Those were some weird looking ranks, that's for sure.
Posted on 01/28/2014 2:44:51 PM PST by naturalman1975
Really? I’ve witnessed several **poof** promotions to E-6, including my own. Why so rare?
It’s British Army, specific, of course.
My knowledge of British defence protocol is a little dated at this point, but I think what makes this unusual is the fact that it is a full confirmed promotion without course qualification.
A soldier could be given what is referred to as ‘Local Acting Rank’ on an temporary basis without having completed the necessary course qualification (in this case a Junior Non Commissioned Officers course) but they would still have to complete the course to be confirmed as promoted in that rank (and could lose it - without any prejudice being attached - if the reason they were granted it ceased to be relevant). In this case, Lance Corporal Das is now a substantive Lance Corporal and does not have to complete any further course to retain that rank.
It’s legal - the Chief of the General Staff has this power - but it’s very rarely used nowadays. The fact that Lance Corporal Das would have done the JNCO course if he hadn’t deployed probably counted for a lot (and I also suspect he will be encouraged to do it when he has the opportunity, if he ever wants a second stripe).
Out of curiosity, what is the ethnic derivation of the name “Gigar Das”? He looks “asian”, but that covers a lot of ground.
It’s not that uncommon in certain regiments in the British Army (especially infantry). If somebody wants promotion taking eight years to get a stripe would be very slow, but they don’t force somebody who is happy being a Private to seek promotion if they are doing the job where they need to be doing it.
A person can be an excellent soldier, without necessarily having the inclination or ability to lead others.
You are kind of a rare bear. I only ever knew two, or maybe three, Spec 6’s. I made Spec 5 in nineteen months. Then I was put in an E-6 job but didn’t have sufficient time in grade for a promotion so they made me an E-5 hard stripe.
Why still a Pfc. after 8 years?
CC
Indian, Pakistani, or Bangladeshi most likely - Das is a reasonably common surname on the Indian subcontinent.
See my reply a little above yours (#5)
I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip the waitress.
Yeah, too bad velcro wasn’t real common yet in the 60’s; I know some guys who could’ve saved a lot of time sewing on and ripping off their stripes every time they f’d up.
Commonwealth private is a far cry from US private.
I’ve known a few Spec 7s. In Korea, E-6 and above don’t need a pass to go off-post, so I did like that, otherwise it was just a pay hike and getting lower ranks off my back. Once, as a Spec 5, some acting jack Corporal (in reality a PFC) tried to tell me to do something once, I laughed so hard the section Master Sergeant came running, thinking something was wrong. I asked him to please inform the faux Junior NCO what the deal was. That was the only problem with soft stripes.
Ghurka?
No, but the Gurkhas aren’t the only group from the subcontinent with a strong tradition of serving in the British Army.
The Gurkhas have their own specific Regiments, within their own specific Brigade (the Brigade of Gurkhas) in the British Army (there are also Gurkha units in the armies of Nepal, India, Brunei, and the Singapore Police Force (counter terrorism).
I read somewhere that no one was ever promoted to Spec 8 or 9 the whole time those ranks actually existed. Of course today every specialist rank except Spec 4 has been eliminated. The last Spec 5 promotions were in 1985.
Those were some weird looking ranks, that's for sure.
I knew of a Spec 8, she was a nurse with a radiation specialty. She was some sort of special case, since as I recall, she only had something like 4-5 years time in service.
I knew of a Spec 8 (promotable) who made CW1 before being promoted to Spec 9.
He was CID. And an old fart. He had been around quite some time.
I knew of many Spec 7's, most in the Medics and one or two that were CID.
The only Spec rank I ever held was Sp4, although looking at my records, I have noted that when my promotion was recorded for E-5, it lists both Sp5 and SGT.
There was a time that promotions were quick, relatively speaking, if one had combat time, etc.
When I re-entered the Army after a 13 month hiatus, I had to come back in as a PFC.
I was an E-6 10 months later.
I don't think that happens now.
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