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.<ref name="herald">{{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}}</ref> The rank was created to recognize enlisted soldiers with special technical skills, but who were not trained as combat leaders.<ref name="histnco">{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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=}}</ref>

== History == The rank of technician fourth grade was authorized on 26 January 1942, per Executive Order No. 9041,<ref>{{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}}</ref> and was adopted by the Army effective 1 June 1942.<ref name="histnco" /> The rank insignia was finalized on 4 September 1942, adding a block "T" below the existing three chevrons.<ref name="herald" /><ref name="usg">{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref name="fisher">{{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}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=United States War Department |author-link=United States Department of War |title=Compilation of War Department General Orders, Bulletins, and Circulars |chapter=Section I, Circular No. 148, 1942 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wyFJAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA407 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |date=1942-06-01 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wyFJAQAAIAAJ |access-date=2025-10-18 |page=407 |quote="Technicians, third, fourth, and fifth grades, are commissioned officers and will be addressed as 'sergeant' or 'corporal,' depending upon the grade held.}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> Initially, the three technician ranks held non-commissioned officer status.<ref name="histnco" /> 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.<ref name="fisher"/> Consequently, the Army revoked NCO status from technicians in November 1943.<ref name="fisher"/>

The technician ranks were removed from the U.S. Army rank system on 1 August 1948,<ref name="histnco" /> though the concept was revived with the specialist ranks in 1955.<ref name="herald" /><ref>{{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}}</ref>

== See also ==  {{Portal|United States}} * United States Army enlisted rank insignia of World War II {{Clear}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:1942 establishments in the United States Category:1948 disestablishments in the United States Category:Military ranks of the United States Army Category:Technicians