Master Corporal ( or ), in the Canadian Forces

Canadian Forces

The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...

 and the Royal Canadian Army Cadets

Royal Canadian Army Cadets

The Royal Canadian Army Cadets is a Canadian national youth program sponsored by the Canadian Forces and the civilian Army Cadet League of Canada. Administered by the Canadian Forces, the program is funded through the Department of National Defence with the civilian partner providing support in...

 is an appointment of the rank of Corporal

Corporal

Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....

 in the Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Airforce. Its Naval

Royal Canadian Navy

The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...

 equivalent is Master Seaman

Master Seaman

Master seaman , or matelot-chef in French, is a non-commissioned member rank of the Canadian Navy, which is between leading seaman and petty officer 2nd class . Technically, the rank is actually an appointment, with appointees holding the rank of leading seaman...

 (MS) (French: matelot-chef or matc).

According to the Queen's Regulations and Orders:

(1) The Chief of the Defence Staff

Chief of the Defence Staff (Canada)

The Chief of the Defence Staff is the second most senior member of the Canadian Forces, and heads the Armed Forces Council, having primary responsibility for command, control, and administration of the forces, as well as military strategy, plans, and requirements...

 or such officer as he may designate may appoint a corporal as a master corporal.

(2) The rank of a master corporal remains that of corporal.

(3) Master corporals have seniority among themselves in their order of seniority as corporals.

(4) Master corporals have authority and powers of command over all other corporals." — QR&O 3.08

Master Corporal, while formally an appointment, is treated as a de facto non-commissioned member

Non-commissioned member

A non-commissioned member , in the Canadian Forces, is defined in the Queen's Regulations and Orders as:"… any person, other than an officer, who is enrolled in, or who pursuant to law is attached or seconded otherwise than as an officer to, the Canadian Forces…" Thus, an NCM is any member who is...

 rank, and is often described as such, even in official documents.

As mentioned above, the Master Corporal is senior to the Corporal (and its Naval counterpart, Leading Seaman

Leading Seaman

Leading seaman is a junior non-commissioned rank or rate in navies, particularly those of the Commonwealth. When it is used by NATO nations, leading seaman has the rank code of OR-4. It is often equivalent to the army and air force rank of corporal and some navies use corporal rather than...

). It is junior to the rank of Sergeant

Sergeant

Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....

 (Sgt) and its equivalent naval rank, Petty Officer 2nd Class

Petty Officer 2nd Class

Petty officer, 2nd class, PO2, is a Naval non-commissioned member rank of the Canadian Forces. It is senior to the rank of master seaman and its equivalents, and junior to petty officer 1st-class and its equivalents...

 (PO2). Master Corporals and Master Seamen together with Corporals and Leading Seamen make up the cadre of junior non-commissioned officers.

The rank insignia of a Master Corporal is a 2-bar chevron, worn point down, surmounted by a maple leaf. Embroidered rank badgers are worn in "CF gold" thread on rifle green (Army) or Air Force blue (Air Force) melton, stitched to the upper sleeves of the Service Dress jacket; as miniature gold metal and rifle-green enamel badges on the collars of the Army dress shirt and Army outerwear jackets; in "old-gold" thread on Air Force blue slip-ons on Air Force shirts, sweaters, and coats; and in tan (Army) or dark blue (Air Force) thread on CADPAT slip-ons on the Operational Dress uniform. Insignia for mess kit is determined by branch or regimental tradition.

Master Corporals normally mess

Mess

A mess is the place where military personnel socialise, eat, and live. In some societies this military usage has extended to other disciplined services eateries such as civilian fire fighting and police forces. The root of mess is the Old French mes, "portion of food" A mess (also called a...

 and billet with the Junior Ranks

Junior Ranks

Junior Ranks is the collective term in Canada for all the non-commissioned members ranked below that of Sergeant/Petty Officer 2nd Class; in other words, all junior non-commissioned officers and privates...

.

History

The Master Corporal appointment came into existence after the Unification of the armed forces of Canada in the late 1960s. A power vacuum was inadvertently created when private soldiers were promoted to the rank of corporal as an incentive for continuing in the Forces at a time when Unification (and the role of the United States in the Vietnam War) made the military an unpopular option for employment. Eventually, corporals who had passed the "B" phase of their leadership training took to wearing a crown over their chevrons, and this arrangement was eventually formalized by having a maple leaf replace the crown, and the new "'B' Corporals", as they were known, became Master Corporals.

Responsibilities

The rank, formally an appointment as a senior corporal

Corporal

Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....

, gives the MCpl authority over all privates and corporals. As such, a MCpl is a first level supervisor who will be assessed on his/her ability to manage and develop subordinates. Given the structure of the Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 platoon

Platoon

A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing 16 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organized into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer—the...

, the MCpl is roughly equivalent to the British

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 rank of corporal

Corporal

Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....

, second in command of an infantry section

Section (military unit)

A section is a small military unit in some armies. In many armies, it is a squad of seven to twelve soldiers. However in France and armies based on the French model, it is the sub-division of a company .-Australian Army:...

.

Requirements

The general requirements for promotion to Master Corporal include a Qualification Level 5 course

Course (education)

The very broad dictionary meaning of the word course is the act or action of moving in a path from point to point . There are multiple meanings for this word, some of which include: general line of orientation, a mode of action, part of a meal, a mode of action, and many more. This article focuses...

 (known as a Journeyman course in some trades), a primary leadership

Leadership

Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Other in-depth definitions of leadership have also emerged.-Theories:...

 qualification course (PLQ), and a time in the rank of Corporal for a minimum of two years.

However, certain trades have their own particular qualifications in addition to the above. For example, infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

combines the Qualification Level 5B course, Qualification Level 6A, and Junior Leader's course in a single Infantry Section Commander's Course. In addition to be promoted to Master Corporal an infantry soldier must have a machine gunner's specialization course.

Master Corporals often serve as Training Non-Commissioned Officers for the purposes of training new soldiers. They are often a new recruit's first taste of military life.