Specialist - Definition and Overview

One with special training. See also Educational Specialist (Ed.S.)

For its use in the most general context see expert.

Specialist insignia
(U.S. Army)

When used in a military context, Specialist is one of the fourth lowest enlisted ranks in U.S. Army, just above Private First Class and below Sergeant. It shares this placement with Corporal, which is a rank for non-commissioned officers (NCO).

Originally, there were six separate grades of Specialist, officially known as Specialist 4 through Specialist 9 in ascending order of rank; each such grade parallelled the corresponding grade of non-commissioned officer (E-4 through E-9) in terms of pay, but without the military authority conferred on the latter. Only the lowest Specialist grade survives today, as the higher grades were phased out, beginning with Specialist 8 and 9 in 1965, with Specialist 7 being abolished in 1978 and Specialist 5 and 6 in 1985. During World War II, the specialist grade was known as technician; the designation was done away with in 1948 but the concept was brought back under the new title of Specialist in 1955.