Army Ranks and Pay Grades in 1953

As often happens with IMDB, there is an entry in the trivia section that is wrong. The one I refer to this time is not wrong, but it isn't quite right, either. So, here is some information on US Army rank structure and pay grades.

The movie was made in 1953 and is set contemporaneously, that is during the Korean War. Beginning some time prior to WWII and extending to (I think) the Military Pay Normalization Act of 1949 there were 7 enlisted pay grades in all branches of the United States military. I think it was in this bill that things changed because I saw a reference to it in another location. They were numbered 'downward' from First Grade (the highest pay grade and senior enlisted rank) through Seventh Grade (lowest pay grade and lowest enlisted rank).

The ranks that went with these pay grades, this time going up the way most of us are accustomed to seeing rank referenced and insignia were:

private no insignia
private first class one peaked stripe with the peak pointing up
corporal two peaked stripes shaped as above
sergeant three " stripes " "
staff sergeant three " stripes " " plus one curved striped below them with the convex of the curve facing down, this is called a 'rocker'
sergeant first class three " stripes up, plus two rockers
master sergeant three " stripes up, plus three rockers

Seven pay grades, seven different chevrons, so it matches. However, three of the grades, second grade through fifth grade applied to ranks with an addition. As well as the stripes, corporals, sergeants, staff sergeants, and sergeant first class chevrons might also include the capital letter "T" tee (the serif is so big at the base that I'm afraid it might be ambiguous). This means that the pay grade is "technical." The person wearing it is being paid at the indicated grade because of technical knowledge, but does not have the supervisory status associated with the rank.

Also, some sergeants with chevrons of six stripes also had a lozenge in the center. In civilian speak a lozenge is a slightly flattened diamond. This addition means that the wearer is a "first sergeant," who outranks master sergeants, though they both get the same pay. There is one first sergeant authorized for each unit echelon of company and above.

In 1949 the Pay Normalization Act reordered the pay grades, E-1 through E-7, as we have known them since. In 1958 the Defense Authorization Act added two new pay grades for all of the services. These were E-8 and E-9.

The army handled this by creating a new rank for pay grade E-2, private. Since then they have had two privates, private E-1 and private E-2. Neither wears any rank insignia. Privates first class became E-3's, corporals became E-4's, and so on to master sergeants who became E-8's.

For the E-9 pay grade the army brought back an old rank designation and added a stripe to the chevron. A soldier with three up and four down is called a sergeant major. Today, one sergeant major is authorized for a battalion, and more are authorized at higher echelons.

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