There are a few characters that have the rank of Corporal. I know that for several years after the USAF became a seperate branch in 1947 they used Army badges and medals etc untill they created their own. WAS there such a rank in the Air Force?
shareThe fledgling Air Force's new rank structure was not fully implemented until shortly after the end of the Korean War in 1953. Thus, the grades of "private" and "corporal" were still in transitional use. You might also note that period photos of USAF personal of that era show airmen, NCOs, and officers still clad in Army green class A uniforms -- sometimes with the new USAF rank insignia, sometimes with the old Army equivalents.
When the USAF became an independent service they adopted without change the Army enlisted grades as existed prior to WWII. Thus, "private" (no chevron), "private first class" (one chevron), "corporal" (two chevrons), "sergeant" (three chevrons), "staff sergeant" (three chevrons, one rocker), "technical sergeant" (three chevrons, two rockers), and "master sergeant" (three chevrons, three rockers). These pay grades would be transformed in the early 1950s to correlate to the Air Force's new rank insignia and title. "Private" became "airman" (sometimes "airman basic"), "private first class" became "airman 3rd class", "corporal" became "airman 2nd class", and "sergeant" became "airman 1st class". The remaining NCO grades stayed the same. The rank and title of "sergeant" disappeared from the Air Force for some fifteen years, being re-instated around 1970 when the service re-shuffled its rank and grade structure yet again.
Six Actual......OUT!
Thanks, Phantom. Very informative.
sharewhat?
shareI can't answer for what the army ranks were in 1958 but I served in the army from 1968 to 1970. PrivateE1 had no chevron. PrivateE2 had one chevron (mosquito wings), Private First ClassE3 had one chevron and one rocker. CorporalE4 had two chevrons. SergeantE5 had three chevrons. I can't remember ever seeing a corporal while I was in. I only saw SpecialistE4 ranks which was the part of the badge inside the chevron/rocker combo, upside down and the chevron and rocker weren't there. Specialists above E4 gained rockers on the top. But generally they went from Spec4 to SergeantE5 with three chevrons.
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