<P> Specialist grades paralleled the corresponding grades of non-commissioned officer (E-4 through E-7) only in terms of pay . The specialist grades, although they outranked the enlisted grades (E-1 to E-3), were outranked by all non-commissioned officers (E-4 to E-9) and lacked the authority conferred on an NCO . This is the major differentiation between a specialist and a "hard striper". </P> <P> When the so - called "super grades" (E-8 and E-9) were introduced in 1958, the specialist grade titles were changed to specialist four through specialist seven, and the new grades specialist eight and specialist nine were added . </P> <P> Only the lowest specialist grade survives today, as the higher grades were gradually phased out . Specialist 8 and specialist 9 were eliminated in 1968 . Specialist 7 was abolished in 1978 and specialist 5 and specialist 6 in 1985 . At that time, the rank of specialist 4 simply became known as "specialist," which is how it is referred to today . While the official abbreviation was changed from "SP4" to "SPC" upon the elimination of the SP5 and SP6 ranks, the SIDPERS database was initially authorized to continue using SP4 until such time as the change could be made at little or no additional expense in conjunction with other system upgrades . The continued use of SP4 on automatically produced documents (transfer orders, leave and earnings statements, unit manning reports, inter alia), hampered the adoption of the new abbreviation (and, to a lesser extent, the absence of "- 4" in the non-abbreviated rank) by individual soldiers who viewed the computer - produced documents as the final word on what the proper term was . </P> <P> Today, the rank of specialist is the typical rank to which privates first class are promoted after two years of service, although PFCs may be waived into the rank of specialist after 18 months' time in service and six months' time in grade . It is granted far more often than corporal (E-4), which is now reserved for personnel who have either passed the Basic Leader Course or have been assigned low - level supervisory duties (with two or more soldiers under direct command). </P>

What is a spc 4 in the army