The Enlisted Force
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The Enlisted Force Cognitive Lesson Objective: • Know key elements of the enlisted force structure. Cognitive Samples of Behavior: • Describe the three tiers of the enlisted force structure. • Identify the special positions a senior noncommissioned officer (SNCO) can hold. • Describe significant milestones in the evolution of the noncommissioned officer (NCO). • State the purpose of each of the enlisted Professional Military Education (PME) schools. Affective Lesson Objective: • Value the contributions and purpose of the enlisted force. Affective Samples of Behavior: • Express appreciation for the contributions enlisted members have made. • Assert the importance of understanding the enlisted force as an officer. 426 THE HERITAGE AND HISTORY OF THE ENLISTED FORCE ince the Army Aeronautical Division was formally created in 1907, enlisted Airmen have served at the leading edge. They have been pilots, navigators, bombardiers, Smechanics, gunners, engineers, communication specialists, cooks, clerks, and much more. They helped perfect aerial bombing, jumped with the first parachutes, and tested ejection seats. They sacrificed their lives for their comrades and the mission. Their legacy is a proud heritage and history. This chapter brings to light the many significant achievements of enlisted men and women and provides insight into the evolution of the Air Force enlisted corps. The US military services use many of the ranks they started with in 1775. The leaders adopted the organization, regulations, and ranks of the British army and navy with only minor changes. This is not surprising because our Revolutionary Army was made up of colonial militia units that had been organized and drilled by British methods for years. Most of the military experience of the soldiers and their officers, George Washington among them, came from service in militia units fighting alongside British army units during the French and Indian War of 1754 through 1763. Professional Military Names The basic names for members of the military profession go back several centuries. Seaman comes from an Old English word that was pronounced “see-man,” and means a person whose occupation is on the sea. A Soldier is a person who serves in a military force for pay. This name comes from the Latin word “solidus,” a Roman coin used for paying military men. Sergeant also comes from a Latin word, “serviens,” meaning servant, but is much older. In medieval times, the “servant” may have become a fighting man for self-preservation because combat often amounted to attacking everyone, regardless of whether they were armed. The sergeant became an experienced warrior who might ride a horse but was not wealthy enough to afford all the equipment and retainers to qualify as a knight. As an experienced soldier, he might be called upon to take charge of a group of serfs or other common people forced to serve in an army of feudal levies. The sergeant would conduct what training he could to teach his charges to fight, lead them into battle, and most importantly, keep them from running away during a battle. Sergeant was not a rank but an occupation. Sergeant became a regular position and then a rank as army organizations evolved. It has been a key rank in British and European armies for several hundred years. When the US Army and Marine Corps started in 1775, it was natural that both included sergeants. 426 The Enlisted Force 427 Private was the first enlisted rank. It comes from the Latin word “privus” that meant an individual person without an office. The term as a military rank seems to come from the sixteenth century when individuals had the privilege of enlisting or making contracts to serve as private soldiers in military units. Airman is a more recent word that means someone involved with flying. The Air Force may have formally given this title to members of its four lowest enlisted ranks in 1952, but all Air Force members are Airmen. Insignia The first US military insignia was used during the Revolutionary War. Even then, the sergeant’s role in troop leadership was recognized as important enough to be given distinctive grade insignia. In 1775, the Continental Army did not have enough uniforms to distinguish the officers from their men. The Continental Congress tried to standardize a brown uniform, but without any authority to raise money, this was easier said than done. Officers wore remnants of old military dress with no thought given to similarity of color. The enlisted men wore their work or hunting clothes. Many had no coat or shoes and wore handkerchiefs for hats. When General George Washington took command of the Army at Cambridge, he was obliged to develop badges so that rank would be indicated at sight. One of his first orders read as follows: “As the Continental Army has unfortunately no uniforms, and consequently many inconveniences must arise from not being able to distinguish the commissioned officers from the privates, it is desired that some badges of distinction may be immediately provided; for instance—that the corporals may be distinguished by an epaulette or stripe of green cloth sewed upon the right shoulder, the sergeants by one of red.” “Chevron” is a French word meaning rafter or roof. Chevrons appeared on shields and coats-of-arms for knights, barons, and kings and have been a recognized symbol of honor since the twelfth century. French soldiers started wearing cloth chevrons with the points up on their coat sleeve in 1777 as length of service and good conduct badges. In 1782, George Washington ordered that enlisted men who served for three years “with bravery, fidelity, and good conduct” wear “a narrow piece of white cloth, of angular form” on the left sleeve of the uniform coat as a badge of honor. Air Force stripes date back to 1948. The basic design was one of several presented to 150 enlisted members at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, DC, in late 1947. On March 9, 1948, General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff at the time, approved the designed. 428 US Air Force Enlisted Force Evolution From the beginning, aviators had to deal with establishing, recruiting, and training a group of enlisted men to care for the airplanes. On July 18, 1914, convinced of the need to bolster military aviation as a result of the impending war in Europe, Congress passed a legislative bill that established the Aviation Section within the Army Signal Corps and authorized 101 enlisted men. Forty men trained as aviation mechanics, 12 received flight training, and the remaining 49 went directly to squadrons where they served in a second tier of occupational specialties including fireman, fuel-truck operator, and cook. Although most training at the beginning was hands-on, by 1915, aviation instructors at the Technical Instruction School in San Diego, California, designed a certification process based on performance and a written test. Enlisted men earning the certification were rewarded with a 50-percent pay raise. On the eve of WWI, and within the first few years of existence, enlisted Airmen had an identifiable image consisting of a technically-driven and skilled group of experts who, by sheer novelty of the technology, differentiated themselves from other Army branches. World War I WWI proved critical to the development of the Army Air Service, which had evolved from the Aviation Section of the Army Signal Corps. With only 65 officers, 1,120 enlisted members, and 200 old planes, the Army faced a monumental task in April 1917 when the Allied powers requested a minimum of 2,000 planes per month and the required number of Airmen to fly and repair them. A month later the request increased to 5,000 pilots, 50,000 mechanics, and 45,000 planes. The expanded Air Service and the technological growth furthered the development of enlisted personnel policy, especially in the areas of recruiting and training. In the area of recruiting, the original Airmen were experienced volunteers from the Army Signal Corps. Under the Selective Service Act of 1917, the Air Service would receive men new to the military. The military also developed new personnel classification procedures and tests to measure aptitude and predict potential job proficiency. In 1918, the Air Service convinced the Classification Committee to design special tests to select only those mechanically inclined for jobs in military aviation. World War II During WWII, the tremendous demand for technical manpower presented a problem. To maintain extremely complex equipment, weapons, and systems, the services needed skilled specialists. There was no centralized basic or technical skills training; squadron commanders and first sergeants usually dictated the amount and type of training. As a result of the need to train thousands of men, both basic and technical training were centralized, standardized, and separated from the unit. Basic training evolved from learning about military protocol on the job to a system of centralized recruit reception centers. Reception centers indoctrinated, tested, and classified recruits, then sent them to training centers where the new Airman received technical training. 428 The Enlisted Force 429 Enlisted Pilot Program The 77th Congress enacted Public Law 99 on June 3,1941, which authorized the training of enlisted men as aviation pilots. On August 20, 1941, 183 enlisted men of the US Army Air Forces began pilot training just 2 months and 18 days after Congress approved the program. The first pilot training class, 42-C, finished its training and graduated as staff sergeant pilots on March 7, 1942—one-half graduating from Kelly Field and the other half from Ellington Field in Texas. After graduation, the class was assigned to the 82d Fighter Group when it was first organized at Muroc, California. In the fall of 1943, the group proceeded to North Africa.