I have noticed an error in the credits of the movie. Richard T. Jones played the character of Jackson Leroy and the credits has him listed as a private. However in the movie he is clearly wearing an armband with two bars. If I am not mistaken the two bars means that he is a Corporal and not a private. Has anybody else noticed this?
shareThe rank on his arm means he is either a squad leader or a platoon guide. The highest rank you can be in boot camp is a specialist.
shareNot to nit-pick, but the Army does not refer Basic Training as "boot camp". In in the current "politically correct" military it's now called "Initial Entry Training". Only the Navy and Marine Corps uses the term "Boot Camp" And you are correct about the rank insignia. Altho the insignia is of either a corporal of a sergeant the trainee is not refered to by either rank. The armband with the rank is to show who holds what position while in training.
shareThe army may no longer refer to Basic Training as "Boot Camp", it was boot camp when I went in 94. My wife went to "Basic Training" much later than I, and teases me as well for calling it Boot Camp, but there was 6 years between our classes. It is what it is for those of us that is was.
sharelsmith1976; You were in the Army? Or were you in the Marine Corps or the Navy? Only the USMC and the USN call it Boot Camp. And let me clairify something. It's officially refered to as Basic Training or Initial Entry Training. Sometimes trainees will call it Boot Camp. When I was a DRILL SERGEANT at Ft Benning (the Infantry school) and later at Ft Rucker (the Aviation center) it was never refered to as Boot Camp and we instructed our trainees to never refer to it as such. Is 1976 the year you were born? That was the year I went to Basic.
shareCurrently being in the Marine Corps, I can tell you that the Corps does not call it "boot camp". The official term is Marine Corps Recruit Training. And during recruit training, you do not have a rank. You are simply a recruit and you refer to yourself as such in the third person only. You are the lowest form of life unitl you cross that Parade Deck with your Eagle, Globe and Anchor.
shareNot as low as Air Force Academy cadet...
shareI will have to agree with lsmith there, Sarg. But you are also right. While it is not actually called "boot camp", cause nothing really is, not in military training at least. The soldiers do sometimes refer to it as such. But, honestly, in Fort Jackson, not sure where, but I know I use to run past it on our PT runs, is a true boot camp. It is more accurately these days a term used to describe the troubled youth camps ran by Drill Instructors. Long before Maury was sending them there also.
shareThe arm band indicates a Temporary rank of Corporal, not a "pay grade"
rank. Such a temorary rank is awarded most usually for performance,
and carries with it more authority and responsibility. Such temorary rank
can be resinded at any time. (Officers, too, can be promoted with a
temporary rank, and is most often done during times of hostility.)
Having been to basic training at Ft. Jackson (where the movie was filmed), I can confirm what protocolglide said above. The armband with two chevrons means that Leroy was a squad leader.
In each platoon, the drill sergeant picks one trainee to be the platoon guide, plus a squad leader for each squad (our particular platoon had 4 squads). The squad leaders all got black armbands with two chevrons, while the platoon guide's armband had three chevrons.
Basically, the other trainees answer to their squad leaders, the squad leaders answer to the platoon guide, and the platoon guide answers to the drill sergeant.
Incidentally, even if you have a higher rank (specialist, for instance), you're still called a private while in basic training. There were several specialists in my platoon - most of them got the rank because they had college degrees - but drill sergeants never referred to them by that rank...everyone was a "private."
FionaBD is correct. I went to Ft. Benning for my BCT but we had the same kind of deal. We had several specialists in my platoon as well, myself included. We werent allowed to pin on any rank until graduation day, so everyone was treated equally throughout our training.
shareAlthough I saw a few specialists in my son's basic training company, it think it's kind of odd to have specialists in basic training. The highest rank in our basic training company was PFC (E-3). I was a PFC in basic training because I had a Bachelor's degree from college already when I joined the National Guard at the age of 29.
shareIt's not as odd as you think to have E-4s in Basic.
shareThe armband is a temporary rank given by a DI to help structure the unit during basic training. The rank is not a permanent one. After graduation, the soldier is sent off to AIT with his rank of private.
shareEveryone who has written so far is correct concernig the arm band. Every school in the military organizes their classes into basic formations (typically platoon size elements) to help with command and control with the students taking leadership positions (regardless of actual rank). In basic trainning, this is to further help teach/familiarize recruits with small unit formations and the leadership positions they will most likely hold during their enlistment. These temporary leaders (often rotated weekly but can occur without warning right in the middle of a training event) are given armbands, pin on rank, velcro-rank, whatever is available to denote their positions.
As for the actual rank...I went through Basic in 2005 (last class with the BDUs) and if my memory serves me right we wore our actual rank on our uniforms throughout Basic. Everyone was still called "private" including the Specialists in our ranks. For those outside the military or unfamiliar with the system, initial entry rank is mainly based on your education level at the time you enlist. The Specialists are not uncommon in Basic, generally reserved for those who had completed some college education. Those slated for OCS (officer candidate school) immediately after Basic also initially enlist as Specialist...yet they are still called "private" like everyone else in Basic with him.
Been to Ft. Jackson, SC for MEPS to go to Navy boot camp in Great Lakes. At our boot a couple recruits in our division would get to wear E-6 insignia on their collars to designate leadership.
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