I have rank now.

[BigTruck]

To answer your question Mushroom, in Marine standards, anything lower than an E-1 (Private) is considered a recruit.  When Marines go through boot camp they carry the rank and title of Recruit since they are not Marines yet and cannot be considered even as the lowest rank of Marine...Private.  as far as anything lower than Private in the active duty forces, there is no such thing, however I do not know how ROTC works.

To follow up on Rom's post, here is the USMC and Navy enlisted ranks

USMC
E1 Private
E2 Private First Class (PFC)
E3 Lance Corporal
E4 Corporal
E5 Sergeant (BigTruck)
E6 Staff Sergeant
E7 Gunnery Sergeant (Gunny)
E8 two directions here...Master Sergeant or First Sergeant
E9 two directions as well, if you are Master Sergeant, you become Master Gunnery Sergeant...if you are First Sergeant, you become Sergeant Major

Navy
E1 Seaman Recruit (chuckle)
E2 Seaman Apprentice (chuckle)
E3 Seaman (LMAO)
E4 Petty Officer 3rd Class
E5 Petty Officer 2nd Class
E6 Petty Officer 1st Class
E7 Chief Petty Officer
E8 Senior Chief Petty Officer
E9 Master Chief Petty Officer  (Hooyah Master Chief!!!!)

Congrats on your promotion to private...I think...

[H]

To answer your question Mushroom, in Marine standards, anything lower than an E-1 (Private) is considered a recruit.

Service in the Air Force is voluntary -- we don't like being tagged as recruited.
A recruit is technically on the payroll as an E1.

...as far as anything lower than Private in the active duty forces, there is no such thing.

This is very technical for an extremely doubtful situation but, if no other leadership is available in an emergency, time in rank and time in service take account; again, recruits are still on the payroll.

8-)

[Romulus111VADT]

[quote]To answer your question Mushroom, in Marine standards, anything lower than an E-1 (Private) is considered a recruit.

[Al_Fallujah]

Lower than a private...  

Thinking something un-printable here... but that us usually reserved for young soldiers right after they did something monumentally stupid. And whatever I chose to call them at that point is usually followed by some tasking, a bit of penance, etc.

But you fall into the ROTC world, its all a little different. The E1 through E9 categories do not truly apply, as you are not being paid. You are all cadets technically. Thats okay, nothing wrong with that, its a learning position.

When, if you stick with it, you are attached to a real unit to continue your learning, you will stop being a cadet, and be a cad-idiot. But don't take it personally. Just remember you are there to learn, even from the privates.

I would say the answer to the other question, in the ROTC world, anything lower than a Private would just be Cadet.

[Flying Trucker]

Good morning...

Lower than a "Private"

HMMM...let's see:

Will leave the military rank structure alone as it seems every nation on the planet is a little different other than a "Private" being the lowest with different grades of "Private" being available.

Depending on the level of security the military of a given nation is at and two very important words..."Operational Requirements", a "Private" can be a very important person depending on his/her qualifications and knowledge.
Just two for a start:

[homebrewer]

N2056 said: "I made it to E-6 in the Nuclear Navy at the 6 year point..."


I was all set to do this, then backed out at the very last second--- literally. I was told I'd probably be selected to go to college after about 18 months, earn a nuclear engineering degree and eventually captain a sub. I was just shy of 19 at the time. Not taking that opportunity was the greatest mistake I ever made in my whole life. I stepped back when the recruiter said it was time to raise my right hand and swear in. The other chap I went through the ASVAB with that day did go in. He's probably successful beyond my wildest dreams. That was on November 2, 1976-- the day Carter was elected. I chose another path and now I am not as successful as I could have been had I stepped up that day. I'm just a lousy truckdriver, slaving away for $57,000 a year. I could be a sub captain and have made so much more of myself. I think about it fairly often, but not every day. I can see it in my mind, just like it was on Blu-Ray, how I stepped back when we were told to stand and swear in. I wimped out, and I have been paying for it ever since...

[BigTruck]

N2056 said: "I made it to E-6 in the Nuclear Navy at the 6 year point..."


I was all set to do this, then backed out at the very last second--- literally. I was told I'd probably be selected to go to college after about 18 months, earn a nuclear engineering degree and eventually captain a sub. I was just shy of 19 at the time. Not taking that opportunity was the greatest mistake I ever made in my whole life. I stepped back when the recruiter said it was time to raise my right hand and swear in. The other chap I went through the ASVAB with that day did go in. He's probably successful beyond my wildest dreams. That was on November 2, 1976-- the day Carter was elected. I chose another path and now I am not as successful as I could have been had I stepped up that day. I'm just a lousy truckdriver, slaving away for $57,000 a year. I could be a sub captain and have made so much more of myself. I think about it fairly often, but not every day. I can see it in my mind, just like it was on Blu-Ray, how I stepped back when we were told to stand and swear in. I wimped out, and I have been paying for it ever since...

Don't be too hard on yourself, as you probably know there are no guarentees in the military no matter what they tell you.

[Ravang]

Navy
E1 Seaman Recruit (chuckle)
E2 Seaman Apprentice (chuckle)
E3 Seaman (LMAO)

When the Navy JROTC visits my friend and I have a hard time to not burst out laughing...

We've got our formal inspection this year, since my friend and I work as the S5 (ok, so I'm her assistant), we have to make a video show casing our unit, embarrassing pictures of officers coming up...

....Its a wonder we kept our rank (both E-8's) this long...

[NitroPower]

To answer your question Mushroom, in Marine standards, anything lower than an E-1 (Private) is considered a recruit.  When Marines go through boot camp they carry the rank and title of Recruit since they are not Marines yet and cannot be considered even as the lowest rank of Marine...Private.  as far as anything lower than Private in the active duty forces, there is no such thing, however I do not know how ROTC works.

To follow up on Rom's post, here is the USMC and Navy enlisted ranks

USMC
E1 Private
E2 Private First Class (PFC)
E3 Lance Corporal<---[glow=yellow,2,300]In my Company, we call it a specialist, but we dont have one...[/glow]
E4 Corporal
E5 Sergeant (BigTruck)
E6 Staff Sergeant
E7 Gunnery Sergeant (Gunny)
E8 two directions here...Master Sergeant or First Sergeant
E9 two directions as well, if you are Master Sergeant, you become Master Gunnery Sergeant...if you are First Sergeant, you become Sergeant Major

Navy
E1 Seaman Recruit (chuckle)
E2 Seaman Apprentice (chuckle)
E3 Seaman (LMAO)
E4 Petty Officer 3rd Class<---[glow=yellow,2,300]My dad was this rank in the navy! [/glow]
E5 Petty Officer 2nd Class
E6 Petty Officer 1st Class
E7 Chief Petty Officer
E8 Senior Chief Petty Officer
E9 Master Chief Petty Officer  (Hooyah Master Chief!!!!)

Congrats on your promotion to private...I think...

[Romulus111VADT]

When my step-son finished basic training at the Great Lakes NTC (Naval Training Command) and RTC (Recruit Training Command - the Boot Camp portion). He came home briefly on leave before starting his AIT. He brought us allot of photo's of his graduation and graduating class.

One picture showed all the "Seamen" lined up in their neat little white uniforms and my old Army habits kicked in and I couldn't fight the temptation. His momma had framed it and had it on the wall in his old room. So I took my wife and him in his old room. We were standing there looking over the picture wall his momma had put up. Rightfully proud of her son.

I put my arm around him and asked, "Now, you say these are called Seamen correct? ok, now would a large gathering of Seamen like this be called a wad?"  :o

My step-son almost fell over laughing his ass off, my wife did fall over and began to studder. I got smacked on my bottom by my wife for being naughty....lmao