Rank
The rank structure of the Cadet Corps is generally based on the Army ROTC cadet rank structure. Today, the ranks are divided by class and, unlike at some other military schools, at Texas A&M a cadet can never be demoted such that a person of a lower class outranks him/her, although this has not always been true. Up through the early 1950s many senior and junior cadets held private rank, although they were accorded privileges and respect commensurate with their class rather than by their rank. Unlike most of the personnel in the U.S. Armed Forces, the rank is always a piece of metal approximately 1 square inch in size affixed to the uniform much like a tie tack, but is never cloth rank sewn onto the fabric.
Freshmen are considered cadet privates and, as such, wear no rank, just a brass "A.M.U." symbolizing their affiliation with Texas A&M University. Sophomores hold the ranks of cadet private first class or cadet corporal. Juniors are given cadet NCO rank (Sergeant through Sergeant Major of the Corps) and seniors are cadet officers (from Cadet 2nd Lieutenant through Cadet Colonel of the Corps).
The highest-ranking member of the Corps is Reveille VIII, the school's official mascot. The female American collie is the "First Lady" of Texas A&M and is present at all Texas A&M football games and also attends other A&M functions. Reveille is now cared for by a sophomore cadet from Company E-2, whose position in the Corps is the Mascot Corporal. By decree from the US Army after World War II, Reveille holds the honorary rank of Cadet General. As there officially isn't a rank of Cadet General, and there has never been such a rank at any military school, cadets must create the rank insignia (five diamonds) themselves. To create this rank each year, cadets combine cadet lieutenant colonel insignia (two diamonds) with a cadet colonel insignia (three diamonds) and carefully place them together, creating a five diamond insignia.
| Insignia | ||||||||||
| Rank | Cadet General1 | Cadet Colonel of the Corps | Cadet Colonel | Cadet Lieutenant Colonel | Cadet Major | Cadet Captain | Cadet 1st Lieutenant | Cadet 2nd Lieutenant | ||
| Insignia | NONE | |||||||||
| Rank | Cadet Sergeant Major of the Corps | Cadet Sergeant Major | Cadet First Sergeant | Cadet Master Sergeant | Cadet Sergeant First Class | Cadet Staff Sergeant | Cadet Sergeant | Cadet Corporal | Cadet Private First Class | Cadet Private |
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Read more about this topic: Texas A&M University Corps Of Cadets
Famous quotes containing the word rank:
“A private should preserve a respectful attitude toward his superiors, and should seldom or never proceed so far as to offer suggestions to his general in the field. If the battle is not being conducted to suit him, it is better for him to resign. By the etiquette of war, it is permitted to none below the rank of newspaper correspondent to dictate to the general in the field.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
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To its idolatries a patient knee.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“I like sometimes to take rank hold on life and spend my day more as the animals do. Perhaps I have owed to this employment and to hunting, when quite young, my closest acquaintance with Nature. They early introduce us to and detain us in scenery with which otherwise, at that age, we should have little acquaintance.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)