Do they call up corporals and foremen? Assignment of regular military ranks to military personnel

There are a certain number of ranks in the ranks of the armed forces, but there is a special rank of corporal, which causes mixed responses among military personnel. He is often disliked, but it is worth understanding the reason for this attitude towards him.

History of the title

The rank of corporal has been known since the 16th century, when it first began to be assigned to military personnel of some European countries. It was given to experienced and reliable soldiers who could be entrusted with some kind of assignment. Corporals were trusted to look after recruits, escort prisoners, and temporarily lead soldiers in place of absent sergeants.

If translated from German language, "corporal", means "freed". In this case, the soldier was relieved of some of the duties assigned to the rank and file, such as being sent to a detachment. If the holder of the rank performed well in the service, he had a chance to advance in it and become a sergeant.

The rank of corporal in the Russian army appeared during the time of Peter I. He was a lover of everything German, so it began to be listed among other ranks of the Russian army. It was in the troops of Peter I, known as the amusing ones, that the first corporals appeared. In terms of status, a serviceman was lower than a corporal, but at the same time higher than an ordinary soldier. A corporal in the tsarist army was equivalent to a modern sergeant. In the future it will be abolished and will return only under Paul I in the 18th century in 1798. In the tsarist army it was worn not by soldiers who had proven themselves in battle, but by military specialists. Such a specialist as a telegraph operator could be awarded this title.

After the revolution, the rank of corporal was abolished as a relic of tsarism. They forgot about him for some time. It was only reintroduced in 1924. During Patriotic War Since 1940, only military personnel undergoing military courses could receive the title. In 1943, it was soldiers of this rank who were assigned to lead a platoon instead of a sergeant. Such fighters were respected among their colleagues and were fired upon in battle.

In the navy, a corporal is equivalent to a senior sailor. IN Soviet time A positive attitude was formed towards this army rank, thanks to the feature films that were released on screens.

Subsequently, the corporal was assigned a status higher than that of a private, but at the same time lower than a junior sergeant. Currently, the title is awarded to long-serving privates who can train new recruits in accordance with the regulations. They remain the same soldiers, but with greater powers.

Often the rank of corporal is assigned to medical personnel, because they initially have knowledge higher than that of ordinary privates. As a rule, this rank is assigned to soldiers who are senior in their position, this can be a driver, radio operator and other positions.
IN Russian army A corporal can be obtained by serving in the following positions:

Shooter (grenade launcher, sniper, machine gunner), group commander.
Sanitation instructor. The position is available mainly in the ground forces.
A counselor who works with service dogs, he must be the senior in the squad. The position is present in the border troops.
Senior telephone operator or radio operator. This position is available in the Signal Corps.
Senior driver or mechanic - driver.
Senior chemist. The position is common in chemical defense troops.
Gunner. The position is present in the artillery troops.
Operator - gunner. There is such a position in the tank forces.

Why don't people like this rank in the army?

Is the corporal a private or a sergeant? Neither one nor the other, this is no longer a simple private, but at the same time, not a sergeant either. As is known in the ranks of the armed forces Soviet army there was an ambiguous attitude towards this title. The same attitude still exists in the ranks of the Russian armed forces. There are well-known proverbs and sayings on this matter. Their general meaning boils down to the fact that it is better to wear clean shoulder straps than to be a corporal.

There are several reasons for this attitude towards this army rank:

A soldier holding this rank is assigned additional responsibilities, without any special privileges. They are already asking him more, but usually there are no special rewards for this.
Adolf Hitler had this rank; he took part in the First World War in this rank. For this reason, the Soviet army did not like corporals.

Singling out or rewarding someone total mass soldier does not always have a positive effect on the soldier who receives this rank. There is banal envy among the soldiers. It is believed that it is assigned to the commander's favorites.
During the First World War, soldiers with the rank of corporal were placed in the first rank. Therefore, most often they were the first to die. Therefore, no parent wanted their son to bear this title. Based on this, everyone was born famous saying about his son, a corporal.
A corporal is the same soldier, but senior in rank. Few people want to obey him, hence the attitude towards him is not entirely positive.

To receive the rank of corporal, it is not necessary to hold a position, according to the staff list in the unit, this rank is assigned to a private as an incentive and can be received by any soldier who has earned it in some way. To receive the rank, you need to prove yourself in drill training or show zeal for service, for which such a rank can be awarded.

But sometimes corporals are assigned by commanders to those whom they treat especially well. The army, as you know, does not like upstarts, hence the hostility to this type of promotion. Sometimes a soldier who has received this rank, without much pleasure, attaches insignia to his shoulder straps so as not to stand out from the rest. But during inspections, all insignia must be on shoulder straps in accordance with the rank.

Shoulder straps and insignia

The shoulder straps of a soldier who has this rank are distinguished by the fact that they have an insignia on them. A corporal wears shoulder straps with one stripe, while a junior sergeant has two such stripes. When receiving a rank, there is a need to properly attach the strip to the shoulder straps.

Nowadays, shoulder straps on field uniforms are no longer sewn on. Shoulder straps and false shoulder straps are already present on the soldier's uniform; it is only necessary to correctly position the insignia on the shoulder strap.

The stripes are strips of gray or protective color. The dress uniform must have golden stripes; they must be positioned so that their corner is at the top. The corporal's strip is 5 mm wide. The distance of the stripes from the edge of the corporal's shoulder straps should be 45 millimeters.

The strap on the shoulder strap should be positioned as follows:

Take a shoulder strap and a strip of the appropriate size. Mark the location of the strip.
Unbend the legs of the stripes and see where they will be directed.
Use a pencil to mark where the strip will be located.
Using an awl, carefully make a hole in the place of the shoulder strap.
Insert the straightened legs of the strip into the prepared hole and bend it.
Make sure that the strip is securely fastened to the surface of the shoulder strap.

Whatever the attitude towards this military rank, we can conclude that this insignia is given to soldiers who are responsible and have proven themselves well in service. How to treat this rank depends both on the soldier himself and on the leadership of the unit, and a negative connotation is given to it by fans of soldier’s humor, which is often not related to reality.

What is a corporal: definition, first mention

Our glorious army, and other world armies, have adopted a lot from the Germans. The title "corporal" is no exception here. It was first assigned to proven and experienced soldiers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland back in the 16th century. Junior commanders needed people they could rely on and trust with tasks requiring responsibility. Corporals supervised the convoy of prisoners, carried out guard duties, patronized recruits, and could temporarily replace sergeants.

The meaning of the word "corporal" in German is "freed", which is written as Gefreiter. The fact is that corporals were entitled to exemption from some soldier's duties. Meanwhile, the bearer of this title remained a soldier. If the corporal served regularly, he had a real chance of becoming a sergeant when a higher position was vacated.

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The appearance of the rank in the Russian army

Peter I loved everything German. It was in Peter's amusing regiments that we first had corporals. However, the importance of this title was lower than what we know today. These soldiers were simply free from some of the required attire, literally corresponding to the German word for "liberated". In fact, until 1716, the corporal was a “lanspasad”, this rank most closely corresponded to today’s.

After the adoption of Peter the Great’s army regulations, the corporal began to correspond to the “senior soldier,” that is, he was lower than a corporal, but higher than a private. The position was introduced for infantry, cavalry, and from 1720 for Marine Corps and was equivalent to a corporal. In artillery this rank corresponded to bombardiers. But soon corporals disappeared from the Russian army and appeared only in the 18th century under Paul I.

How the rank became established in the Russian army

The rank corresponding to corporal appeared again in 1798. Such soldiers were called privates of senior salary and were lower in rank than junior non-commissioned officers (junior sergeants today). Senior pay for privates was abolished after the accession of Emperor Alexander I to the throne.

In 1826, the rank was introduced into the army Russian Empire finally. Now senior soldiers are literally called corporals. The position is being introduced only in infantry and cavalry units. Artillerymen, for example, were already considered superior to ordinary infantrymen. Only in 1884 would the rank of bombardier be introduced in the artillery, which would correspond to the infantry corporal. In the Cossack troops, the rank corresponded to the order.

It is interesting that in the tsarist army the title of “corporal” was worn mainly not by experienced and distinguished soldiers, as in Soviet times, but by army specialists. These were those soldiers who had a military specialty, such as a telegraph operator, but could not be promoted to non-commissioned officers. At this time, corporals were often brought in to fill the positions of junior officers when there was a shortage of personnel.

With the advent of Soviet power, the new army leadership decided that the corporal was a relic of tsarist times, and the position was abolished. However, no new analogue was introduced, and the title reappeared only in 1924. The division into categories was approved - a flight commander appeared, which generally corresponded to the corporal. But in 1935, the position of “flight commander” was abolished, as personal military ranks were introduced.

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The rank of corporal was introduced in the Soviet army only in 1940. Until 1943, corporals included those undergoing sergeant courses, as well as junior specialists. At the same time, the position was finally established that corporal is a military rank that is lower than a junior sergeant, but higher than an ordinary soldier.

By and large, with the collapse Soviet Union nothing has changed with the position of “corporal”. Since late Soviet times and in the Russian period, a corporal is a soldier rewarded for performing service properly. As a rule, commanders assign rank to long-serving privates, which gives them the opportunity to use the letter of the regulations when training new recruits.

Corporals continue to exist not only in Russia, but also in the armed forces of the CIS countries. In the Soviet and Russian armies, the title “corporal”, by analogy with the tsarist army, is given to military specialists. These could be grenade launchers, machine gunners, snipers, drivers, dog handlers, telephone operators. Among medical specialists, the rank is often given to a paramedic, in artillery to a gunner, and in the chemical forces to a chemist or flamethrower. That is, these soldiers initially have special knowledge, unlike their ordinary colleagues.

There are not so many such facts about corporals. Maybe because a corporal is, essentially, a private who honestly pulls the soldier’s burden along with everyone else. Perhaps the most famous of the people who bore this title was Adolf Hitler. He was awarded back in 1914, when he served in the artillery. It is worth noting that Adolf fought honestly and bravely in the First world war, and was even wounded. Hitler remained a corporal until his inglorious end. The problem is that the corporal made strategic decisions and yelled at the marshals, calling them mediocrities and cowards.

Corporals became heroes of many films. The most famous of them is perhaps “The Seven Brides of Corporal Zbruev.” Of course, we need to remember “Aty-Bati, the soldiers were marching”, where the corporal performed by Leonid Bykov plays a key role in the film and is shown exclusively with positive side. During the war, corporals were indeed often experienced soldiers. Marshal Malenkov began his career from this position; at least one corporal hoisted the Victory Banner over the Reichstag.

Attitude to rank in the army

In the Soviet army, the position was treated ambiguously, to put it mildly. Russians have also preserved this tradition. armed forces. Everyone knows the expressions that it is better to have a daughter of easy virtue than a son-corporal, or “clean shoulder straps - clear conscience" Why did the corporal deserve such disrespect for himself?

There are several reasons:

The corporal seems to be the senior in rank, but remains a soldier, so you don’t want to obey him at all (especially if you don’t have much authority in the team).
Senior soldiers constantly force their colleagues to do some kind of work - hence the negativism and slander.
Soldiers consider corporals to be the favorites of their commanders, and they are not liked in any team.
Banal envy.

Most often this negativity is without any basis. Corporal is a necessary and useful rank. As noted above, during the war the corporals were indeed respected and listened to. It is no coincidence that directors who fought in the war show people with this title from the positive side. Much depends on the commander, who must be aware of who he promotes to corporal, whether he will cope with the position, whether the soldiers will respect him.

Today I will tell you how to get a military rank in the army.

Initially, you will be a private, then comes a corporal, and after the corporal comes a junior sergeant, a sergeant and a senior sergeant. You may not hope for more, but this is not certain, since it is already very difficult to get a sergeant and senior sergeant in the army. Let's take it in order and start, of course, with the military rank of private.

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Service life in 2019 (applies to everyone)
How to correctly (whoever is in the subject will understand what we are talking about)

Which military ranks can be achieved by a conscript

I would also like to remind you that in addition to the army, we also have the Navy, where military ranks differ from land ones, namely:

Assignment of the military rank of private

The initial military rank in the army is private. A private is an ordinary soldier who serves in the army and does not stand out in any way. This rank is stamped on your military ID at the assembly point from where you are from, and the date of assignment to the rank of private is the date of your discharge from military service. Ordinary soldiers have clean shoulder straps, and, as they say, “clean shoulder straps mean a clear conscience.” There is nothing more to say about the military rank of private.

Assignment of the military rank of corporal

Let's talk about the next military rank - corporal, the so-called most trained soldier. As they say, “it’s better to have a prostitute’s daughter than a corporal’s son,” I don’t know why this title is so disliked, but according to one of the many versions, this is due to Tsarist Russia, where corporals at the front were placed in the first rank, and, accordingly, they died first.

How to get the rank of corporal? There is a so-called ShDS (staff list) - “shtatka”. This is in every company. In order to receive this rank, you need to hold the appropriate military position. That is, your position in this “staff” must correspond to your rank.

A corporal can be assigned to any soldier, for example, by title you will be , and the senior driver should have the rank of corporal.

Assignment of the military rank junior sergeant, sergeant

Military ranks of sergeants and senior officers

Next comes the rank of junior sergeant. Let's think about it, do you need it? A junior sergeant is usually a soldier who knows the regulations, who is able and willing to lead personnel, who is respected in the military team, not only by the soldiers, but also by the command. He may already be a squad leader. The squad commander is the soldier who will have him under his command. The squad leader must know everything about each soldier from his squad. And also skillfully manage them.

The direct superior of the squad commander will be the deputy platoon commander (zamkom platoon) - this is the same junior sergeant or sergeant who will lead the entire platoon.

That is, there is a chain of military personnel, namely: private, corporal, junior sergeant and sergeant. Usually the platoon commander is a junior sergeant or sergeant, the squad commander is a corporal, and ordinary soldiers are simply in different platoons.

There is another method for obtaining a military rank. Let's say you approach your company commander and say that after the army you want to serve in the police or another law enforcement agency and the rank of junior sergeant will be useful to you to make it easier for you to move forward. Perhaps this will be enough to award you the military rank of junior sergeant (provided that you are really worthy of it).

The third option for assigning a military rank

Let's say - February 23 or May 9, usually regular and extraordinary military ranks are awarded on these holidays, and accordingly you can fall under this topic.

How else can you get a rank in the army?

This is when the old conscription retired and vacancies became available for military positions, for which the state provides for the military ranks of corporal or junior sergeant. And, since there will be no platoon commanders and squad commanders, any worthy soldier can be appointed to this position with the assignment of the next military rank.

Also, the rank of junior sergeant can be given for some merit, but this is very rare. So let's look at it: a private is a soldier who simply serves in the army. A corporal is the same soldier, but no longer a soldier and not yet a junior sergeant. Next comes the junior sergeant, who leads the squad, and the sergeant, who can already lead an entire platoon. But not all soldiers are given a sergeant. There will be only two or three of them in the company.

Conclusion: if you want to run around at night on platoon or squad business, fill out various documentation, monitor the whole platoon, get paid for them, etc., then you can become a junior sergeant. And if you just want to quietly serve in the army, then be a private.

As they say, everything is in your hands and in fact, make it so that you awarded military rank not that hard

Corporal - what kind of rank is this and what is the role of this person in the unit? Where and why did this position appear in the army? Why do soldiers often dislike corporals and make up proverbs and jokes about them? Such questions may arise in most minds when this title is mentioned. We will try to give complete and objective answers to them.

What is a corporal: definition, first mention

The appearance of the rank in the Russian army

After the adoption of Peter the Great’s army regulations, the corporal began to correspond to the “senior soldier,” that is, he was lower than a corporal, but higher than a private. The position was introduced for infantry, cavalry, and from 1720 for the marine corps and was equivalent to corporal. In artillery this rank corresponded to bombardiers. But soon corporals disappeared from the Russian army and appeared only in the 18th century under Paul I.

How the rank became established in the Russian army

In 1826, the rank was finally introduced into the army of the Russian Empire. Now senior soldiers are literally called corporals. The position is being introduced only in infantry and cavalry units. Artillerymen, for example, were already considered superior to ordinary infantrymen. Only in 1884 would the rank of bombardier be introduced in the artillery, which would correspond to the infantry corporal. In the Cossack troops, the rank corresponded to the order.

It is interesting that in the tsarist army the title of "corporal" was worn mainly not by experienced and distinguished soldiers, as in Soviet times, but by army specialists. These were those soldiers who had a military specialty, such as a telegraph operator, but could not be promoted to non-commissioned officers. At this time, corporals were often brought in to fill the positions of junior officers when there was a shortage of personnel.

The rank of corporal was introduced in the Soviet army only in 1940. Until 1943, corporals included those attending sergeant courses, as well as junior specialists. At the same time, the position was finally established that corporal is a military rank that is lower than a junior sergeant, but higher than an ordinary soldier.

By and large, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, nothing changed with the position of “corporal.” Since late Soviet times and in the Russian period, a corporal is a soldier rewarded for performing service properly. As a rule, commanders assign rank to long-serving privates, which gives them the opportunity to use the letter of the regulations when training new recruits.

Corporals continue to exist not only in Russia, but also in the armed forces of the CIS countries. In the Soviet and Russian armies, the title of "corporal", by analogy with the tsarist army, is given to military specialists. These could be grenade launchers, machine gunners, snipers, drivers, dog handlers, telephone operators. Among medical specialists, the rank is often given to a paramedic, in artillery to a gunner, and in chemical forces to a chemist or flamethrower. That is, these soldiers initially have special knowledge, unlike their ordinary colleagues.

There are not so many such facts about corporals. Maybe because a corporal is, essentially, a private who honestly pulls the soldier’s burden along with everyone else. Perhaps the most famous of the people who bore this title was Adolf Hitler. He was awarded back in 1914, when he served in the artillery. It is worth noting that Adolf fought honestly and bravely in the First World War, and was even wounded. Hitler remained a corporal until his inglorious end. The problem is that the corporal made strategic decisions and yelled at the marshals, calling them mediocrities and cowards.

Corporals became heroes of many films. The most famous of them is, perhaps, “The Seven Brides of Corporal Zbruev.” Of course, we need to remember “Aty-Bati, the soldiers were marching,” where the corporal played by Leonid Bykov plays a key role in the film and is shown exclusively from the positive side. During the war, corporals were indeed often experienced soldiers. Marshal Malenkov began his career from this position; at least one corporal hoisted the Victory Banner over the Reichstag.

Attitude to rank in the army

In the Soviet army, the position was treated ambiguously, to put it mildly. The Russian armed forces have also preserved this tradition. Everyone knows the expressions that it is better to have a daughter of easy virtue than a son-corporal, or “clean shoulder straps - a clear conscience.” Why did the corporal deserve such disrespect for himself?

There are several reasons:

The corporal seems to be the senior in rank, but remains a soldier, so you don’t want to obey him at all (especially if you don’t have much authority in the team).
Senior soldiers constantly force their colleagues to do some kind of work - hence the negativism and slander.
Soldiers consider corporals to be the favorites of their commanders, and they are not liked in any team.
Banal envy.

There are a certain number of ranks in the ranks of the armed forces, but there is a special rank corporal, which causes mixed responses among military personnel. He is often disliked, but it is worth understanding the reason for this attitude towards him.

History of the title

Rank corporal has been known since the 16th century, when it was first assigned to military personnel of some European countries. It was given to experienced and reliable soldiers who could be entrusted with some kind of assignment. Corporals were trusted to look after recruits, escort prisoners, and temporarily lead soldiers in place of absent sergeants.

Translated from German, “ corporal" means "liberated". In this case, the soldier was relieved of some of the duties assigned to rank and file, such as sending to the outfit. If the holder of the rank performed well in the service, he had a chance to advance in it and become a sergeant.

The rank of corporal in the Russian army appeared during the time of Peter I. He was a lover of everything German, so it began to be listed among other ranks of the Russian army. It was in the troops of Peter I, known as the amusing ones, that the first corporals appeared. In terms of status, a serviceman was lower than a corporal, but at the same time higher than an ordinary soldier. Corporal in the tsarist army he was equivalent to a modern sergeant. In the future it will be abolished and will return only under Paul I in the 18th century in 1798. In the tsarist army it was worn not by soldiers who had proven themselves in battle, but by military specialists. Such a specialist as a telegraph operator could be awarded this title.

After the revolution, rank corporal was abolished as a relic of tsarism. They forgot about him for some time. It was only reintroduced in 1924. During the Patriotic War since 1940, only military personnel undergoing military courses could receive the title. In 1943, it was soldiers of this rank who were assigned to lead a platoon instead of a sergeant. Such fighters were respected among their colleagues and were fired upon in battle.

In the navy corporal equivalent to a senior sailor. In Soviet times, a positive attitude was formed towards this army rank, thanks to feature films that were released on screens.

Often the rank of corporal is assigned to medical personnel, because they initially have knowledge higher than that of ordinary privates. As a rule, this rank is assigned to soldiers who are senior in their position, this can be a driver, radio operator and other positions.
In the Russian army, a corporal can be obtained by serving in the following positions:

Why don't people like this rank in the army?

Corporal This private or sergeant? Neither one nor the other, it's no longer simple private, but at the same time not yet sergeant. As is known, in the ranks of the armed forces of the Soviet army there was an ambiguous attitude towards this rank. The same attitude still exists in the ranks of the Russian armed forces. There are well-known proverbs and sayings on this matter. Their general meaning boils down to the fact that it is better to wear clean shoulder straps than being a corporal.

There are several reasons for this attitude towards this army rank:

To obtain the title corporal it is not necessary to hold a position, according to the staff list in the unit, this rank is assigned to a private as an encouragement and can be received by any soldier who has earned it in some way. To receive the rank, you need to prove yourself in drill training or show zeal for service, for which such a rank can be awarded.

Shoulder straps and insignia

The strap on the shoulder strap should be positioned as follows:

Yaroslav Hasek, through the mouth of his immortal hero, said that “a corporal is a punishment for a company.” Given negative attitude Representatives of this rank have been preserved in the Russian army to this day. However, it was also in Soviet times.

The title "corporal" - why many consider it not an encouragement, but a punishment

Let's do a little historical excursion. Corporal is a word of German origin. It means “freed from dress.” It first appeared in the Russian army under Peter I. After 1917, this rank was abolished in Russia. However, at that time the army refused a lot, which, according to the Bolsheviks, was reminiscent of the tsarist regime. It was restored in 1940. A private who demonstrated exemplary military discipline and performed his duties in an exemplary manner could become a corporal. Since then, this title has not been abolished - it still exists in the RF Armed Forces. It is also found in the armies of many other countries.

Corporal is also called senior soldier. Essentially, this rank falls between private and junior sergeant.

On the corporal's shoulder straps there is one transverse stripe yellow color. By the way, people also call them “snot.” Since Soviet times, the approaches to assigning this title have not changed. They continue to honor privates who have shown themselves to be at their best.

Why do many people think that this title is shameful? There is no single answer to this question. There are many reasons why corporal is considered a bad rank. Among them are:

additional responsibilities without any privileges;
banal envy;
appointment of the commander’s “favorites” to this position.

By the way, according to one version, such a bad attitude towards corporals appeared in the Soviet army due to the fact that this rank was once held by Adolf Hitler. In principle, there is some logic here, but it is unlikely that such an attitude would still be preserved just because of this. The corporals themselves do not like this rank due to the fact that there is more demand from them than from privates, while, in fact, there are no additional privileges. Often a negative attitude is caused by banal envy. After all, the best among the rank and file who have proven themselves to be disciplined and skillful soldiers become corporals. Accordingly, some perceive them as upstarts.

However, there are cases when the assignment of a title occurs not according to justice, but due to a personal factor. In other words, when appointing a commander, he chooses his “favorite”. Naturally, many people do not like this approach. Also, corporals often, despite the fact that they are by and large the same privates, elevate themselves above their colleagues, allowing themselves to command unreasonably. Of course, no one will like this approach.