It is like grammar, there is no “why” it just is.
It is worth noting that rank insignia have undergone a number of flip-flops over the years. The most recent change (in the mid-Seventies I guess) was the elimination of Specialist Five, Six and Seven.
These guys wore inverted insignia with the bird in the center. Their rockers were halos over the eagle’s head.
In World War II, the Marines added crossed rifles in the center of theirs for combat arms types while others (like my mom) wore rifle-less ones. In the Army, flat rockers meant support troops, rounded ones for combat guys.
Of course World War II was a mess with various “Tech” ranks and of course Air Corps insignia too.
Even earlier, the branches (infantry, artillery and so on) was indicated by the color of the chevrons. This continued on the dress (blue) uniform into modern times.
I can offer no explanation, only the facts as I know them.
(I can however explain why gold is outranked by silver on the officer ranks, but nobody cares about that.)
It is like grammar, there is no “why” it just is.
It is worth noting that rank insignia have undergone a number of flip-flops over the years. The most recent change (in the mid-Seventies I guess) was the elimination of Specialist Five, Six and Seven.
These guys wore inverted insignia with the bird in the center. Their rockers were halos over the eagle’s head.
In World War II, the Marines added crossed rifles in the center of theirs for combat arms types while others (like my mom) wore rifle-less ones. In the Army, flat rockers meant support troops, rounded ones for combat guys.
Of course World War II was a mess with various “Tech” ranks and of course Air Corps insignia too.
Even earlier, the branches (infantry, artillery and so on) was indicated by the color of the chevrons. This continued on the dress (blue) uniform into modern times.
I can offer no explanation, only the facts as I know them.
(I can however explain why gold is outranked by silver on the officer ranks, but nobody cares about that.)
Oops.
I’m sorry. I tried to delete these two posts but I wasn’t watching what I was doing. I deleted all the other posts.
I don’t think there is a way to recover, but I’ll check.
I guess I’ll just close this now.
DrMatrix - GQ Moderator
Nope. It’s gone.
I’m sorry about that. Please feel free to reopen/repost.
DrMatrix - GQ Moderator