United States Army enlisted rank insignia of World War I

The United States Army's enlisted rank insignia that was used during World War I differs from the current system. The color scheme used for the insignia's chevron was olive drab for field use uniforms or one of several colors depending on the corps on dress uniforms. The chevron system used by enlisted men during World War I came into being on July 17, 1902, and was changed to a different system in 1919. Specification 760, which was dated May 31, 1905, contained 45 different enlisted insignia that varied designs and titles by different corps of the Army. General Order Number 169, which was enacted on August 14, 1907, created an even larger variety of enlisted rank insignia. Pay grades similar to the current system were not yet in use by the U.S. Army, and instead, the pay system reflected the job assignment of the soldier rather than their rank. By the end of World War I, the system contained 128 different insignia designs.

Rank insignia used during the war
The ranks used by the army during the war (1917-1918), by branch, were:

Infantry
===Coast Artillery Corps ===

Gas Service Created on July 5, 1917 then changed to Chemical Warfare Service on June 28, 1918
The organization of the Gas/Chemical Warfare service is based on a table in a report by the director of the service, Major General William Sibert to the Adjutant General of the Army, Dated September 26, 1918. One column of the table does show the service’s organization as of October 30, 1918, despite the date of the report.

The complex enlisted organization starting in July 1918 is confirmed by War Department General Order 62, dated June 28, 1918, that states “The rank, pay, and allowances of the enlisted men of the Chemical Warfare Service, National Army, shall be the same as now authorized for the corresponding grades in the Corps of Engineers.”

Insignia for the service was prescribed by Change No. 3 to Special Regulation 42 on February 19, 1918. Prior to that engineer insignia was probably used.

===Tank Corps (Created in late 1917) ===

Corps of Intelligence Police created August 13, 1917
As far as can be determined, the only enlisted men in the Corps of Intelligence Police were sergeants.

Corps of Interpreters Created July 14, 1917
As far as can be determined the only enlisted men in the Corps of Interpreters were sergeants

Service School Detachments

 * Regimental Sergeant Major
 * Sergeant Major Senior Grade
 * Master Electrician
 * Master signal Electrician
 * Engineer
 * Quartermaster Sergeant, Quartermaster Corps
 * Supply Sergeant, regimental
 * Battalion Sergeant Major
 * Sergeant Major Junior Grade
 * First Sergeant
 * Sergeant First Class
 * Electrician Sergeant First Class
 * Master Gunner
 * Electrician Sergeant Second Class
 * Sergeant
 * Supply Sergeant
 * Stable Sergeant
 * Fireman
 * Corporal
 * Corporal Bugler (created on July 9, 1918)
 * Cook
 * Horseshoer
 * Saddler
 * Wagoner
 * Chief Mechanic
 * Mechanic
 * Bugler First Class (created on July 9, 1918)
 * Bugler
 * Private First Class
 * Private

Service school detachments wore the same insignia as other branches with privates first class using the same insignia as privates first class at West Point.

Other rank insignia
In 1918 the army added insignia for privates first class serving at army of corps headquarters and with the general recruiting service. Change number 4 to Special Regulation 42 dated May 7, 1918, prescribes insignia for the rank of motor sergeant. It, along with the insignia for chauffeurs is listed under general application for all branches. An article in the Army and Navy Register from July 4, 1918 states that the rank of motor sergeant had been created under authority granted to the president to reorganize the army as needed during the war. The article goes on the state that there was a law before congress that would create the rank of motor sergeant in all branches and expand the chauffeur ranks also to all branches. This law did not pass.

Various general orders from the American Expeditionary Force do show chauffeurs in various organizations, but as a rank, only in the Signal Corps. However the title of motor sergeant is never mentioned. Nor is it used in army order from the War Department itself. Assistant chauffeurs are listed on tables of organization as privates with duty as chauffeurs in division trains and various organizations in the Coast Artillery Corps.

Order of Precedence
Article III, paragraph 9 of the Regulations for Army of the United States 1913, Corrected to April 15, 1917, gives the order of precedence for officers and noncommissioned officers as:
 * 1. Lieutenant General
 * 2. Major General
 * 3. Brigadier General
 * 4. Colonel
 * 5. Lieutenant Colonel
 * 6. Major
 * 7. Captain
 * 8. First Lieutenant
 * 9. Second Lieutenant
 * 10. Aviator, Signal Corps
 * 11. Cadet
 * 12. (a) Sergeant Major, Regimental
 * Sergeant Major, Senior Grade, Coast Artillery Corps


 * 12.(b) Quartermaster Sergeant, Senior Grade, Quartermaster Corps
 * Master Hospital Sergeant, Medical Department
 * Master Engineer Senior Grade, Corps of Engineers
 * Master Electrician, Coast Artillery Corps
 * Master Signal Electrician
 * Band Leader


 * 12.(c)  Hospital Sergeant, Medical Department
 * Master Engineer Junior Grade, Corps of Engineers
 * Engineer, Coast Artillery Corps


 * 13.Ordnance Sergeant
 * Quartermaster Sergeant, Quartermaster Corps
 * Supply Sergeant Regimental


 * 14.	Sergeant Major, Squadron and Battalion
 * Sergeant Major Junior Grade, Coast Artillery Corps
 * Supply Sergeant, Battalion, Corps of Engineers


 * 15.(a)	First Sergeant
 * 15.(b)	Sergeant First Class, Medical Department
 * Sergeant First Class, Quartermaster Corps
 * Sergeant First Class, Corps of Engineers
 * Sergeant First Class, Signal Corps
 * Electrician Sergeant First Class, Coast Artillery Corps
 * Electrician Sergeant, Artillery Detachment, United States Military Academy
 * Assistant Engineer, Coast Artillery Corps
 * Master Gunner, Coast Artillery Corps
 * Master Gunner, Artillery Detachment, United States Military Academy
 * Band Sergeant and Assistant Leader, United States Military Academy Band
 * Assistant Band Leader
 * Sergeant Bugler
 * Electrician Sergeant Second Class, Coast Artillery Corps
 * Electrician Sergeant Second Class, Artillery Detachment, United States Military Academy
 * Radio Sergeant


 * 16.Color Sergeant
 * 17.Sergeant
 * Supply Sergeant Company
 * Mess Sergeant
 * Stable Sergeant
 * Fireman, Coast Artillery Corps


 * 18.	Corporal