Army Rank Question

[globalbergonzi]

I have a scene, the very first scene after a two-scene prologue, where I have a Sergeant inspecting a Corporal's troops. I can post a snippet of their dialogue if requested. I'm just wondering if I have the ranks right and if it makes sense in the real world. If anything seems off in what I've just described, let me know. Also my story isn't military fantasy or military SF. The scene is only 480 words.

Thanks in advance

—Michael Bergonzi

 

[FatCat]

Here you go, take a look. The internet is the best thing that ever happened to any of us.

 

[danr62]

How many troops does the corporal have? Corporals are the lowest ranking of NCO's (Non-Commissioned Officers) and are generally tasked with small teams. I was never a combat guy, but I believe around 10-15 Soldiers is about right for a Corporal to lead. That might even be too many.

 

[globalbergonzi]

@FatCat: You helped answer a future question I was probably going to have in another book. Bookmarking now.

@Danr62: A little more context is that they are in a boot camp and at the end of the scene the Corporal is "fired" from the army. In movies it's usually the sergeant who trains the men and women to be soldiers. Perhaps I should change the Corporal to a Sergeant and the Sergeant to an even higher ranking officer. One who stops by to check on the troops.

 

[SeverinR]

I think I wouold go up one rank for each.
I do believe Corporals don't have a large number of troops under them. I was in the Air Force, so I don't know the army stats, but what Dan said sounds correct.
I might even step it down to less then ten for a Corporal.

 

[Xaysai]

I spent 4 years in the USMC, not the Army, but I will try to provide some insight:

First, most people in boot camp are Rank 1 or MAYBE Rank 2 (E2 doesn't happen very often at all because they want all of the "recruits" in boot camp to lose their individuality to learn to work as a team, ranks get in the way of that), For me in the Marine Corps that would be a Private (Rank 1) or Private First Class (Rank 2) - not an E4, which is a Corporal.

My boot camp had 86 recruits in it who were all Rank 1, but we had a squad leader which, while also Rank 1, was granted authority by title (double edged sword, if your people behaved you got the credit, if they didn't, you got punished).

Also, most of the people who are training troops in a boot camp setting are E6+ (in Marine Corp terms that is a Staff Sergeant, which is one Rank higher than Sergeant).

Generally speaking, Corporals aren't "assigned people" like a Major might be assigned a Battalion. They might be assigned a Squad (13 people), or a Fire Squad (4 people; 3 Fire Squads + a Squad Leader make up a Squad), but the reality is that no matter what they are assigned, an E4 (Corporal) will ALWAYS have authority over an E3 or less.

Now let's say I am an E4 who is a Squad leader, I might have E4's in my Squad who I am in charge of by title (like previously stated) even though we are the same Rank (tenure usually plays a large part in this).

In summary: in Marine Corps terms, the most likely situation would be an E1 or E2 (which E2 would require some type of merit promotion or experience) being fired from the USMC by a Staff Sergeant (E6) or Gunnery Sergeant (E7). But keep in mind, people don't get "fired", they get discharged, and if you get discharged unwillingly it's usually either a Medical Discharge, Dishonorable Discharge or Other Than Honorable Discharge.

Oh, and keep in mind when using the term "officer", it only applies to people who are actually Officers: First Lt. (O1), Second Lt. (O2), Captain (O3), Major (O4), etc.

Enlisted men are Private (E1), Private First Class (E2), Lance Corporal (E3), Corporal (E4), Sergeant (E5), etc...

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any further questions...

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

A couple comments in addition from another Marine.

Corporals & Sergeants are known as Non-commissioned officers. This generally means that they have acquired some command authority. Meaning, if I'm an NCO and I give you (a private, PFC, or Lance Corporal) a lawful order that you disobey, or if you are disrespectful, I can charge you with articles in the Uniformed Code of Military Justice.

The same is true with Staff NCOs (Staff sergeant thru Sergeant Major), Warrant Officers (Warrant officer 1 through Chief Warrant Officer 5), and all commissioned officer (Lieutenant through General) when directing their subordinates.

Also, you need to be mindful of billet. Normally, as stated above, rank is the authority. There are times when billet (a specific job function) overrides rank. For instance, a helicopter pilot may be a Lieutenant and be transporting a Colonel. While that bird is in the air, the pilot is in command not the passenger Colonel. An even more striking difference is the case of a sentry. A sentry outranks everyone at his post. This is to ensure that a sentry cannot be bullied by rank into looking the other way or abandoning his post on the order of a superior who is not in his direct chain of command. Now, for the most part, this is never an issue. When I was a Marine security guard on Embassy duty, I never once encountered a senior rank that was not well aware of the sentry's role and responsibility. In fact, if anything, the exercise of the billet's authority is encouraged as long as it is done with tact. I did once see a Warrant Officer kick a Colonel off a rifle range for violating safety procedures and then getting all pissy about it. That was pretty cool.

In your boot camp scenario, I'd recommend you have 3 sergeants and 1 staff sergeant as your drill instructors. The staff sergeant would be referred to as your senior drill instructor and he is ultimately responsible for the training platoon. He would report to a junior officer, usually a lieutenant.

Now, a bit about unit sizes and correlating rank commands.

Fire team (4 troops) - Corporal
Squad (3 to 4 fire teams) - Sergeant
Platoon (4 squads) - Staff Sergeant as the platoon sergeant & Lieutenant as platoon commander
Company (3 to 4platoons) - Sergeant First Class (Army) or Gunnery Sergeant (Marines) thru Master Sergeant or First Sergeant for Company Sergeant & Captain or Major for Company Commander
Regiment (Can include several companies. 3 - 5 Companies is the standard, actual troop numbers vary) - Sergeant Major & Lt. Colonel or Colonel
Battalion (3 or more regiments) - Sergeant Major and Colonel
Division (3 or more battalions) - Command Sergeant Major & General (Brigadier General thru Lt. General)

That's the general structure...there's also brigades, corps, armies, etc. but the above units are the basics.