In the cast listing, Montgomery Clift is identified as "Sgt. 1st Class Danny MacCullough". It should read T/Sgt Danny MacCullough. Remember this was the United States Air Force, not the Army.
shareYou make a good point in that the U.S. Air Force became a service separate from the Army in September, 1947. But strictly in terms of what we see in the movie, the men's rank insignia are in fact Army chevrons. Clift wears the 3-up 2-down of an *Army* Sergeant First Class; Douglas wears the 3-up 3-down of the *Army* Master Sergeant.
And by the way, the Army SFC is in pay grade E-7, equivalent to an Air Force Master Sergeant. The USAF Technical Sergeant (pay grade E-6) is equivalent to the Army Staff Sergeant, who wears 3-up 1-down.
Apparently there was an interim period when the newly-formed USAF still used Army ranks.
No, but there was an interim period when the Air Force wore their old Air Corps uniforms, chevrons included, until the familiar blues were phased in and made mandatory. Note the lineup of the military personnel in the closing credits. The NCOs there have Air Force chevrons. The rank terminology was that of the Air Corps, which had seven grades:
Private, Private first class, corporal, sergeant, staff sergeant, technical sergeant, and master sergeant (or first sergeant if he held that position in the unit). The Air Corps did not have a "sergeant first class" at any time in its history, including transition to USAF terminology. The lower three grades became "airmen" in the early 50's.
What I found interesting is that Davenport was a high-ranking NCO during the film, but a slick-sleeved private in the credits lineup! Perhaps his portrayal of himself was truer to life than we knew.
The Army didn't change that pay grade to Sergeant First Class until 1950. It had been TSgt since before WWII, and remained as such in the Army until right about the beginning of the Korean War.
This movie was filmed in 1949, prior to general introduction of blues in the Air Force. If you look closely at the shoulder transfers on the B-15 jackets used by the airmen in this movie, MOST still read Army Air Forces (Clift's is a WWII production B-15 and "Army Air Forces" was quite plain on the sleeve). It took some time for the uniform and equipment transition to be completed...distinctive USAF chevrons didn't enter usage until mid to late 1949. Blues weren't universal until just prior to June of 1950. Army chevrons were still in use, as were Army rank titles at the time this film takes place (1948-1949), which is why it was correct to joke about Clift's character being busted to Private. Today he'd be busted to Airman, if he were busted. An Airman wasn't an Airman until 1949...and we stopped having Corporals that same year. However, we had Tech. Sergeants in 1949, and we still do. The Army stopped having them in 1950...and still doesn't.
"It's a hard country, kid."
Like another poster suggested, there was a transition period. The US Air Force used the Army chevrons and titles until 1950, although having won a separate status in 1947. See
http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/airforce/a/afenrankhistory.htm.
This is not a link. Please copy and paste. There are about 5 pages.
Another interesting statement in this site is that the Air Force also used "soldiers" and not "airmen" during this period.
If the film takes place in 1948, there is no mistake.
Sorry, but it is a mistake.
In the film he is addressed as "Technical Sergeant Daniel MacCullough" during the ceremony at Templehof when he meets Frederica, his subsequent orders show his rank as "T/S" as does his return address on the letter to Frederica she discards at the end of the movie.
The rank of "sergeant first class" did not exist until it was created in 1948 in the U.S. Army. Before that the rank was called "technical sergeant." The Air Force retained the term when it became a separate service a year earlier. The Army created the rank specifically to distinguish it from the Air Force rank.
Neither the Air Force nor any of its predecessors ever used the term "sergeant first class" to designate the rank. Neither did the Army before 1948.