ADS-L Digest - 24 Jul 2005 to 25 Jul 2005 (#2005-207)

[Dave Wilton]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
> Of Wilson Gray
> Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2005 8:06 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: ADS-L Digest - 24 Jul 2005 to 25 Jul 2005 (#2005-207)
>
> Since those days, the influence of the Marine Corps has only grown. The
> designations of some Army enlisted grades have been changed to match
> the terms used by the Marines, e.g, the "private first class" of my day
> is the Marine Corps-like "lance corporal" of today, with an insigne
> based on that of the Marine Corps.

This is not the case. Privates first class are still called that in the
Army. "Lance corporal" is still a USMC-only rank. The last change in the
Army rank structure was in the post-Vietnam era when the higher "specialist"
ranks were eliminated. There is not only "specialist", formerly
"specialist-4", grade of E-4. All E-5s are "sergeants," there are no more
"specialist-5s".

> FWIW, The Red Army called its marines by a name that translates as
> "maritime infantry." In Soviet days, there was only the Red Army, to
> which the Military Air Forces and the Military Maritime Fleet were
> subordinate.

This is not the case. The Soviets--at least in the last few decades of their
existence--had five services, all independent and co-equal:
Army
Navy
Air Force
Strategic Rocket Forces
Air Defense Forces

Soviet naval infantry was a component of the Navy.


--Dave Wilton
  dave at wilton.net
  http://www.wilton.net