Technician fourth grade
{{Short description|United States Army rank}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox military rank
| name = Technician fourth grade
| image = US Army WWII T4C.svg
| image_size = 60
| alt = The T/4 insignia of a letter "T" below three chevrons.
| caption = The T/4 insignia of a letter "T" below three chevrons.
| country = United States
| service branch = United States Army
| abbreviation = T/4 or Tec 4
| rank group = Enlisted
| pay grade = 4th Grade
| formation = 26 January 1942
| abolished = 1 August 1948
| higher rank = Technician third grade
| lower rank = Technician fifth grade
| equivalents = Sergeant
}}
Technician fourth grade (abbreviated T/4 or Tec 4) was a rank of the United States Army from 1942 to 1948.{{cite web |author= |url=http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Rank_page/History_of_Enlisted_Ranks.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061231145748/http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Rank_page/History_of_Enlisted_Ranks.htm |archive-date=2006-12-31 |title=History of Enlisted Ranks |website=The Institute of Heraldry |publisher=United States Department of the Army |access-date=2022-07-05}} The rank was created to recognize enlisted soldiers with special technical skills, but who were not trained as combat leaders.{{cite book |editor-last1=Hogan |editor-first1=David W. |editor-last2=Fisch |editor-first2=Arnold G. |editor-last3=Wright |editor-first3=Robert K. |date=2009 |title=The Story of the Noncommissoned Officer Corps |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=United States Army Center of Military History |pages=295–296 |isbn=978-0-16-067869-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oziceIWd1DAC&pg=PA295}}{{cite book |author=United States Department of War |date=1944-01-18 |title=War Department Technical Manual TM 20–205: Glossary of United States Army Terms |url=https://archive.org/details/TM20-205-nsia/page/n287/mode/2up/ |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |page=279 |isbn=}}
History
The rank of technician fourth grade was authorized on 26 January 1942, per Executive Order No. 9041,{{cite book |author= |date=1944 |title=Decisions of the Comptroller General of the United States |volume=23 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l5XpCd-ZqYMC&pg=PA330 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |page=330}} and was adopted by the Army effective 1 June 1942. The rank insignia was finalized on 4 September 1942, adding a block "T" below the existing three chevrons.{{cite book |author=United States of America War Office|author-link=United States Department of War|date=1942 |title=Compilation of War Department General Orders, Bulletins, and Circulars |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |pages=184 |isbn= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wyFJAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA184}} Those who held the rank of T/4 were addressed as "sergeant," the same as the corresponding non-commissioned officer at the same pay grade.{{cite book |last=Fisher |first=Ernest F. |date=1994 |title=Guardians of the Republic: A History of the Noncommissoned Officer Corps of the U.S. Army |location=New York |publisher=Ballantine |pages=260 |isbn=0-449-90923-9}}
Technicians represented a wide variety of soldiers with specialized technical skills, including medics, radio operators and repairmen, mail clerks, mechanics, cooks, musicians, and tank drivers.{{cite web |url=https://www.battleorder.org/usa-riflecoy-1942 |title=U.S. Army Rifle Company (1942–43) |author= |website=Battle Order |access-date=2022-07-07}}{{cite web |url=https://www.battleorder.org/us-army-medium-tanks-ww2 |title=U.S. Army Medium Tank Company (1943–45) |author= |website=Battle Order |access-date=2022-07-07}}{{cite web |url=https://www.battleorder.org/1943-usa-meddet-armoredinfbn |title=Medical Detachment, U.S. Army Armored Inf Bn (1943–45) |author= |website=Battle Order |access-date=2022-07-07}}{{cite web |url=https://www.battleorder.org/us-airborne-ww2 |title=U.S. Army Parachute Rifle Company (1941–1948) |author= |website=Battle Order |access-date=2022-07-07}}{{cite magazine |author= |date=September–October 1942 |title=Informational Data on Army Music |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_music-educators-journal_september-october-1942_29_1/page/n39/mode/2up/ |magazine=Music Educators Journal |location= |publisher= |page=48}} Initially, the three technician ranks held non-commissioned officer status. However, as technicians received no formal NCO leadership training or qualifications, their entrance into the NCO ranks resulted in organizational confusion, dilution of the NCO corps, and lowered morale among senior NCOs. Consequently, the Army revoked NCO status from technicians in November 1943.
The technician ranks were removed from the U.S. Army rank system on 1 August 1948, though the concept was revived with the specialist ranks in 1955.{{cite web |work=The NCO Historical Society |url=http://ncohistory.com/files/shsr.pdf |title=Short History of the Specialist Rank |first=Daniel K. |last=Elder |access-date=2022-07-05}}
== See also ==
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