Ranks

[Walt's Daughter]

From time to time we get asked about military rank, etc. Here's a good chart to view:

 

RANKS

 

The hierarchy of military ranks used by the U.S. Army during World War II was:

 

RANK - CODE - NORMAL DUTIES

 

Major General - MAG GEN - Commands a Division

Brigadier General - BRIG GEN - Assist Div. Commander or Artillery Commander

Colonel - COL - Commands a regiment

Lieutenant Colonel - LT COL - Commands a battalion

Major - MAJ - Special

Captain - CAPT - Commands a Company or Battery

1st Lieutenant - 1ST LT - Executive Officer of a Company or Battery

2nd Lieutenant - 2ND LT - Commands a platoon

Chief Warrant Officer - CWO - Special, mostly in artillery units

Warrant Officer Junior Grade - WOJG Special, mostly in artillery units

 

Sergeant Major - SGT MAJ - Top enlisted rank, assigned to Regimental HQ

1st Sergeant - 1ST SGT - Top enlisted rank in a company, normally ~200 men

Master Sergeant - M/SGT - Special duties at battalion or regimental level

Technical Sergeant - T/SGT - Top enlisted rank in a platoon of about 40 men

Staff Sergeant - S/SGT - Commands a squad of 12 men

Sergeant - SGT - Second in command of a squad

Corporal - CPL - Special

Private First Class - PFC - Satisfactory performance of duties, including KP

Private - PVT - Bottom of the heap

 

Technician 3rd Class - T/3 - Special skills and duties; = S/SGT rank

Technician 4th Class - T/4 - Special skills and duties; = SGT rank

Technician 5th Class - T/5 - Special duties, such as Mail Clerk ; = CPL rank

 

Tec5 was my dad's rank