostalgia.
glad this channel popped up right when you guys started to upload regularly. Please, keep it up!
Just became a subscriber. Google recommended your USMC WWII video, and I binged the rest. I'm a Navy vet who loves military history, and this channel is awesome.
Could we expect an awards video from the US Army during WWII? I'd be interested in seeing that elaborated upon.
"Command authority of a private" ie. commanding themselves alone.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing especially when you’re getting NCO pay
@@HisDudeness1986 lmao I know right
I see I'm not the only one thrilled with this post. The More We Know. Keep up the good work. Great Post.
And a military salute back to you. Thank You. Don't think for one minute we aren't on the battle field with you. We Are.
Are you joking...? Demonetized?? Why would UA-cam do that?! Pure high quality history content; what possible reason could they come up with to do that to you?
By the way, can you possibly produce this same type of informative video that covers the early and middle 20th century U.S. Navy? That’d be fantastic. Keep up the fine work. You’re greatly appreciated.
Because Google is owned and operated by Democrats who make a killing off of war but ate the men that fight them because the majority doesn’t vote Democrat. Never made sense to me when any democrats serve because they are working towards destroying the service. Look at the tranny the Navy is using to recruit
Good job!!! Only issue is “sergeant majors” should be “sergeants major” but that is a very very minuscule detail compared to the rest of the piece
Thank You for this small piece of history for the U.S. Army Ranks in WWII, I like this kind educational history and I really enjoy this kind of stuff. Great Presentation. Thanks Again.
Good explanation. I remember as a child asking my dad for an explanation of these ranks. He did a wonderful job. He was a Sgt in the ETO.
Thanks for posting this. It's always interesting to read about the history of the USA and USAF. When I was at the USAF Senior Noncommission Offier's Academy in 2004 I gave a talk about the Warrant Officer ranks and the use of Flight Officers during WWII. It's a fascinating bit of history. Also, if anyone's interested, I've left a link below to the Wikipedia articale on the USAAF's enlisted pilot program. The last sergeant pilot in the USAF retired in 1957.
As you mentioned, the warrants and the flight officers had very specialized jobs involving techincal skills, while the commisioned officers' careers had them headed to higher and higher levels of command. The AF had some carry-over of the warrants, but this generally tapered off over the next 40 years after the war.
As far as enlisted ranks in the Army go, it was very different in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s (when I came in). There were (are) nine enlisted grades, counted from the bottom up, with some variation of private names and stripes, NCO names and stripes, and the Senior NCOs. And of course, there's that whole era of Specialist ranks that came about in the 50s and were still going on for a bit into the 80s. All-in-all, it makes for great reading and viewing. Thanks so much for posting your video.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_Cadet_Training_Program_(USAAF)
Thanks for the input!
Love your videos! keep up the great work!
Thank you! Will do!
My father was Technician 3rd Grade during 1946 at Seoul Korea as a wrecker/mechanic just before the Korean War started
My dads grandfather was a staff sergeant technician. He was over there in okinawa
Great job on the video, i was too late for the war (1947 - 1950) and served during a time of drastic reduction in force (or drawdown as they called it) so there wasn't much room for advancement.
- Charlie, Cpl. US Army Signal Corps.
Love your videos there amazing! They are super interesting, so keep up the great work! Also do your think you can do a few more videos on the Vietnam War?
This video was suggested on the Between 2 Wars channel. I’m really glad I followed the link and subscribed. Thank you for an interesting and informative video.
Just found this channel and I subscribe instantly
Amazing video! I hope you would consider a video on U.S. Navy ranks!
Fantastic content! Well researched and presented! Keep up the amazing work!
love that Medal of Honor: Allied Assault music in the background
Vanguard to
Very nice review of the ranks. My dad was a Technical Corporal, T5 during WWII, 1944 to 1946 in Europe.
Thanks for the video! The WW2 enlisted ranks were always changing because there were so many men in uniform, I.e. too many Indians, not enough Chiefs. I was in the USAF in the early 70’s and I remembered when they changed some of the lower ranks and insignias. When you’re of the lower ranks, you’re treated like crap so the changes didn’t mean much. Some of the senior NCOs were still complaining that the USAF didn’t have Warrant Officers so their career path in rank would oftentimes hit a wall.
I like this especially the marine core ranks video now i can spit facts to ma friends
Good information. It would be good to do the ranks pre and early war too. There appears to have been an informal practice that companies would have a " Field First" who was the top EM while the unit was in the field away from the company . The First Sergeant was the Administrative head and normally continued his work at the Company area. This was not an official Rank but just a convention the Companies seemed to follow for day to day operations and probably more common in line units. Company Commanders had way more power on how they ran their company than they do now. These conventions are not well known now. .
One of the best videos, can you do the Vietnam war next? I think that would be awesome to watch. Great job!
My grandpa was a Jeep driver and started in the war as a Pfc specialist (not sure which class) and ended as a grade 4 technician, but sure enough he and everyone else always just said he was a sergeant
The Allied Assault theme creeping around in the background just makes this video for me.
Thanks for the great resource. I noticed that the pay for the Specialist rank/rates are 1922, the lowest being $25.05. The lowest in 1942, before their elimination, was $46.
I was at a flea market recently. Overheard an old guy who was in the Army. He was telling somebody else how he wanted to be promoted to corporal and by the time that was supposed to happen they came out with the specialist rank. He was pissed about that.
Army only has Spec 4 left, but they just announced that all Spec 4s will need to become Corporals before they can advance to Sgt.
Oh god that music
Can you do a organization video of Company or Battalion size on the Chinese Army/People’s Liberation Army, can’t seem to ever find much info on them.
my great grandfather was a tech corp, swerved as a light truck driver on luzon.
Hoping for a follow-on video on how the US Army ranks and insignias changed in the ten or fifteen years after the end of the war in Cold War Germany. My father served in Germany during that time in tank group.
wow that’s kind a interesting 🤔, what about evolution of the U.S Marine rifle squad (Ww1 to Now)
This video is amazing but i do have request. WW1 Ranks
( I may or may not be making a ww1 gmod rp)
So Sergeant Major was a position and not a rank in the 40s? When did Sergeant Major ranks appear?
Before 1920 it was a rank but then all the ranks near the Regimental Sgt Major level were consolidated into Master Sergeant and all the ones near Battalion Sgt Major were consolidated into Staff Sergeant. Today's Sergeant Major rank was created in 1959.
This website has a good timeline of the changes: uniform-reference.net/insignia/usarmy/usa_enlisted_chron.html
Battle Order Thanks, highly appreciate it.
When a specialist walked on the grass.
Thanks for posting this. Enlisted ranks during that period have been somewhat confusing. My father was a Tech 3 in the PTO. We still have his uniform coat. His younger brother was a Staff Sargent- an aerial gunner in the 15th Air Force. The oldest brother was a Captain. A 90-day wonder as he had an engineering degree. He commanded a "colored" Engineer Company in the PTO. We also have his uniform coat. I was under the impression that the all Technical ranks got slightly higher pay than the "normal" equivalent ranks. So my father would have had a high base rate than his younger brother. Of course, the younger brother also got flight pay.
One of the stories I heard was that all enlisted flight personnel in combat zones were at least an NCO. Corporal or better. This was done so that if they were shot down, by the Geneva Convention, they were not supposed to be forced into labor.
A Tech 3 was the same basic pay as a Staff Sgt.
i love this bgm, it was my childhood when the PSP first came about
Good job
Superb! My father was in a combat engineering unit in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. Many of the men were technicians fifth grade, and I wonder if this is because they were in an engineering unit. Nevertheless, great video. Wonderfully informative.
When You watch a War Movie you rarely see any Tech ranks in the Movie !!!
I'm currently watching Band of Brothers, and they use the tech ranks. That's why I'm watching this video; the ranks at the platoon level are so confusing.
Thank you 🙏🫡🇺🇸
While officers might pay extra for "gold plate" on their rank insignia, They were ONLY mere BRASS, where the term Big Brass or High Brass comes from. Don't confuse the "gold" for Brass when it comes to higher rank. A BRASS major is lower than a Silver Lt. Col. leaf.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines, which historically originated from the US military, still retains the technical sergeant rank long after the US renamed it sgt 1st class. Same role, though. Thanks for this history video. Keep it up.
Interesting, remnants can also be found in the US Air Force, which still has Technical Sergeant above Staff Sergeant and below Master Sergeant
The Air Force still has Technical Sergeants. That was my rank when I retired.
@@BigTrain175 Yes indeed, I believe so. We used to host USAF 13th Air Force at Clark AFB. I also remember the time when USAF had warrant officers and then did away with them.
@@gilanbarona9814 When I was at McGuire in the late 70s we had the last active duty Warrant Officer in Air Force. He ran the motor pool.
My father was a plank member in the 432nd Fighter Squadron 475th FG SW Pacific. He achieved the rank of Sgt. and was in charge of the squadron mess for the 432nd. He must have been good at what he did for his mess also fed the HQ officers and staff. He fed Col. Lindberg when he came to stay with the group on 2 occasions. There were very few privates and corporals in the squadron, but a hell of a lot of sergeants. The group has a museum in the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California.
Air Force decided to make enlisted aircrew members Sergeants.
Wow you sure uplaod fast
I got this one done faster because the next one is taking a lot of research and writing time lol
please do Marine, Army, and Navy WW1 ranks (USA)
He has done Marine ranks. Click on his avatar and it takes you to the list of videos.
The officer/nco helmet stripes were only an ETO thing.
Did the white stripe on the rear of the NCO/officers helmet exist prior to the Normandy invasion, June, 44?
What is ETO ?
Harsh Bansal - - ETO means: European Theatre of Operations
Gary W Good question.
Could we have an evolution of a british or Australian rifle squad
You missed the grade 2 with diamond. Done away with in 42. That was the first sgt in between wars.
Watching this video to understand what my great grandfather went through.
I’ve seen General Henry Hap Arnold’s five star General uniform at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. as he was he first and only General of the Air Force in the U.S. Air Force
i understand why present day army warrant officers are eligible to be helicopter pilot so the present day army still retains the flight capability specialist of warrant officers since nowadays air force pilots were commissioned officers. thanks a lot for the info
Pretty much the modern form of Warrant Officers being pilots was to get around limitations on the number of officers/end strength set by Congress. The commissioned officer pilots eventually go on to take command positions, and once they get high enough they stop flying. Warrant Officers keep flying
@@BattleOrder so they still maintain the capability and manpower management
@@criticalalfredo707 Yep. In any given unit the number of workers will always outnumber the number of leaders. Because of the way commissioned officer career progression works, it is advantageous to have relatively few commissioned officers in a unit (a handful of 1LTs to lead and train the new 2LTs who will replace them eventually) while keeping a larger force of pilots who can fly for their entire potentially long careers. It has generally been against the norm to give this job to enlisted personnel (at least since WW2), so warrant officers are the ticket (and they'd eventually get commissions anyways once they hit the Chief Warrant Officer grades)
Air Force got rid of Warrant Officers decades ago.
I am working on a show that uses world war 2 rank structure so this is gonna be very helpful, but i noticed you skipped over Tech 3rd grade, was that because they really were not around?
This was a mistake that we didn't catch before publishing. They were around, mostly likely as technicians who had worked their way up and filled roles similar to Tech 5 and Tech 4s, but with more expertise. If allotted in the TO&E, they were the least numberous of the Technicians. They got Staff Sergeant pay and were generally referred to as Staff Sergeant in conversation.
Battle Order thank you
I’m amazed that 2- 3- and 4-star generals were paid the same but had more responsibility as they increased in rank. Doesn’t seem fair.
In the field grade ranks. It was not unusual for the rank worn as the overseas rank. Often, they would revert to their actual paid rank upon return to the states. Generally they stayed overseas for the duration. Only if they were diciplined and sent home would they lose the higher rank worn overseas. This is similar to the brevet ranks worn in the civil war. I. E. Custer.
This content is awesome! Can we get videos for nations like Japan and Australia?
Thanks mate! And possible, Australian stuff during Vietnam was pretty interesting. Accurate info on Japanese stuff is harder to come by unless you understand Japanese which I do not lol
@@BattleOrder That's awesome! Australia is one of my favorite places so it's amazing to learn about. Keep making great content though.
PLEASE MAKE A U.S. NAVY RANK FROM THAT ERA TOO.
9:55
Meanwhile the Polish: looks like a second lieutenant to me lmao
In James Jones’ pre WWII classic From Here to Eternity , the soldiers speak of a grade called a “1st and 4th” ....does ANYBODY know what they’re talking about ? If so...what did the insignia look like , what authority did they have etc?
Bill Mauldin of the Willie & Joe Comix wrote a book in 1947 it is a real great source of rare lost knowledge of how G.I.'s talked & their life in combat, Priceless info. He was a first 3rd or 4th then was promoted to T4, Tech 4. He mentions that this occurred when they switched the ranks in '42. Anyways, it is explained here in the beginning that private/techs w/ the Single Stripe w/ 1,2,3 etc. "rockers". A private "FIRST" class (Pfc),..."THIRD" tech grade. Hence First, Third or 1st & 4th. sorry for the lengthy but precise explanation. lol.
Hey I know it’s not a big deal but when referring to plural enlisted soldier you put the rank for the plurality so instead of “Private First Classes” or “Sergeant Majors” it souls be “Privates First Class” and “Sergeants Major”
Noted
my dad was a grade 4 sargent in ww-2,battle of the bulge,he was in the 9th army
despise the military but this was a really good video, nice work!
Could've picked a better video to comment this... These are literally the guys who dismantled Nazi Germany.
Any chance you could cover why the Cheverons went from pointing downward up to the civil war, to an up pointing position shortly after?
Can you do marine ranks from WW1 please
Can you make a video about ww2 navy officer ranks? Of all types on a ship including aviation pilots
As a Flight Engineer currently, I'm a bit upset we aren't Warrant Officer's anymore... lol
i like the medal of honor music
Can we do modern U.S. Army Ranks, to see how muck we have changed from WW2 to Now.
There were a lot of changes between 1946 and 1985. There would have to be two or three different videos.
It is my understanding that when the General of the Army rank was created (Pershing first) George Washington was retroactively promoted to the same rank backdated to 1783 (year may be off) so that he would always be the most senior general officer in the American army. Anybody know offhand if that is true?
I think 5 Star Generals were also in the Navy as Fleet Admirals such as Nimitz and Halsey to name a few.
Nice.
You should cover German Military ranks
I could, but @HandGrenadeDivision has a pretty good and popular video about it already: ua-cam.com/video/eFFtwf7x9Z8/v-deo.html&t
Hey can you do all of this but for the marines?? Please
We did
You talked about the structure of the squad but not a platoon or company or battalion etc.
@@CALL_SIGN_DUCK42 I mean we did basically this video (on ranks) but for the US Marines during WWII a couple weeks ago.
@@CALL_SIGN_DUCK42 Click on his avatar and it takes you to his collection of videos.
Please make a video about medals that could be awarded in ww2.
My grand father was a First Sargeant in the U.S. Army and was later bumped to Master Sargeant. He was in the Signal Corps during WWII and was in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Normandy and later Germany. He was fluent in Ukrainian / Russian, and both High and Low German dialects. Which made him a major asset to both Omar Bradley and George S. Patton.
I see insignia with chevrons above and rockers below, but note they were inverted prior to WWI. What’s the story?
Enlisted had Grades of pay (G7 to G1) and warrant officers and officers had Pay Periods (1 to 8).
This information is in the video but okay
We need to bring back the Spec/Tech grades.
That and get rid of the "up or out" idea that has been part of the US military since the end of WW2.
@@erwin669 Agreed. The military's idea that it can make anyone a "leader" and that everyone should be one, has led to the widespread issues of toxic and just plain bad senior leadership.
Any U.S. Air Force videos?
WWII Naval ranks next??
This channel is soooooo underated...so sad
Private grade 1's pay of 50 bucks a month is equivalent to 800 bucks. A MONTH.
I remember when I was a PFC in 2002 making $1200 a month and I thought that was high living. It helps out when most of your food and housing are paid for.
WO and 2LT bars and Major oak leaf are brass.
Not in the Air Force, they are gold.
Question: 9:21 what is the origin of oak leaves representing majors/lieutenant colonels? Why an oak leaf?
Oak leaves are a common motif in western militaries, which I believe is derived from Roman tradition of using oak leaves as a symbol of power. If you've ever seen a picture of a Julius Caesar type wearing a crown of leaves on their head, it's a oak leaf wreath.
We also have a video that covers the evolution/introduction of new officer rank insignias over time: ua-cam.com/video/etRrNETXVc0/v-deo.html
Could you dedicate a video to the origins of chevrons?
All right Private go take that hill! (private says: What! Do that! I want a raise!!)
While officers' ranks have remained stable, for some reason the Army cannot seem to do the same for the enlisted ranks. Confusing, this persistent alteration.. The British army seems to have figured the problem out and, as far as I am aware, has had few changes over the years. I wish the US Army would chuck the "Specialist" grade and the rocker on the PFC insignia. And while the folks in charge are at it, they might change the chevron back to its pointing down position, again as the British do and as the US Army did until around the turn of the 20th century.
how did pay change with more than 3 years of service?
5% pay increase every 3 years.
@@BattleOrder thanks for the answer
what is this S-2, S-3 and so on that you talk about? in Band of brothers they also use that term but i am unsure what it really means.
They're staff officers for units battalion and above. S-2 would be an intelligence officer, S-3 would be an operations officer. What the numbers correspond to is listed here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staff_(military)#Continental_staff_system
7:18 the mentioned paygrade of the Chief Warrant Officer differs from the show value. Which one is correct?
$2,100 per year as stated divided by 12 is $175 per month as shown on screen.
@@BattleOrder oh, I missheard the "per year"
Do navy next
Wonder if being a CPL sucked back then as it does now.
Corporals in WW1 and WW2 were considered NCOs and assisted Sergeants. They were "Lance Sergeants" who either led a file of men or were Acting Squad Leaders. It was reduced in importance in the postwar years with the adoption of Fire Teams. In Korea and Vietnam they were usually either promotable Support arm NCOs or broken in rank Combat Arm Sergeants.