SP4
Military abbreviation · US Army Rank
| Stands for | Specialist 4 |
|---|---|
| Categories | Military |
SP4 stands for Specialist 4, a US Army rank abbreviation.
Former Army enlisted rank at pay grade E-4, used from the late 1950s until 1985, when it was renamed Specialist (SPC). Very common among draftees in the Vietnam era, it was a technical rank paid like a corporal but without NCO authority.
Example: My father's DD-214 lists him as an SP4 with the 1st Cavalry Division in 1969.
Usage notes
The specialist series once ran from SP4 to SP9, with higher grades paid like sergeants and above, to separate technical experts from troop leaders. SP7 through SP9 disappeared in the 1960s and 1970s and SP5 and SP6 in 1985. Records from the era often write the rank Sp4 or Sp/4.
Related abbreviations
More US Army rank abbreviations
- 1LT – First Lieutenant (US Army)
- 1SG – First Sergeant (US Army)
- 2LT – Second Lieutenant (US Army)
- BG – Brigadier General (US Army)
- CDT – Cadet (US Army)
- COL – Colonel (US Army)
- Cpl – Corporal (US Marine Corps)
- CPT – Captain (US Army)
- CSM – Command Sergeant Major (US Army)
- CW2 – Chief Warrant Officer 2
- CW3 – Chief Warrant Officer 3
- CW4 – Chief Warrant Officer 4