How fast or slow did the average draftee gain grade

[HistUS8106]

For those drafted between 1955 and 1959 and finished their service 1957 and 1961 during basic training you would be a Private when going to AIT training one would be PFC.

After that if you were trained as a tanker. Would one have been promoted to spec 4 or Corporal?

If you had been a good soldier would have been likely to finish as a Sergeant.

[Allan H.]

On 11/30/2024 at 10:05 PM, HistUS8106 said:

For those drafted between 1955 and 1959 and finished their service 1957 and 1961 during basic training you would be a Private when going to AIT training one would be PFC.

After that if you were trained as a tanker. Would one have been promoted to spec 4 or Corporal?

If you had been a good soldier would have been likely to finish as a Sergeant.

All ranks in the 1950's were covered under the Table of Organization and Equipment (TO&E) to include ranks. This means that if a solider was in a PFC slot, they stayed a PFC until a position opened up for them to move to another slot and achieve a higher rank. There was some movement back to specialist ranks in the mid 1950's, but most of the big changes didn't come about until 1958. 

 

In General, soldiers went into the army as a private-recruit. (E-1). Stripes were earned (E-2) as a Private based upon performance in Basic Training and Advanced training. Typically, a soldier went to PFC after one year of service provided that there were no blemishes to the soldier's record. Corporal was the lowest NCO rank, and was awarded to the top performing PFCs who exhibited leadership potential. Promotion to Corporal was not automatic in any sense of the word. High performers would often times make Sergeant by the end of their four-year enlistment with a promotion to Staff Sergeant being used as an incentive for the soldier to reenlist for another four years. I'm sure someone is going to come in and tell you that their uncle Dudley made Staff Sergeant in less than four years, but that was a genuine rarity for a meteoritic rise in rank beyond what I have written above.

 

To provide a little more insight, I have copied the following: Short History of the Specialist Rank - NCO Historical Society https://ncohistory.com/short-history-specialist-rank/

 

"Korea

In 1951 all enlisted insignia were standardized to one color, further demoralizing combat leaders. The Army
entered the Korean War with NCOs making up over 32% of the enlisted force. In 1953 a committee was formed to address the perceived decline in attractiveness of military service. It recognized that the military must “adopt policies to restore the prestige of noncommissioned officers” that would place a “premium on leadership and command abilities.” The committee also recommended that methods be developed to distinguish between command and technical responsibilities. The Army developed a program to separate specialists from NCOs, which gave birth to our current specialist system we now know. This program, which went in to effect 1 July 1955, grouped NCO grades E-4 to E7, which had a corresponding specialist position that mirrored it. These new specialists would wear distinctive insignia which is partially still in effect for the Specialist (E-4/SPC) of today. Noncoms had special considerations not afforded to specialists. These considerations were not to reduce specialists privileges, but augment privileges and prestige of NCOs. Leadership was the NCOs primary roles and so noted. Specialists received pay commensurate with his ability.

Military Pay Bill of 1958 through Today

In 1958 the DoD added two additional pay grades to give enlisted soldiers more opportunities to progress to a full career with additional opportunities for promotion. This included an addition of two specialist ranks at E-8 and E-9 and proficiency pay was incorporated into the pay scales. In 1968 when the Army added the rank of Command Sergeant Major, the specialist ranks at E-8 and E-9 were abolished without anyone ever being promoted to those levels. In 1978 the specialist rank at E-7 was discontinued and in 1985, the specialist ranks at E-5 and E-6 were discontinued. Today’s current rank structure only includes one specialist rank, that at pay grade E-4. The Specialist is in the normal career progression for enlisted soldiers in between the career path of going from an apprentice enlisted soldier to the journeymen role associated with noncommissioned officers. Today there is no current method to identify senior enlisted specialists from those NCOs in a leadership position."

 

Hope this helps.

 

Allan