"Technician" Ranks...basic question

[theschneid88]

I have a couple of quick questions regarding the classic "Technician" grades of WW2:

 

#1 Did they (T/5, T/4 and T/3) have command status? I have been told while they were considered NCO's they didn't have command authority.

#2 Did the rank of Technical Sergeant (Grade 2) have any relation to the above? or was it its own distinct grade?

 

Dan

[patches]

Here Some info.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...rt=#entry997663

[Justin B.]

1) They were not officially supposed to be in command positions.

 

2) Technical sergeant was a regular NCO grade with command authority, how much authority depending on position. By the end of WW2 infantry platoon sergeant was usually a T/Sgt slot. The reason they were called "technical sergeant" goes back to 1920, when the vast variation of enlisted grades were standardized for all branches. The only line NCO folded into the 2nd Grade was First Sergeant, which kept its title and diamond insignia. The rest of the 2nd Grade were technical positions like hospital sergeant, quartermaster sergeant, ordnance sergeant and electrician sergeant. Of course in the next 20 years there was some "creep" of line NCOs into the T/Sgt grade, but the title wasn't changed until 1948, and lives on in the USAF.

 

Justin B.