Promotion chances in Pre-WW2 Regular Army

[Johan Willaert]

Hi all,

 

Does anyone know how the promotion system in the pre-WW2 US Army worked?

How did one become a Sgt in one of the Divisions of the late 30's up to the massive enlistment after Pearl Harbor?

Did every NCO begin as a Pvt? What criteria were used to promote someone? Was it by recommendation of Officers only or were there courses to attend? How many years of service did one need to be promoted to a higher rank?

 

Are there any sites or publications illustrating all this?

 

Thanks

[El Bibliotecario]

I can't offer anything specific on time in grade for promotion, but in the prewar army, the rank belonged to the unit, and that time in grade was not as important as it came to be decades later when enlisted promotions became more centralized.

 

For example, if a soldier in the prewar regular army was promoted to corporal to fill a squad leader vacancy, and upon completion of his enlistment chose to re-enlist for another unit or post instead of for his own vacancy, the rank stayed in the unit and he went to his new assignment as a private. Of course if the commander of the new unit chose, he could assign that solder to a position requiring a corporal and the soldier would keep his rank. I leave it to the reader to speculate whether a commander would promote a new man unknown to him when in all likelihood he had soldiers already in his unit whose potential as NCOs was a known factor.

 

The system could be manipulated--the most notorious example is James Jones's fictionalized account of a company commander who was the regimental boxing coach and who rewarded his boxers with NCO rank irrespective of thier military skills. Soldiers could also game the system--an NCO might transfer in grade to a unit with a vacancy for his particular skill, and keep his rank. And an ambitious good first cook or supply clerk might agree to transfer into a unit with a rotten supply sergeant or mess sergeant if he was promised the incumbents sergency; the previous holder of those stripes would then be reduced.

 

All of this depended largely on the company commander--and I'm sure a lot of 'deals' were arranged behind the scenes by the 1SGs and the paperwork simply put in front of the old man to sign.

 

I've never heard of an enlisted man in the prewar army without prior service entering as anything but a private. After the draft began in 1940, there were occasional scandals about some celebrities being recruited by the various services for their public relations value, and given senior NCO ranks. I don't know whether they came in the service as NCOs, or were simply promoted out of turn. You mentioned enlistments after Pearl Harbor--but the peactime draft began in September 1940, and given the huge military expansion that begun, the army was obliged to promote a lot of folks very rapidly to fill the many vacancies created by activating new units. As a kid I knew a man who had been drafted during World War II; he told me that he had been promoted to First Sergeant primarily because he was a high school graduate and because he could type.

 

This is a very interesting topic--to me, anyway--and I hope someone more informed than myself answers.

[gpw_42]

Biliotecario summed up my knowledge quite well, so all I can add is that I also find it interesting - and how the Army filled all those vacancies, as it created all the new units is a fascinating mystery to me. I'd love to have time to properly research it - it takes time to develop senior NCOs/officers who know what they're doing - and the time is one thing that was NOT available when growing all those units.

 

You can read a book called "The Regulars" about the Army in the 30s, but I don't remember anything this detailed in it. Good book, and I'd recommend it for learning about Army life in that era, but not sure about the promotions. I've read about that in some other works, though, and they say what he summarized.

 

Steve

[Johan Willaert]

Thanks! Very interesting...

[Tommymonkey192]

I have a 1941 yearbook for the 17th Infantry Regiment. Looking at the faces in the book gives one the very distinct impression that promotion was a tad slow in the pre-war Regular Army. Many of the lieutenants look to be in their 30s while the captains and majors appear to be in their 40s and even pushing 50.

 

Interestingly enough among the members of the 17th Infantry in 1941 was PFC Hank Greenberg the ballplayer as well as PVT Young Oak Kim who later served with distinction in the 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd RCT.

[jgawne]

Everything in the company was according to the CO. (with maybe a lot of advice from the first sgt. or possibly down from his regiment CO if there was a good reason) . There was no central personel office, or special class requirements, etc like there are today. Eve moving from company to company in the same regt. and keeping the same rank was tough.

 

Pre-war even getting to PFC was tough as there were only a limited number of slots (or ratings) and they went to whomever was best liked by the CO, or generally for long service. But it was not uncommon for guys to go up in rank, get busted back down, then go up - repeat.

 

Of course in the national Guard it was far more of a popularity or political contest. My dad said there were officers and NCOs who actually worked in civillian life for some of the enlisted men. It was not uncommon for for them to tell their superiors, "hey, don't give me that duty or you won't have a job come monday monring!"

[El Bibliotecario]

Charles Willford's memoir SOMETHING ABOUT A SOLDIER recounts his military service in the late 30s, and offers many real life examples of promotion policies during that era. One specific example I recall is that in his cavalry troop the postion of dining room orderly carried a PFC rating, and that whatever soldier got the job invaribly tired of it after several months and requested to be returned to straight duty--whereupon the PFC stripe went to the next DRO.

[Bob Hudson]

I found an interesting article in line with this topic: A Short History of the NCO at http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/arms/arms.asp

 

Here's a quote that really shows the ups and downs of the pre-1940 system:

 

After World War I Congress reorganized the NCO ranks. Five NCO ranks were established: master sergeant, technical sergeant, staff sergeant, sergeant, and corporal. First sergeant became a position comparable in rank to the technical sergeant. There were 231 vocational skills that could add $3 to $35 to the soldier's monthly pay. (*Emmerson)

 

As the Army was drastically reduced during this period, enlisted men were often demoted, rather than promoted. The records of Alexander Loungeway, through 32 years of service, provide a good example of the typical enlisted man's career during this period. Joining the Army in 1908, Loungeway rose through the ranks and was promoted to first lieutenant during World War I. After the war he was reverted to a first sergeant, then he became a sergeant, then a corporal, and finally a private first class. He was promoted to corporal a year before he retired. (*Loungeway) All of his character references read "excellent."

 

These reductions resulted from two things. The first was that promotions were given by the regiment and could not be taken to a new regiment. If a man was transferred, or his unit disbanded, he went to the next unit as a private. It wasn't until 1940 that enlisted men could be transferred from unit to unit and retain their stripes.

 

Secondly, in 1922 the Army scheduled 1,600 noncommissioned officers for reductions. This was done to reduce the total force and save money. It caused severe hardships for many noncommissioned officers, especially those with families. (*Fisher)

[Wailuna]

I have the records of one interwar soldier that clearly illustrate some of the foregoing comments. Here he is:

 

This picture dates to ca. 1939/40, when the soldier was a PFC in 6th Infantry Regiment. At the time, he had about 10.5 years of service and he had never reached rank higher than PFC (plus 3rd class specialist). On November 1, 1940, he was promoted from PFC (3rd class specialist) to sergeant, skipping corporal.

 

His record of promotions (and a demotion) in an earlier hitch with 18th Infantry Regiment and his subsequent transfer to 6th Infantry is instructive:

 

Enlisted as Private, 18th Infantry, 7/12/35 with 5.5 years prior service.

 

Promoted to PFC 4/1/36

 

Rated 5th class specialist 11/1/36

 

Re-enlisted in grade (i.e. PFC/5th class specialist) 7/12/38

 

Reduced to Private 1/3/39

 

Disrated from 5th class specialist 1/3/39

 

Transferred to 6th Infantry 1/3/39

 

Promoted to PFC 1/11/39

 

Rated 3rd class specialist 1/11/39

 

Promoted to Sergeant 11/1/40

 

And just to demonstrate the adage that all is well that ends well, he eventually retired as a Master Sergeant.