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Military folks, what is your rank?

What is/was your rank/grade

  • E1-E4

    Votes: 5 20.8%

  • E5-E6

    Votes: 11 45.8%

  • E7

    Votes: 3 12.5%

  • E8

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • E9

    Votes: 1 4.2%

  • W1-W5

    Votes: 1 4.2%

  • O1-O3

    Votes: 3 12.5%

  • O4-O5

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • O6

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • O7-O10

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    24
Wiseone said:
Goodness knows I wish I could change my name


All LTs are the same, 2LT, 1LT, doesn't matter don't ya know.
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Wasn't like that for me in NAM. 2Lt's acted like Generals. While First LT's tended to listen to the Sgts. There was Always a Difference when I was in. ;)
 
MMC said:
Wasn't like that for me in NAM. 2Lt's acted like Generals. While First LT's tended to listen to the Sgts. There was Always a Difference when I was in. ;)
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I used to get new officers assigned to our branch and they had this fun notion that when they got there they were 'in charge'. Our O-6 usually squared them away pretty quick. OIC means follow your senior NCO around, listen, and if he tells you anything your only response should be "oh...I see".

Different military today than yesterday. By the time I got out we had a bunch of CMSGTs bucking to make E-10. Couldn't stand the politics.
 
Mathematician said:
I teach the core courses for areas like crypto, combinatorics and number theory being my specialties, but more than half of my time is spent in research.
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Well teaching to USA military must be a great experience :) . I tried applying to "Bondsteel" once since they had established a small faculty inside there as a branch of another big University. But the closest I got in as a civilian was of course the security checkpoint.

I do not think that my application and documents were considered for I got them right from where I had left them (and it was not inside the base neither). Not much from then the faculty mysteriously closed.

One of those strange experiences where when one gets close to a job one wants so much mysteriously disappears. I thought I was getting somewhere important and it vanished.
 
Redress said:
You are an MM? Dunno why, but I always assumed you where an ET.

So you do dirtier work than 99.99 % of the men in this country...
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LOL

I've been in the bilges, of both a carrier and submarines. I've been inside a couple of condensers and just recently a distilling unit on a submarine (tearing it apart). I've been covered in lube oil and dirty water (in fact, I've spent a great deal of time breathing in lube oil during my career). I've cleaned out lube oil purifiers and strainers, and cleaned up many valves. Burns from hot piping and valves suck. And I've even gotten a broken nose from a valve that literally broke while I was helping in its operation.
 
APACHERAT said:
I believe she's referred to as a snipe. ;- ) Better than being referred to as a deck ape.

Have no idea if those terms are used today.
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Not nearly as often in the nuclear world as on conventional ships. I know what it means but it wasn't really used on the ship I was on to describe those of us in the engine rooms. I'm actually not sure how often it is used on conventional ships nowdays either.
 
APACHERAT said:
I believe that only the Air Force doesn't have WO's.

I have no idea why E-5 is linked to E-6. ?

During the Vietnam War, any rank E-6 and above were considered to be lifers.

The Marines E-3 Lance Corporal of today is nothing more than a glorified PFC. Back when they brought back the L/Cpl rank in the early 60's it usually had some meaning. No real additional responsibilities but enough to keep you out of any real #### details. But when you made E-4 Cpl, it was a whole lot of new responsibilities, usually being responsible for well being and lives of three Marines. (The Rule of Three)

The Army's enlisted rank structure was really weird during the Vietnam War. All of the different specialist ranks, as if they were Navy ratings.
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The Air Force no longer has WOs. They never could figure out what to do with them. I saw a couple stateside and maybe two more in Vietnam.

I left the Air Force in 1971 as an E-4, sergeant, USAF Security Police, that rank and grade no longer exists either in the Air Force. At the time, due to the war, the Air Force needed more low level NCOs, thus E-4's became buck sergeants. All the responsibility, but none of the benefits. Even NCO clubs were restricted to E-5 and above. Making E-5 under 4 was difficult, not impossible, but not easy to do.

Vietnam 69-70, volunteered.
 
VanceMack said:
I used to get new officers assigned to our branch and they had this fun notion that when they got there they were 'in charge'. Our O-6 usually squared them away pretty quick. OIC means follow your senior NCO around, listen, and if he tells you anything your only response should be "oh...I see".
Different military today than yesterday. By the time I got out we had a bunch of CMSGTs bucking to make E-10. Couldn't stand the politics.
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Good commanders know to not make their LTs just follow their PSGs dummy corded to their hip. LT years are about growth and experience before you hit Captain and can really screw something up, a Platoon and can function without an LT because that PSG has 10-12-14 years of experience behind him, but a company cannot function without a Captain. It needs a good company commander not only for UCMJ purposes where a 1SG is literally unable by regulation to conduct company grade Article 15s but also there's a clear split in the type of training and experience the 1SG and CO have received and each one needs to be good at their roles for the company to truely function as it should.

That being said of course any LT worth anything knows he absolutely needs a PSG/NCOIC to make things happen. I remember once I was tasked to execute a range as the OIC on few short notice, and perhaps I had done several in the past and knew what needed to be done I was able to do so, but still the first thing I did was find someone to make an NCOIC even in the short term. In this case it was a high-speed specialist who I tasked to conduct some NCO business like retrieve lists of names from the various companies attending this range so we could determine how many people were going, to check with the BN Land and Ammo shop to ensure our ammo allotment made sense for the number of people going out. As a high speed specialist he knew that by the FM it could a minimum of 58 rounds to properly qualify with the M16 assuming each firer used all 18 rounds to zero, because we knew everyone used 40 rounds to qualify. In the meantime I could take the BN OPORD for the range and break it down into something simpler for the companies and Soldiers, then when I got that list of firers I found myself a good NCO to take over as NCOIC.

As a company XO an LT should be expected to understand the entire sustainment aspect of their company, every officer needs an understanding of logistics and the XO slot is the time to do it before taking command. And as a PL they should be able to understand the maintenance process for their PLT and track the status of their platoons equipment and the training plan.

LTs should as Platoon Leaders be involved with the preparation of orders and the planning of training for their platoons, in addition to the accountability of property, if they deploy to somewhere like Afghanistan they should also be expected to act in that role between the company and PLT to receive the mission and translate it into orders usable by their PLT. That planning factor is a critical skill for any officer and they should learn it during their LT years. If an LT just follows around an NCO their whole time doing nothing but everything he says and never taking any responsibilty for themselves it may return short term gains for that BN/CO commander but it will hurt in the long term if that LT can't be a company commander when he becomes a Captain.
 
Wiseone said:
Good commanders know to not make their LTs just follow their PSGs dummy corded to their hip. LT years are about growth and experience before you hit Captain and can really screw something up, a Platoon and can function without an LT because that PSG has 10-12-14 years of experience behind him, but a company cannot function without a Captain. It needs a good company commander not only for UCMJ purposes where a 1SG is literally unable by regulation to conduct company grade Article 15s but also there's a clear split in the type of training and experience the 1SG and CO have received and each one needs to be good at their roles for the company to truely function as it should.

That being said of course any LT worth anything knows he absolutely needs a PSG/NCOIC to make things happen. I remember once I was tasked to execute a range as the OIC on few short notice, and perhaps I had done several in the past and knew what needed to be done I was able to do so, but still the first thing I did was find someone to make an NCOIC even in the short term. In this case it was a high-speed specialist who I tasked to conduct some NCO business like retrieve lists of names from the various companies attending this range so we could determine how many people were going, to check with the BN Land and Ammo shop to ensure our ammo allotment made sense for the number of people going out. As a high speed specialist he knew that by the FM it could a minimum of 58 rounds to properly qualify with the M16 assuming each firer used all 18 rounds to zero, because we knew everyone used 40 rounds to qualify. In the meantime I could take the BN OPORD for the range and break it down into something simpler for the companies and Soldiers, then when I got that list of firers I found myself a good NCO to take over as NCOIC.

As a company XO an LT should be expected to understand the entire sustainment aspect of their company, every officer needs an understanding of logistics and the XO slot is the time to do it before taking command. And as a PL they should be able to understand the maintenance process for their PLT and track the status of their platoons equipment and the training plan.

LTs should as Platoon Leaders be involved with the preparation of orders and the planning of training for their platoons, in addition to the accountability of property, if they deploy to somewhere like Afghanistan they should also be expected to act in that role between the company and PLT to receive the mission and translate it into orders usable by their PLT. That planning factor is a critical skill for any officer and they should learn it during their LT years. If an LT just follows around an NCO their whole time doing nothing but everything he says and never taking any responsibilty for themselves it may return short term gains for that BN/CO commander but it will hurt in the long term if that LT can't be a company commander when he becomes a Captain.
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If an LT takes the time to actually learn what the military is all about rather than assume that because they went to ROTC and graduated with a degree in geography that they somehow are now leaders of men and know more than the guys that have more time in a combat zone than they have months in service, they may indeed be effective leaders. They will certainly HAVE responsibility...no doubt. Thats part of the gig. But there is assumed respect and earned resect. IMO, Good LTs should behave in much the same manner a good O6-O9 would behave...trust their SNCO and learn everything they can.
Ive seen units that have LTs with that "you will respect mah authoritay" mentality...its not pretty. Ive also seen some exceptional young officers.
 
VanceMack said:
If an LT takes the time to actually learn what the military is all about rather than assume that because they went to ROTC and graduated with a degree in geography that they somehow are now leaders of men and know more than the guys that have more time in a combat zone than they have months in service, they may indeed be effective leaders. They will certainly HAVE responsibility...no doubt. Thats part of the gig. But there is assumed respect and earned resect. IMO, Good LTs should behave in much the same manner a good O6-O9 would behave...trust their SNCO and learn everything they can.
Ive seen units that have LTs with that "you will respect mah authoritay" mentality...its not pretty. Ive also seen some exceptional young officers.
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I don't disagree at all.
 
While stationed at Offutt, AFB, Strategic Air Command HQ, there was so much rank on that base it was oppressive for everyone. It was the belly of the SAC beast and military bearing was off the charts 24/7. At one time I think we had 22 flag rank officers and 200+ full birds. Everything, everyone was squared away every minute.

One day I was walking down the steps in front of the SAC HQ building, "The Hill", where the command center was housed deep underground. I wasn't paying particular attention to anyone when in a loud voice someone said, "Airman, are you in the habit of not saluting officers?"

I was on duty, boots bloused, white parachute cord laces, white ascot, Security Police badge, Smith and Wesson Model 15 Combat Masterpiece and spit shined like a sumbitch. I looked up and saw a brand spanking new 2nd LT and decided it would be a safe gamble to **** with him.

"Sir, if you are new to the base you are probably not familiar with the base reg that states that because of all the rank going in and out of the Hill salutes are not required in the immediate area of the building." Which was total and complete bull****. LOL!

The 2LT apologized and thanked me for informing him. I saluted and said, "Not a problem, sir. I'm glad to have been of assistance. It happens a lot with people newly assigned to the base." :mrgreen:

Knowing the new 2LT didn't want to look like an FNG, I figured he would refrain from saluting in the area. I'm just sorry I wasn't around when he got his butt reamed for not saluting some full bird who was having a bad day.
 
Risky Thicket said:
While stationed at Offutt, AFB, Strategic Air Command HQ, there was so much rank on that base it was oppressive for everyone. It was the belly of the SAC beast and military bearing was off the charts 24/7. At one time I think we had 22 flag rank officers and 200+ full birds. Everything, everyone was squared away every minute.

One day I was walking down the steps in front of the SAC HQ building, "The Hill", where the command center was housed deep underground. I wasn't paying particular attention to anyone when in a loud voice someone said, "Airman, are you in the habit of not saluting officers?"

I was on duty, boots bloused, white parachute cord laces, white ascot, Security Police badge, Smith and Wesson Model 15 Combat Masterpiece and spit shined like a sumbitch. I looked up and saw a brand spanking new 2nd LT and decided it would be a safe gamble to **** with him.

"Sir, if you are new to the base you are probably not familiar with the base reg that states that because of all the rank going in and out of the Hill salutes are not required in the immediate area of the building." Which was total and complete bull****. LOL!

The 2LT apologized and thanked me for informing him. I saluted and said, "Not a problem, sir. I'm glad to have been of assistance. It happens a lot with people newly assigned to the base." :mrgreen:

Knowing the new 2LT didn't want to look like an FNG, I figured he would refrain from saluting in the area. I'm just sorry I wasn't around when he got his butt reamed for not saluting some full bird who was having a bad day.
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We used to mess with the pinger LT pilots pretty mercilessly, usually with the help of the majors and lt cols.
 
E4 (spec), 1 enlistment ~90-95
D Co. 3/505th PIR 82nd Abn
 
Got out at 9.5 years as a 7. Army, 35 series.
 
Entered service as a Seaman Recruit, made it to Seaman Apprentice, and then was accepted at Navy Officer Candidate School. Spent 20 weeks in Newport, Rhode Island before being commissioned as an Ensign. Got out three years later as a full Lieutenant (0-3).
 
Wiseone said:
Goodness knows I wish I could change my name


All LTs are the same, 2LT, 1LT, doesn't matter don't ya know.
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Unless you are a Navy Lieutenant - and maybe Coast Guard, too. In which case you are the equivalent of a captain.
 
DDD said:
Well teaching to USA military must be a great experience :) . I tried applying to "Bondsteel" once since they had established a small faculty inside there as a branch of another big University. But the closest I got in as a civilian was of course the security checkpoint.

I do not think that my application and documents were considered for I got them right from where I had left them (and it was not inside the base neither). Not much from then the faculty mysteriously closed.

One of those strange experiences where when one gets close to a job one wants so much mysteriously disappears. I thought I was getting somewhere important and it vanished.
Click to expand...

I couldn't be happier with my job duties. I get to combine my passions of mathematics, academia and the military. My mother retired a CPO, grandpa a SMSgt, and the uncle I looked up to as a kid was an AF Col. As a young kid, I wanted to pilot like my uncle, but a history of a few seizures wiped that option. Grandpa worked in crypto, so he introduced me to it at a young age when he realized I loved math.
 
I forgot to add that my son was in the Army (2 years as a chocko and he transferred to the regs for another 5 years). He was peacekeeping in East Timor for 7 months and my daughter was in the Army for 6 years, her husband was in the Army for 10 years.
 
Risky Thicket said:
The Air Force no longer has WOs. They never could figure out what to do with them. I saw a couple stateside and maybe two more in Vietnam.
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I think it was a combination of the commissioned officers not wanting to share the pilot slots and the fact that the AF enlisted ranks were fairly specialized anyway. The creation of the E-8 and E-9 grades in 1958 was just the nail in the coffin for them.
 
Sarcogito said:
Damn. It doesn't get much more bad ass than that. :)

For the record, you E-9s win the thread.
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If had to do it all over again, I would do it exactly the same, but take a different promotion track at E-7..I went command, but should have taken operations.
Master Guns doesn't have the same ring as SgtMjr, (it's less prestigious or whatever) but it would have perks that I should have taken seriously (like retaining my MOS(0369) and being able to remain in the workin' man's fleet)
 
Thrilla said:
If had to do it all over again, I would do it exactly the same, but take a different promotion track at E-7..I went command, but should have taken operations.
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In the Army we call them Command Sergeants Major. Is it the same in the Corps?

Sergeants Major are, in general, awesome. Nothing brings a smile to my face like watching a SGM chew out an officer. The way they can throw a "Sir" into an ass chewing must be an acquired skill.

I have been a warrant for many years now and in my job at embassies I rarely deal with enlisted personnel anymore, with the exception of the very few who work for me. I deal mostly with O6s and above. But on the rare occasions I deal with a Sergeant Major, I still find myself instinctually clasping my hands behind my back and saying "Yes, Sergeant Major" and "No, Sergeant Major".
 
About five times a day, but never on a sunday.
 
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