General MacArthur as commander of United Nations Command in Korea and General Bradley as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. MacArthur's successors in the role after he got relieved were not 5-star generals. Eisenhower was Supreme Commander of Nato (as a 5-star) at the time of the conflict. Arnold had transferred to the new Air Force with the 5-star rank but died in 1950. Marshall was acting as Secretary of Defense and had to get a waiver for being an active duty military officer to hold the position normally held by a civilian.
I made it to Spec 4, the rank they called best in the Army. High enough in rank to be exempted from all shit details, low enough in rank to not be held responsible when shit wasn’t right.
That's exactly what a Canadian Corporal is all about.... particularly if you've held the rank for a few years. We have "Corporal's for life" in our Army and Air Force.... Leading Seaman in our Navy. Some folks just don't want to rank up.
@@haggis525 there were people in the US Coast Guard who were content to remain PO3's (E-4) for 20 years... but it's much different now. None of that BS.
Great video!! Served US Army from 1981-2001 and remember all those SPECIALIST ranks. Think was early-mid 1980s when ALL the specialists ranks (-E4) were converted to their respective NCO ranks. One of the main reasons was for simplicities sake AND another (unofficial) reason was that NOBODY took the specialists ranks seriously. Spec5s-7s would get all kinds of POed when nobody listened to them when they were trying to issue orders, "You're a SPECIALIST, so bite me" was usually the response they got back from even privates. Then, when the rank conversion came into affect, some of them relished the new POWER/RESPONSIBILITIES bestowed upon them while others LOAFED the POWER/RESPONSIBILITIES. You could pretty much figure out which person would make a good leader literally just by looking at them when the conversion took place. Also, can remember that actual E-7s (non-specialist types), you had to either address them as SERGEANT 1ST CLASS (staff position) or PLATOON SERGEANT (line position). Since there was no way to tell the difference between the two, it was a bit "confusing". IF you addressed a Platoon Sergeant the wrong way, you were in for one heck of a butt-chewing for they did NOT want to be associated with the Sergeant 1st Class because they were considered REMFs (rear echelon mother f.....rs and were useless). The term PLATOON SERGEANT was also dropped during the time frame as described above. Also, also, think this was the time frame that the Army re-introduced the GREEN TAB, a piece of cloth colored green roughly 1" in width. This cloth would be worn on the epaullettes thus signifying an NCO/Officer in a LEADERSHIP position . Thus the term "GREEN TABBERS" was re-born. The green Tabs were used during Korea/Vietnam. As probably stated already, the IDEAL rank would have been SPECIALIST 4: high enough/experienced enough to have responsibilities and really not get pooped on, but low enough to say, "I'm not an NCO therefore do not know what I'm doing" when things go wrong. I, myself, made it to E-6.
I was a Spec 5 with Pershing 1a Nuclear Missiles from 1971-1973 in Germany. We had to pull hard stripe duty all the time since there were so few Sergeants to pull the duty. Just about everyone in our Platoon were Spec 5's. I was with the 1/41st Field Artillery 56th Field Artillery Brigade in Schwabish Gmund Germany. Great video and too bad that the rank of Spec 5 was retired.
I know a man from the opposite side, might have been in a few years later. He was in a Hungarian SCUD unit, the longest range missile they had back then. They weren't allowed to discuss anything about thejr service back then, not even to the people serving at the same base. Officially they did not have any nuclear payloads but that is something only the soviets would have known.
Regards! My service: 1970 german 1./ Rakentenartilleriebattalion 250 at Grossengstingen (sergeant missile) together with US 84th Art. Detachment for the nukes.
I was at 1/41st at the same time. 2/‘73-9/‘74, Pershing 15E10, but SVC Btry. Tower Rat, and Hardt Gate Guard, last 3 mos there. Major Hoffen offered me E5 if I would extend 6 mos. Had to get back to the world!
I was Specialist 6 in 1979. I got out of the Army then back in as Staff SGT in 1983. Warrant Officer 1 in 1991. Commissioned 2LT in 1992. Captain in 1997. Retired O3E which is a low Commissioned rank to be retired but still better retirement pay than E9.
I did kind of the same. I was E for 9 years and O for 11 years and retired as O3E as well. Enlisted I was a crew chief and then got out and went to college and then back in to Army Nurse Corps. There are actually a lot of prior enlisted who retire as O3E. I just retired last summer. Two deployments to Iraq OIF and OIR. Took a couple months off and back to work as civilian.
I earned my commission at E-6. I had worn my O-2 bar for 6 days and became a company commander. People would laugh. I retired (Medical) as an O-5 LTC while laying in a hospital bed in Germany. I never got to command a Battalion.
Seems like they should've promoted you after a year or given the role to someone else if they really didn't want to promote you to the proper grade (that's how it used to be in the Marine Corps when Lance Corporal was an appointment rather than a permanent rank)
@@BattleOrder Big Army kept the cutoff scores maxed out. They finally dropped and got promoted. Until then we had one hard E-5 as PSG and three acting SGT's as SL.
@@BattleOrder don't know how the Marines work their promotion system. In the Army Construction Engineers E-5 Sgt that was on the E-6 Staff Sargent promotion list had to compete with 5 other Military Operation Specialist ( M.O.S.'s). They didn't know a damn thing about Heavy Equipment Operators as well as how to build a class 60 tank trail or a 3000 meter tactical air strip in the middle of nowhere.
As an 11B with the 101st -- 69-70 -- we really didn't wear anything on our jungle fatigues other than usually, but not always, a Screaming Eagle on our left shoulder (and not subdued!). Mainly because we didn't have our own uniforms. Spending 90% of our tour in the field, what we wore was basically whatever came out of the resupply bag.
Yeah, uniforms can be weird. A friend who was drafted showed me his fatigue he brought back. One has a previous soldier's name stenciled over his pockets, which were partially covered by his name tapes. He also had a CIB and patch he removed from the jacket. Both his uniforms had Vietnsmese army tapes and rank. He didn't wear any unit patches Did well after his conscription wss over and became a real estate and property president
Lol, I was a “Spec” 5 and I was in when they converted all of us to sergeant E5. They also still had spec 7’s, but they were in the medical or dental fields. I think some of them did not convert, until they were ordered to
I grew up on US Army military base housing in the 1960-1970. The lower rank insignias and the specialist insignias always had me confused. This video will help clear a few things up when I watch the movie "Platoon" again.
When I made PFC, E-3, I had a single chevron and called the insignia mosquito wings. When E-2s were allowed a stripe, or shortly before, there sometimes was confusion and some people thought a PFC was actually an E-2. As to corporals, an assistant gunner in field artillery units was a corporal and some training units had drill corporals in the 1960s.
Not only Spec 4 through Spec 7 needs to be brought back, but they should require that all WOs be appointed from Specialist ranks; those who are Spec 7s either going straight to the rank of CWO2 or E-8 (which in truth, the Army's E-8 and E-9 ranks need to be split and arranged in the same manner as the Marine Corps E-8 and E-9 ranks being divided into Specialist SNCOs [E-8/Master Sergeant and E-9/Master Gunnery Sergeant] and Command SNCOs [E-8/First Sergeant and E-9/Sergeant Major]).
@@rwboa22 I don't agree with the WO part. But am on board with the E8/E9 part. I have argued that for ages. We don't need 1000s of CSMs running around. But we do need to keep the expertise of Soldiers around. I know NCOs that are great at their job but bad leaders and some that suck at the job but are great leaders.
I heard they are bring back the specialist ranks ...i was in the motor pool we had WO in our battalion very smart new their shi_. Other than that WO were with the helicopters..i was in the late 70's when they got rid of the specialist ranks they only keep the e4 ...the people that had e5 and up were switch to strips..like i said i read some were the specialist were coming back
Nah, Army's in a good place right now with rank structure. No reason to overly complicate things. Spec/E4 nowadays is what I'd call a seasoned private. I find that when Soldiers reach this rank they usually start working hard to be a team leader and promote, or just fade into the background.
A SPC transferred from a special weapons depot that doesn't exist if you know what I mean. We were in Hanau, FRG assigned to the 127th MPC. He stated that his MP company was super short on NCOs. The FSG was an E6, all PSGs were E5 with 40 to 50 GIs in each plt. SLs were CPLs and TLs were SPCs. Goes to show you there are leaders amongst us if you give them a chance.
Good video... it really cleared up some confusion I had concerning the Army's use of the E-5 and E-6 Specialist ranks! Have you done a video explaining USAF enlisted ranks and the elimination of the Warrant Officer Program form that service?
Awesome video man, I didn't even know there were different rank insignia during Vietnam. I learn so much from this channel. Think you could make a video about the ranks of the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War?
I was in Vietnam late '70 to late '71. I was a SGT/E-5 at 16 months time-in-service, but that was a meritorious promotion that came with an award. Was PFC out of AIT from being honor graduate, SP4 @ three months time in country. The minimum time-in-grade and time-in-service requirements were waives many times then, depending on unit requirements and meritorious promotions. I suspect the time-in-service numbers here were averages ranges?
I'm an Army vet (28 May '71 - 20 Jul '74) I had the subdued pins on my fatigues...Ieft as a Spec 5 (DoR 1 May '73)...my former 1st Sgt retired as a CSM
1972 - 1974 U.S. Army Spec4 91R Food Inspection specialist. Detached from Presidio SF working out of U.S. Naval Supply Center Alameda. Lived and worked in the civilian community on DOD contracts. Safest Job in the U.S.Army. Blessed by God.
I read that in Vietnam, actual corporals were rare in the US Army though the equivalent Specialist rank was fairly common. If corporals were encountered it was sometimes assumed that they had been sergeants who had done something wrong and had been demoted.
Not in my unit. My Lt got really pissed off about the f king rear echelon motherfuckers (remf) snatching us right off the helicopters when we came in for a stand down. Everybody he could got promoted to coporall so the bastards couldn’t put us their shit details. After col Ware took over our battalion, he put a stop to that bullshit. Told them that if he caught them screwing with us grunts again, guess who was going back out and visit the Nva.
In 67 I was assigned to a 3 member Intel unit...Spec 9 was CBR and Intel...Spec 8 Intel..I made Spec 5 from E3 in 11 months. Total time in Service 1 year 9 months ..,early out for school. In mid 67 Spec 9 was made SgtMajor...Spec 8 was made1st Sgt
at 4:33, the man on the left is Melvin Morris. He was a special forces soldier in Vietnam. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions over there. I went to high school with his son.
Same here in ASA. Our situation was different from many others in that we were actually "owned and operated" by the NSA, which really didn't give a rip about anything other than the product we produced. We were largely left alone by the rest of the soldiers and for good reason. It's too bad they blended ASA into the regular MI Corps and eliminated the SP5-7 ranks, since we were technicians not combat types.
In 1969, I was a SP 5 in air defense , 38th Artillery Bde. SP 5 was a great rank if you had to be in the military. It kept you from less desirable duties, but also kept you “under the radar” when the shit hit the fan.
@@vladimirtsvetanov4895 hell yeah man! It's not about the size of the dog in the fight, it's about the size of the fight in the dog! Hard work, dedication! Work till I die, train till I cry! The grind doesn't stop, and the gains wait for no man.
@@vladimirtsvetanov4895 hell yeah man! It's not about the size of the dog in the fight, it's about the size of the fight in the dog! Hard work, dedication! Work till I die, train till I cry! The grind doesn't stop, and the gains wait for no man.
I was SP4 in Army Security Agency. I saw a SP5 or two but none above that. I believe the SP ranking went to SP9. The ASA didn’t offer much in the area of promotion and almost no ASA people ever re-uped. I got out in July of 1964 as SP4. They never bothered asking any ASA people to reenlist since none ever did.
ASAer here, too. I was in a rather rare MOS (98J, 250 or so of us in ASA at the time). I made SP5 with 21 months service time while I was in Berlin, Germany. Many of us were SP5s. I was a bit different from most of the newer soldiers in ASA, since I had an MA degree when I got drafted in 1968. The deal with SP5s in ASA was a matter of pay. The Agency wanted to retain as many of us as possible, and better pay was one of the ways they did it. With the big draw down in MI staffing that came in 1972, Field Station Berlin went from about 1000 men to 500 or so in less than 2 months. I was offered SP6 rank, if I re-upped, but I wanted to go back home, back to grad school, and to hopefully teach college history in the future. I enjoyed the work I did, but that wasn't enough to keep me in the service. My first NCOIC at my work site was one of the smartest people I have ever known. He was a lifer, SFC at that time, put in 20 years, retired as a W-2. He went to work for the Company ,and retired about 20 years later. He was one of the few people I've ever seen who earned the Legion of Merit as a senior NCO.
There was once talk of giving Gen Schwarzkopf a 5th star after Desert Storm, given the large multinational command he had led. I wonder what had happened to that, as he never did get that star. I believe the last General of the Army was Omar Bradley, if I am not mistaken.
I made Spec 5 on 1 May 1973...thanx to SSG George (NMN)Sampson & Lt 'Rick' Lagerstrom...I made that rank with less than 2cyears TIS and less than 1 TIG...My time in Germany was the happiest time if my life...bar none!!!!
Something you forgot or didn’t know, was the RA and US on serial numbers, you know the number on the dog tags. Basically US 56419226 or RA 56428564 , the US was drafted, the RA was regular army. The US were specialists, the RA was command. You may want to research your info, that’s the basic. Puts a whole different perceptive on the whole thing of ranks. I could go further, but I don’t want to write book! Check it out you’ll see it differently after further research!
If you signed up for more than 3 years of active duty, you were classified as RA from the start. ASA was a four year hitch, so I was RA from my date of entry until I got out in 1972.I was a SP5, so I was not involved in any command role, and I liked that a lot.
THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO!!! I WAS IN THE ARMY IN THE 80S ARMY MEDIC. SUPPLY OFFICER FOR 4 YEARS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL BUT IN THE 70S JROTC LATER ROTC .. I HAD A TOUGH FATHER STAFF SGT.
In Vietnam (and other countries in the area) We didn't wear ANY insignia on our uniforms (flight suits) in case we went down and were captured by the enemy. Assuming, of course, we weren't killed attempting to evade or had already been killed by our own people...or committed suicide.
In the US Army in Thailand we didn't wear rank, I don't remember us wearing US Army tab either, out of Camp off duty other than Bangkok or Karat we were wearing Civies.
@@terryv The fact you were Caucasian was a DEAD giveaway. But the longer you could keep the bad guys guessing who..an what... you were, the better your chances.
My boss in Berlin 1963, was the ranking W4 in the US Army. He joined the Army in 1936 at 16 years old. By 1942 he was a E-6 Sgt. He was made a 1st Lt. By 1945 he was age 25 and a Full COL. He took the rank in WO and retired in 1963 with the rank of Brig Gen. Some story!!!
Fellow ASAer in Berlin here. 1-1-7- to 3-6-72. Good times back in the day. I'm still in contact with a couple of my buddies from that era and my first NCOIC out at Rudow. The community might be small, but it's still alive.
@@78asasou I don't know if this is possible, but the E-7 I worked for in Berlin at the start was a man named Al Murdock. Let me know if that rings any bells with you. Thanks.
My dad would always say he was an E5 specialist during Vietnam. I didn’t believe him since nowadays a specialist is E4 only, until now. Damn now I feel bad.
It went higher than Spec 7 during the Vietnam era. The rockers above the eagle proceeded from Spec 5 to Spec 7...Spec 8 and 9 were upsided down chevrons below the eagle. Just didn't see many of them.
I was a draftee... 2 yrs in army....1st oversees assignment was Germany made specialist 4 with 10 months in the army. Volunteered for Vietnam and spent my last 10 months as a squad leader as a spec 4 ... was offered. Sgt e-5 if I re-enlisted for 3 more years and extended my tour in Nam. ..I declined... I could never understand why we were in Vietnam. It appeared to me that politicians and companies were making a lot of money from being there.
In my experience, SGM (E-9) in the modern Army is more concerned about the perks, prerequisites, pomp, and circumstance of their office, than in representing the enlisted below them.
One of my JROTC instructors was among the first chief warrant officers. It’s been a while but from what I remember he said that because of a train issue he was promoted the second day the rank was promotable to. He was a helicopter navigator and eventually was a helicopter instructor.
You sure it wasn't among the first Chief Warrant Officer 5s or something to that regard? That rank was created in the early 1990s, but the Army has had Chief Warrant Officers since 1942
@@Lee-rq1ek I said that the rank of "Chief Warrant Officer" in the Army specifically was created in 1942. We did a whole video on the history of the Warrant Officer in the U.S. military: ruclips.net/video/zqXFDgVEQZU/видео.html
During my active duty time in the 80s, if you wanted Corporal you had to have a billet in your unit and attend PLDC. Specialist Smiley (his real last name) attended PLDC and was moved to Corporal because they needed a 'leader' but there wasn't a Sargent in that MOS in the Battalion. About 6 months later he was promoted to Sargent after he was able to do a Battalion promotion Board to gain the required points.
This video is close to historically accurate. Specialist ranks actually went up to E-9. Also, as far as the General Of The Army rank, there were only 5 people promoted to this rank. General MacArthur had this rank during the Korean war and General Bradley was awarded this rank in 1950, 5 years after WWII.
I believe there are now 6 persons ever promoted to General of The Army, as General Ulysses S. Grant was recently and posthumously promoted to this rank in the latest Defense Authorization Bill.
One thing that interests me about the Specialist/NCO system is whether it was possible for a soldier to "switch tracks", so to speak. E.g. could a SPC5 become a SGT (perphaps after receiving training at NCO school), or vice versa? On a related note: did Specialist promotions essentially stop at E-7, or was it possible for them to become E-8s and E-9s as well?
@steelrat116: You didn't need special training to switch from SP5 to SGT. If you moved into a leadership position, you became an NCO. Yes, the rank system had a place above E7 but quite often at the E8 grade they were absent an NCO so you became an NCO rather than a specialist.
Congress authorize the ranks of SP8 and SP9, but DA never promoted anybody to these ranks. I served with SP6's, and I've seen a few Sp7's, but nothing beyond that.
I enjoyed the video, but you got Master Sergeant and First Sergeant backwards and the last General of the Army in a combat command was MacArthur in the Korean War. When I went in Spec 6 was getting phased out.
My dad got his Sgt major patch first go around in 1958. when Cammand came up, date of rank won out. What Cmd meant, you would be going back into battle every 12 months. He had WW2, Korea and 2 toures in Nam.
I had to get my CAC redone a little under a year before I got out. Apparently the place I had to get it done had a weird glitch or wasn't updated. So I have a CAC from 2009 that says SP4 instead of SPC. Makes other members of the mafia a bit envious.
I was a Specialist 6 Legal Specialist, at Brigade level in Germany. Once a week, I briefed the Brigade Commander on all legal actions pending in the Brigade. I supervised 5 battalion Legal Specialist, and their work product. I exited active duty, and joined the National Guard. Where I was commissioned a Warrant Officer, Legal Administrator.
I went to Vietnam as a private first class in 1969, and was given the rank of E-4, or "sham shield" (which is 'Specialist' and is same rank as corporal) after I was severely wounded 11 days before Christmas. With just 4 months left on my tour of duty.
You are wrong about the last time the 5 Star rank was used. In 1950 President Truman promoted Omar Bradley to General of the Army, he was the last one. He served as a 5 star from 1950 to 1953 as Joint Chief of Staff. Also, there were two Specialist grades in addition to the grades you listed. Sp. 8 with one "Goldenlite" chevron below the Eagle and Sp. 9 with two "Goldenlite" chevrons below the Eagle. These grades were used from 1959 to 1968.
When I was in the infantry over in Viet nam we wore what ever we get once a week:some had patches and rank sewed on some didn't.For most part the fatigue never did fit me. I was a squad leader sergeant E-5.
Those of us who wore the Specialist 4 rank, though not inferior to a Corporal, but outranked , had at times means to make the rank of Specialist Five a rank that could make you invisible to the First Sergeant, especially when there was a "NCO Call". It only worked once when I did it and did not show up and reprimanded by the First Sergeant for ignoring his "NCO Call". The difference in how you were looked upon wearing Specialist Five insignia and wearing the Sergeant rank came into sharp focus when my MOS changed its authorization from Specialist Five to Sergeant. Though the responsibilities for either rank did not diminish, those in the officer ranks placed a much higher importance on the NCO rank.
Never wore a Specialist rank. I was promoted to E-4 and immediatly made an Acting Jack Sergeant. Promoted to actual E-5 a year later and again wore my Sergeant stripes.
Our uniforms didn't haven't any patches or rank insignia. All uniforms would be laundered by Quartermaster Laundry and returned in a huge pile. When you needed a clean uniform, you just found a shirt and trousers in the pile that fit and tossed your dirty ones into another pile. Except for the size you couldn't tell one uniform piece from another.
Correction: The last war the General of the Army rank was used was the Korean War, not WWII.
was it held by General MacArthur?
Will you do a video about the present day u.s.a army ranks???
General MacArthur as commander of United Nations Command in Korea and General Bradley as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. MacArthur's successors in the role after he got relieved were not 5-star generals. Eisenhower was Supreme Commander of Nato (as a 5-star) at the time of the conflict. Arnold had transferred to the new Air Force with the 5-star rank but died in 1950. Marshall was acting as Secretary of Defense and had to get a waiver for being an active duty military officer to hold the position normally held by a civilian.
@@BattleOrder wow cool!
@@rupvictoria3017 5 star he was
I made it to Spec 4, the rank they called best in the Army. High enough in rank to be exempted from all shit details, low enough in rank to not be held responsible when shit wasn’t right.
LOL Can't argue with your logic!
I was PFC, knew how to cook, got me out of digging the shit holes.
My thought exactly, except I was E5 and saw it the same way.
That's exactly what a Canadian Corporal is all about.... particularly if you've held the rank for a few years. We have "Corporal's for life" in our Army and Air Force.... Leading Seaman in our Navy. Some folks just don't want to rank up.
@@haggis525 there were people in the US Coast Guard who were content to remain PO3's (E-4) for 20 years... but it's much different now. None of that BS.
Great video!! Served US Army from 1981-2001 and remember all those SPECIALIST ranks. Think was early-mid 1980s when ALL the specialists ranks (-E4) were converted to their respective NCO ranks. One of the main reasons was for simplicities sake AND another (unofficial) reason was that NOBODY took the specialists ranks seriously. Spec5s-7s would get all kinds of POed when nobody listened to them when they were trying to issue orders, "You're a SPECIALIST, so bite me" was usually the response they got back from even privates. Then, when the rank conversion came into affect, some of them relished the new POWER/RESPONSIBILITIES bestowed upon them while others LOAFED the POWER/RESPONSIBILITIES. You could pretty much figure out which person would make a good leader literally just by looking at them when the conversion took place.
Also, can remember that actual E-7s (non-specialist types), you had to either address them as SERGEANT 1ST CLASS (staff position) or PLATOON SERGEANT (line position). Since there was no way to tell the difference between the two, it was a bit "confusing". IF you addressed a Platoon Sergeant the wrong way, you were in for one heck of a butt-chewing for they did NOT want to be associated with the Sergeant 1st Class because they were considered REMFs (rear echelon mother f.....rs and were useless). The term PLATOON SERGEANT was also dropped during the time frame as described above. Also, also, think this was the time frame that the Army re-introduced the GREEN TAB, a piece of cloth colored green roughly 1" in width. This cloth would be worn on the epaullettes thus signifying an NCO/Officer in a LEADERSHIP position
. Thus the term "GREEN TABBERS" was re-born. The green Tabs were used during Korea/Vietnam.
As probably stated already, the IDEAL rank would have been SPECIALIST 4: high enough/experienced enough to have responsibilities and really not get pooped on, but low enough to say, "I'm not an NCO therefore do not know what I'm doing" when things go wrong. I, myself, made it to E-6.
I was a Spec 5 with Pershing 1a Nuclear Missiles from 1971-1973 in Germany. We had to pull hard stripe duty all the time since there were so few Sergeants to pull the duty. Just about everyone in our Platoon were Spec 5's. I was with the 1/41st Field Artillery 56th Field Artillery Brigade in Schwabish Gmund Germany. Great video and too bad that the rank of Spec 5 was retired.
I know a man from the opposite side, might have been in a few years later. He was in a Hungarian SCUD unit, the longest range missile they had back then. They weren't allowed to discuss anything about thejr service back then, not even to the people serving at the same base.
Officially they did not have any nuclear payloads but that is something only the soviets would have known.
👍 15-E Pershing in Neu Ulm 1983~1985
Regards! My service: 1970 german 1./ Rakentenartilleriebattalion 250 at Grossengstingen (sergeant missile) together with US 84th Art. Detachment for the nukes.
I was at 1/41st at the same time. 2/‘73-9/‘74, Pershing 15E10, but SVC Btry. Tower Rat, and Hardt Gate Guard, last 3 mos there. Major Hoffen offered me E5 if I would extend 6 mos. Had to get back to the world!
@@billemmerling381 Major Hofen was gone a short time after I got there in Aug. '74.
I was Specialist 6 in 1979. I got out of the Army then back in as Staff SGT in 1983. Warrant Officer 1 in 1991. Commissioned 2LT in 1992. Captain in 1997. Retired O3E which is a low Commissioned rank to be retired but still better retirement pay than E9.
Well done Army Brother.
I did kind of the same. I was E for 9 years and O for 11 years and retired as O3E as well. Enlisted I was a crew chief and then got out and went to college and then back in to Army Nurse Corps. There are actually a lot of prior enlisted who retire as O3E. I just retired last summer. Two deployments to Iraq OIF and OIR. Took a couple months off and back to work as civilian.
Awesome advancement the hard way!
Congrats on retirement!
Dang, went almost most the ranks. I commend you prior service brothers and sisters in arms.
If you haven’t already, could you do a video comparing US and Commonwealth ranks? Great video btw!
What's a Commonwealth ranks? Do you mean Philippine Commonwealth ranks or the Continental army ranks?
@@Roh-c8e British Commonwealth
The problem is not all the Commonwealth countries use the same rank system.
Ex: British vs Canadian
@@oscarredfearn3492 Australia is also part of the Commonwealth
@@Youdontknowmebro2738 I didn’t say they weren’t
"Interesting choices were made during the Vietnam War.
Couldn't have summed it up better.
I earned my commission at E-6. I had worn my O-2 bar for 6 days and became a company commander. People would laugh. I retired (Medical) as an O-5 LTC while laying in a hospital bed in Germany. I never got to command a Battalion.
if this is true (ithinkitis) then you get my respect B)
I was an "acting SGT " from 1977 till 1979 in the 82nd ABN DIV. E-4 pay for E-5/6 duties and responsibilities.
Seems like they should've promoted you after a year or given the role to someone else if they really didn't want to promote you to the proper grade (that's how it used to be in the Marine Corps when Lance Corporal was an appointment rather than a permanent rank)
@@BattleOrder Big Army kept the cutoff scores maxed out. They finally dropped and got promoted. Until then we had one hard E-5 as PSG and three acting SGT's as SL.
@@sarge11z6p4 acting jacks at Plt Sgt and Squad leader positions ?
That is fucked up.
@@BattleOrder don't know how the Marines work their promotion system.
In the Army Construction Engineers E-5 Sgt that was on the E-6 Staff Sargent promotion list had to compete with 5 other Military Operation Specialist ( M.O.S.'s).
They didn't know a damn thing about Heavy Equipment Operators as well as how to build a class 60 tank trail or a 3000 meter tactical air strip in the middle of nowhere.
Thank you for doing your part to help balance America’s budget while congresstards continued to give themselves raises......
Thank you for this video. Most of family members served in the Vietnam era and this really helps me understand their photos and stories.
As an 11B with the 101st -- 69-70 -- we really didn't wear anything on our jungle fatigues other than usually, but not always, a Screaming Eagle on our left shoulder (and not subdued!). Mainly because we didn't have our own uniforms. Spending 90% of our tour in the field, what we wore was basically whatever came out of the resupply bag.
Thank you for your service
Yeah, uniforms can be weird. A friend who was drafted showed me his fatigue he brought back. One has a previous soldier's name stenciled over his pockets, which were partially covered by his name tapes. He also had a CIB and patch he removed from the jacket.
Both his uniforms had Vietnsmese army tapes and rank. He didn't wear any unit patches
Did well after his conscription wss over and became a real estate and property president
The 101st were among a few units who didn't subdue their patches the entire war as they thought it brought fear to the enemy
Currently serving: went from PFC to SSG, got selected for WOCS and have gone from WO1 to CW3. Waiting for the CW4 list to come out 🙏🏻
Hope you made the list Chief!
Lol, I was a “Spec” 5 and I was in when they converted all of us to sergeant E5. They also still had spec 7’s, but they were in the medical or dental fields. I think some of them did not convert, until they were ordered to
I grew up on US Army military base housing in the 1960-1970. The lower rank insignias and the specialist insignias always had me confused. This video will help clear a few things up when I watch the movie "Platoon" again.
When I made PFC, E-3, I had a single chevron and called the insignia mosquito wings. When E-2s were allowed a stripe, or shortly before, there sometimes was confusion and some people thought a PFC was actually an E-2. As to corporals, an assistant gunner in field artillery units was a corporal and some training units had drill corporals in the 1960s.
My Dads BDUs in his pictures are tiger stripe with subdued E4 patches. They looked awesome. He was a MP picked for Recondo with the 82nd.
I’ve got one of those arrowhead shaped Recon/Commando badges. I got mine in solid OD jungle fatigues, at Ft. Bragg.
I went through Ft. Knox in the summer of 1982. We had a company dining facility and the dining facility manager was a Specialist 6.
Kool....I was a drill sergeant at fort knox during that time....81-85
As a Spec 4 I pulled E-5 duties in Vietnam.
Welcome home bro.
Thank you for your service. As soon as I promoted to specialist, I pushed hard to get my stripes. Why do NCO duties without NCO pay?
I was the Commo Guy. The day I made Sp4 I was given Acting Jack Sergeant Stripes. Actually made E 5 about 8 months later.
As Sgt E-5, I performed duties of E6 and E7, including doing DA1; the Morning Report.
As a Spec 4 I pulled E-5 duties in Afghanistan. Shit never changes man 😂
The Army needs to bring back specialist ranks.
Not only Spec 4 through Spec 7 needs to be brought back, but they should require that all WOs be appointed from Specialist ranks; those who are Spec 7s either going straight to the rank of CWO2 or E-8 (which in truth, the Army's E-8 and E-9 ranks need to be split and arranged in the same manner as the Marine Corps E-8 and E-9 ranks being divided into Specialist SNCOs [E-8/Master Sergeant and E-9/Master Gunnery Sergeant] and Command SNCOs [E-8/First Sergeant and E-9/Sergeant Major]).
@@rwboa22 I don't agree with the WO part. But am on board with the E8/E9 part. I have argued that for ages. We don't need 1000s of CSMs running around. But we do need to keep the expertise of Soldiers around. I know NCOs that are great at their job but bad leaders and some that suck at the job but are great leaders.
I heard they are bring back the specialist ranks ...i was in the motor pool we had WO in our battalion very smart new their shi_. Other than that WO were with the helicopters..i was in the late 70's when they got rid of the specialist ranks they only keep the e4 ...the people that had e5 and up were switch to strips..like i said i read some were the specialist were coming back
Nah, Army's in a good place right now with rank structure. No reason to overly complicate things. Spec/E4 nowadays is what I'd call a seasoned private. I find that when Soldiers reach this rank they usually start working hard to be a team leader and promote, or just fade into the background.
@@jomiles3605 how many NCOs are mediocre leaders? Tons. Everyone isn't a leader.
Oh Boy I Have Been Waiting Since I started Watching for this one!
A SPC transferred from a special weapons depot that doesn't exist if you know what I mean. We were in Hanau, FRG assigned to the 127th MPC.
He stated that his MP company was super short on NCOs. The FSG was an E6, all PSGs were E5 with 40 to 50 GIs in each plt. SLs were CPLs and TLs were SPCs.
Goes to show you there are leaders amongst us if you give them a chance.
Shoutout to the guy that lost his hat during the intro
Good video... it really cleared up some confusion I had concerning the Army's use of the E-5 and E-6 Specialist ranks! Have you done a video explaining USAF enlisted ranks and the elimination of the Warrant Officer Program form that service?
Awesome video man, I didn't even know there were different rank insignia during Vietnam. I learn so much from this channel. Think you could make a video about the ranks of the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War?
I was in Vietnam late '70 to late '71. I was a SGT/E-5 at 16 months time-in-service, but that was a meritorious promotion that came with an award. Was PFC out of AIT from being honor graduate, SP4 @ three months time in country. The minimum time-in-grade and time-in-service requirements were waives many times then, depending on unit requirements and meritorious promotions. I suspect the time-in-service numbers here were averages ranges?
This is actually spot on from a US Army vet good video man!
I'm an Army vet (28 May '71 - 20 Jul '74) I had the subdued pins on my fatigues...Ieft as a Spec 5 (DoR 1 May '73)...my former 1st Sgt retired as a CSM
1972 - 1974 U.S. Army Spec4 91R Food Inspection specialist. Detached from Presidio SF working out of U.S. Naval Supply Center Alameda. Lived and worked in the civilian community on DOD contracts. Safest Job in the U.S.Army. Blessed by God.
I read that in Vietnam, actual corporals were rare in the US Army though the equivalent Specialist rank was fairly common. If corporals were encountered it was sometimes assumed that they had been sergeants who had done something wrong and had been demoted.
Not in my unit. My Lt got really pissed off about the f king rear echelon motherfuckers (remf) snatching us right off the helicopters when we came in for a stand down. Everybody he could got promoted to coporall so the bastards couldn’t put us their shit details. After col Ware took over our battalion, he put a stop to that bullshit. Told them that if he caught them screwing with us grunts again, guess who was going back out and visit the Nva.
I saw many more Spec 4s than actual corporals when I was in 'Nam ( also in the states) in 1969. I went into army in 1968, and got out in 1970.
I've been waiting for this all week boy!!
Same!
In 67 I was assigned to a 3 member Intel unit...Spec 9 was CBR and Intel...Spec 8 Intel..I made Spec 5 from E3 in 11 months. Total time in Service 1 year 9 months ..,early out for school. In mid 67 Spec 9 was made SgtMajor...Spec 8 was made1st Sgt
at 4:33, the man on the left is Melvin Morris. He was a special forces soldier in Vietnam. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions over there. I went to high school with his son.
:0
Very nice videos, I especially like your US ones
Former Spec/5 and I liked that rank. An NCO but not a Supervisor....
Same here in ASA. Our situation was different from many others in that we were actually "owned and operated" by the NSA, which really didn't give a rip about anything other than the product we produced. We were largely left alone by the rest of the soldiers and for good reason. It's too bad they blended ASA into the regular MI Corps and eliminated the SP5-7 ranks, since we were technicians not combat types.
In 1969, I was a SP 5 in air defense , 38th Artillery Bde. SP 5 was a great rank if you had to be in the military. It kept you from less desirable duties, but also kept you “under the radar” when the shit hit the fan.
0:20 guys hat flying off had me weak! 😂😂
@@vladimirtsvetanov4895 hell yeah man! It's not about the size of the dog in the fight, it's about the size of the fight in the dog! Hard work, dedication! Work till I die, train till I cry! The grind doesn't stop, and the gains wait for no man.
@@vladimirtsvetanov4895 hell yeah man! It's not about the size of the dog in the fight, it's about the size of the fight in the dog! Hard work, dedication! Work till I die, train till I cry! The grind doesn't stop, and the gains wait for no man.
Lots of waivers of time in grade and time in service in 65 to 67. I was promoted to Specialist E5 with 18 months in service in 1967.
I've heard there was a payscale for Spec 8 and 9, but the Army considered them notional and as far as I know, no one was ever promoted to those ranks.
During Vietnam Corporals were in charge of an artillery piece (Half section?). Also, if a 'hard strip' E-5 (Sergeant) was busted he went to Corporal.
I was SP4 in Army Security Agency. I saw a SP5 or two but none above that. I believe the SP ranking went to SP9. The ASA didn’t offer much in the area of promotion and almost no ASA people ever re-uped. I got out in July of 1964 as SP4. They never bothered asking any ASA people to reenlist since none ever did.
I've been studying uniforms for years and haven't come across an SP7 or above uniform. I've seen one SP6 and a handful of SP5s.
ASAer here, too. I was in a rather rare MOS (98J, 250 or so of us in ASA at the time). I made SP5 with 21 months service time while I was in Berlin, Germany. Many of us were SP5s. I was a bit different from most of the newer soldiers in ASA, since I had an MA degree when I got drafted in 1968. The deal with SP5s in ASA was a matter of pay. The Agency wanted to retain as many of us as possible, and better pay was one of the ways they did it. With the big draw down in MI staffing that came in 1972, Field Station Berlin went from about 1000 men to 500 or so in less than 2 months. I was offered SP6 rank, if I re-upped, but I wanted to go back home, back to grad school, and to hopefully teach college history in the future. I enjoyed the work I did, but that wasn't enough to keep me in the service. My first NCOIC at my work site was one of the smartest people I have ever known. He was a lifer, SFC at that time, put in 20 years, retired as a W-2. He went to work for the Company ,and retired about 20 years later. He was one of the few people I've ever seen who earned the Legion of Merit as a senior NCO.
Wrong: the last General of the Army was Gen Bradley during the Korean War when he was appointed Chief of Staff as MacArthur was to be his subordinate.
There was once talk of giving Gen Schwarzkopf a 5th star after Desert Storm, given the large multinational command he had led. I wonder what had happened to that, as he never did get that star. I believe the last General of the Army was Omar Bradley, if I am not mistaken.
Both him and Powell were offered 5 as an incentive not to retire. They both declined. Yes Bradley was the last and he died in 1985 I think.
I made Spec 5 on 1 May 1973...thanx to SSG George (NMN)Sampson & Lt 'Rick' Lagerstrom...I made that rank with less than 2cyears TIS and less than 1 TIG...My time in Germany was the happiest time if my life...bar none!!!!
You should do a video of the organization of a modern USMC Platoon.
my mom's 1st cousin was a spec 5 in 1968-69. I actually have one of his insignia. very good video.
Something you forgot or didn’t know, was the RA and US on serial numbers, you know the number on the dog tags. Basically US 56419226 or RA 56428564 , the US was drafted, the RA was regular army. The US were specialists, the RA was command.
You may want to research your info, that’s the basic. Puts a whole different perceptive on the whole thing of ranks. I could go further, but I don’t want to write book! Check it out you’ll see it differently after further research!
If you signed up for more than 3 years of active duty, you were classified as RA from the start. ASA was a four year hitch, so I was RA from my date of entry until I got out in 1972.I was a SP5, so I was not involved in any command role, and I liked that a lot.
THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO!!! I WAS IN THE ARMY IN THE 80S ARMY MEDIC. SUPPLY OFFICER FOR 4 YEARS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL BUT IN THE 70S JROTC LATER ROTC .. I HAD A TOUGH FATHER STAFF SGT.
In Vietnam (and other countries in the area) We didn't wear ANY insignia on our uniforms (flight suits) in case we went down and were captured by the enemy. Assuming, of course, we weren't killed attempting to evade or had already been killed by our own people...or committed suicide.
Especially on patrol no insignia, no saluting and no pointing; you would be prime for snipers etc.
In the US Army in Thailand we didn't wear rank, I don't remember us wearing US Army tab either, out of Camp off duty other than Bangkok or Karat we were wearing Civies.
Of course, the flight suit, itself, was kind of a giveaway...
Thank you for your service
@@terryv The fact you were Caucasian was a DEAD giveaway. But the longer you could keep the bad guys guessing who..an what... you were, the better your chances.
My boss in Berlin 1963, was the ranking W4 in the US Army. He joined the Army in 1936 at 16 years old. By 1942 he was a E-6 Sgt. He was
made a 1st Lt. By 1945 he was age 25 and a Full COL. He took the rank in WO and retired in 1963 with the rank of Brig Gen. Some story!!!
Fellow ASAer in Berlin here. 1-1-7- to 3-6-72. Good times back in the day. I'm still in contact with a couple of my buddies from that era and my first NCOIC out at Rudow. The community might be small, but it's still alive.
@@carlhuffman454 Nice to hear from you Carl!
@@78asasou I don't know if this is possible, but the E-7 I worked for in Berlin at the start was a man named Al Murdock. Let me know if that rings any bells with you. Thanks.
At 4:54 You show Specialist E7 when you were talking about Specialist E6. Notice that he has 3 inverted chevrons.
The amount of pictures I have of the higher rank specialists is limited lol
@@BattleOrder Fair enough
My dad would always say he was an E5 specialist during Vietnam.
I didn’t believe him since nowadays a specialist is E4 only, until now.
Damn now I feel bad.
It went higher than Spec 7 during the Vietnam era. The rockers above the eagle proceeded from Spec 5 to Spec 7...Spec 8 and 9 were upsided down chevrons below the eagle. Just didn't see many of them.
Why wouldn't you believe him?
Great video! Thank you.
Proud Spec 4, Company C, 84th Engineer Battalion, 25th Infantry Division from 1974 to 1977.
I was a draftee... 2 yrs in army....1st oversees assignment was Germany made specialist 4 with 10 months in the army. Volunteered for Vietnam and spent my last 10 months as a squad leader as a spec 4 ... was offered. Sgt e-5 if I re-enlisted for 3 more years and extended my tour in Nam. ..I declined... I could never understand why we were in Vietnam. It appeared to me that politicians and companies were making a lot of money from being there.
spot on
At 10:20 is Rick Rescorla in the Ia Drang Valley. He died in the 911 terror attack. He was security chief for Morgan Stanley.
I’m sorry about your friend. Respect and RIP to Rick.
In my experience, SGM (E-9) in the modern Army is more concerned about the perks, prerequisites, pomp, and circumstance of their office, than in representing the enlisted below them.
One of my JROTC instructors was among the first chief warrant officers. It’s been a while but from what I remember he said that because of a train issue he was promoted the second day the rank was promotable to.
He was a helicopter navigator and eventually was a helicopter instructor.
You sure it wasn't among the first Chief Warrant Officer 5s or something to that regard? That rank was created in the early 1990s, but the Army has had Chief Warrant Officers since 1942
@@BattleOrder Actually, the warrant officer rank was created during WWI
warrantofficerhistory.org/Hist_of_Army_WO.htm
@@Lee-rq1ek I said that the rank of "Chief Warrant Officer" in the Army specifically was created in 1942. We did a whole video on the history of the Warrant Officer in the U.S. military: ruclips.net/video/zqXFDgVEQZU/видео.html
The Army doesn't have "helicopter navigators". Pilots do their own navigation.
I think E-2 should be PFC and make E=3 Technical Specialist or 'Tech-spec' as the skill of this soldier is above a PFC but not yet a Spec 4.
In Stephen Wright's Vietnam War novel "Meditations In Green", a particular sergeant is referred to as "an ignorant E5 alcoholic".
During my active duty time in the 80s, if you wanted Corporal you had to have a billet in your unit and attend PLDC. Specialist Smiley (his real last name) attended PLDC and was moved to Corporal because they needed a 'leader' but there wasn't a Sargent in that MOS in the Battalion. About 6 months later he was promoted to Sargent after he was able to do a Battalion promotion Board to gain the required points.
Most CPLs were given that rank by their unit because they demonstrated a high level of potential
This video is close to historically accurate. Specialist ranks actually went up to E-9. Also, as far as the General Of The Army rank, there were only 5 people promoted to this rank. General MacArthur had this rank during the Korean war and General Bradley was awarded this rank in 1950, 5 years after WWII.
Specialist ranks stopped going up to E-9 in 1965. We chose to focus on 1965 to 1975. And we corrected the general thing in the comments
I believe there are now 6 persons ever promoted to General of The Army, as General Ulysses S. Grant was recently and posthumously promoted to this rank in the latest Defense Authorization Bill.
Rank patches made one a target in combat. Pins would only been seen. close up.
We were made to take our ranks off the sleeves. Lt's were made to remove their bars. The VC would look for the highest rank first.. 66 - 68
Awesome video loved it 🖒🖒
I mustered out as a spec 5, no subdued collar rank was worn. We had an E-8 hard stripe in the unit, and a W2.
One thing that interests me about the Specialist/NCO system is whether it was possible for a soldier to "switch tracks", so to speak. E.g. could a SPC5 become a SGT (perphaps after receiving training at NCO school), or vice versa?
On a related note: did Specialist promotions essentially stop at E-7, or was it possible for them to become E-8s and E-9s as well?
@steelrat116: You didn't need special training to switch from SP5 to SGT. If you moved into a leadership position, you became an NCO.
Yes, the rank system had a place above E7 but quite often at the E8 grade they were absent an NCO so you became an NCO rather than a specialist.
Congress authorize the ranks of SP8 and SP9, but DA never promoted anybody to these ranks. I served with SP6's, and I've seen a few Sp7's, but nothing beyond that.
I enjoyed the video, but you got Master Sergeant and First Sergeant backwards and the last General of the Army in a combat command was MacArthur in the Korean War. When I went in Spec 6 was getting phased out.
My dad got his Sgt major patch first go around in 1958. when Cammand came up, date of rank won out. What Cmd meant, you would be going back into battle every 12 months. He had WW2, Korea and 2 toures in Nam.
Nice video and very informative. Great job
Very thorough. Great job!
I had to get my CAC redone a little under a year before I got out. Apparently the place I had to get it done had a weird glitch or wasn't updated. So I have a CAC from 2009 that says SP4 instead of SPC. Makes other members of the mafia a bit envious.
Nice
And officers that garnered no respect from the troops are still refered to as “zeros” because of the “0-x” designator.
Thats how the rest of the world refer americans
@@DrLoverLover Yeah yeah yeah… and that’s why the rest of the world are dying to come to America.
I was a Specialist 6 Legal Specialist, at Brigade level in Germany. Once a week, I briefed the Brigade Commander on all legal actions pending in the Brigade. I supervised 5 battalion Legal Specialist, and their work product. I exited active duty, and joined the National Guard. Where I was commissioned a Warrant Officer, Legal Administrator.
It feels like everyone in Vietnam was either Lt. or Sergeant
Have you talked about the Korean War rank of Corporal-Captain?
US Army 1967 - 1969. Made Spec 4 in late 1968. Remember the Battalion Sgt Major kept calling me Corporal. Bird meant nothing to him. E4 was Corporal.
Great video, very informative
General of the Army Omar Bradley was promoted in 1950 as the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
My Dad was a specialist 5. He was in a MARS station. I’m not sure his exact duties.
Warrant Officers minded their business and we respected them for that.
I went to Vietnam as a private first class in 1969, and was given the rank of E-4, or "sham shield" (which is 'Specialist' and is same rank as corporal) after I was severely wounded 11 days before Christmas. With just 4 months left on my tour of duty.
Cool video! Liked the info!
My dad was a Spec-5 in Vietnam in 1965. He was in the Finance Corp. Definitely a specialist haha.
Thanks for that it was a great video very interesting ten thumbs 🖒🖒🖒🖒
Can you do more things on the Vietnam War?
Super interesting! 👊🏼🇬🇧
2:07 Lieutenant General Hall Moore.
I was a spec6 when i got picked up for Recruiting. Busted to hard SGT for school
Great video!
You are wrong about the last time the 5 Star rank was used. In 1950 President Truman promoted Omar Bradley to General of the Army, he was the last one. He served as a 5 star from 1950 to 1953 as Joint Chief of Staff. Also, there were two Specialist grades in addition to the grades you listed. Sp. 8 with one "Goldenlite" chevron below the Eagle and Sp. 9 with two "Goldenlite" chevrons below the Eagle. These grades were used from 1959 to 1968.
Can you please cover the ranks and functions of soldiers in the American Civil War
When I was in the infantry over in Viet nam we wore what ever we get once a week:some had patches and rank sewed on some didn't.For most part the fatigue never did fit me. I was a squad leader sergeant E-5.
Those of us who wore the Specialist 4 rank, though not inferior to a Corporal, but outranked , had at times means to make the rank of Specialist Five a rank that could make you invisible to the First Sergeant, especially when there was a "NCO Call". It only worked once when I did it and did not show up and reprimanded by the First Sergeant for ignoring his "NCO Call". The difference in how you were looked upon wearing Specialist Five insignia and wearing the Sergeant rank came into sharp focus when my MOS changed its authorization from Specialist Five to Sergeant. Though the responsibilities for either rank did not diminish, those in the officer ranks placed a much higher importance on the NCO rank.
Never wore a Specialist rank. I was promoted to E-4 and immediatly made an Acting Jack Sergeant. Promoted to actual E-5 a year later and again wore my Sergeant stripes.
YOU LEFT OUT PSG E-7 WAS A COMBAT ARMS RANK MEANING PLATOON SARGENT IN THE INFANTRY. AND COMBAT ARMS.
You’re quite correct.
Need spc5 back so techs can get a living wage
Our uniforms didn't haven't any patches or rank insignia. All uniforms would be laundered by Quartermaster Laundry and returned in a huge pile. When you needed a clean uniform, you just found a shirt and trousers in the pile that fit and tossed your dirty ones into another pile. Except for the size you couldn't tell one uniform piece from another.
Can you make a video about canadian ranks?
My grandfather was a 3 stripe sergeant from 66-70 and got taught 2 years to be a forward operator in Germany
do Air Force rank insignias during the Vietnam War
many Officers during the Vietnam War got field commissions and others went through ROTC or OCS
So-called "field commissions" and "battlefield commissions" were actually "direct commissions".
It's crazy how much they make now. Compared to what they made back then. As a specialist today I make more then most officers back then.