WORLD WAR II MARINE CORPS ENLISTED RANK STRUCTURE

When the Continental Marine Corps was first established in 1775, the only authorized enlisted ranks were sergeant, corporal, drummer or fifer, and private. Since Marines primarily served as ship's detachments, this arrangement worked during the Revolutionary War. After the end of the war, the Naval services were disbanded.

On 11 July 1798 the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps were officially established. In addition to the old ranks, new ones were created. These included a sergeant major, a quartermaster sergeant, a drum major, and a fife major. From this beginning, the rank structure developed into the system used in the modern Marine Corps.

From the Corps' earliest years, the ranks of lance corporal and lance sergeant were in common usage. Marines were appointed temporarily from the next lower rank to the higher grade but were still paid at the lower rank. As the rank structure became more firmly defined, the rank of lance sergeant fell out of use. Lance corporals served in the Corps into the 1930s but this unofficial rank became redundant when the the rank of private first class was established in 1917. The lance corporal fell out of usage prior to World War II, to be permanently established in the sweeping rank restructuring of 1958.

There was no rank between sergeant and sergeant major until 1833. Many ship's detachments and shore stations were commanded by sergeants, who did not have the privileges and pay commensurate with their responsibilities. In 1833, the Congress rectified this by creating the ranks of orderly sergeant of the post, and first sergeant of the guard at sea. This dual rank system proved unwieldy in practice and the rank of orderly sergeant was abolished in 1872.

The rank of gunnery sergeant came into common usage over the middle decades of the 19th century. Marine ship's detachments were customarily assigned to man one of the vessel's guns. The gunnery sergeant was the Marine designated as leader of the gun crew. As a technical specialist, he was charged with training the detachment's Marines in all aspects of gun drill, ammunition preparation and safety. The rank of gunnery sergeant was first officially recognized in 1898.

As more and more technical innovations changed the Naval services, the rank and pay structure became more complex. By World War I, there were special pays for gun pointers, cooks, signalmen, members of the Marine Band, and others. In 1908, the Corps established the first additional pay for expert riflemen.

In 1923 the Marine Corps aligned its rank structure with the system used in the Army. This added a pay grade, which the Corps used to create the new rank of staff sergeant. The system of seven enlisted pay grades would remain in use for over thirty years. In 1925, the technical ranks were established for the first time. In 1935, cooks and bakers were aligned into the technical ranks, giving them a logical career progression.

World War II brought an explosion of ranks and titles. It was fairly straightforward for Marines serving in line billets. For those in technical or clerical duties however, the system mushroomed into a bewildering array of rank designations. The system was streamlined somewhat by 1944. The rank system below is that used in the latter part of the war.

1st Pay Grade

Sergeant Major Master Gunnery Sergeant Master Sergeant	First Sergeant	Master Technical Sergeant Quartermaster Sergeant Paymaster Sergeant Master Steward Master Cook

2nd Pay Grade

Gunnery Sergeant Drum Major	Technical Sergeant Supply Sergeant Steward First Class Cook First Class

3rd Pay Grade

Platoon Sergeant	Staff Sergeant Chief Cook Steward Second Class Cook Second Class

4th Pay Grade

Sergeant Field Music Sergeant Field Cook Steward Third Class Cook Third Class

5th Pay Grade

Corporal Assistant Cook Field Music Corporal Steward's Assistant First Class

6th Pay Grade

Private First Class Field Music First Class Steward's Assistant Second Class

7th Pay Grade

NO RANK INSIGNIA

Private Field Music Steward's Assistant Third Class

1942 Monthly Enlisted Pay Table

RANK	Less than 3 yrs	Over 3 yrs	Over 6 yrs	Over 9 yrs	Over 12 yrs	Over 15 yrs	Over 18 yrs	Over 21 yrs	Over 24 yrs	Over 30 yrs
MSgt/1stSgt/SgtMaj	138	144	151	158	165	172	179	186	193	207
GySgt/TSgt	114	119	125	131	136	142	148	153	159	171
PSgt/SSgt	96	100	105	110	115	120	124	129	134	144
Sergeant	78	81	85	89	93	97	101	105	109	117
Corporal	66	69	72	75	79	82	85	89	92	99
Private First Class	54	56	59	62	64	67	70	72	75	81
Private	50	52	55	57	60	62	65	67	70	75

NOTES:
1. All amounts are in U. S. dollars and have been rounded up or down to the closest dollar amount.
2. Incremental pay column for over 27 years has been edited from this chart.

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