The Corporal (CPL) rank was established in which year?

• A. 1775
• B. 1861
• C. 1776
• D. 1942

Answer: (A)

This question looks at when the corporal rank began in the U.S. Army. The answer is 1775 because that year marked the formation of the Continental Army to fight in the American Revolutionary War, and with it came the first formal structure for noncommissioned officers. A corporal served as the first level of NCO above private, responsible for leading a small crew or fire team and carrying out duties under a sergeant or officer. Those early organizational steps established 1775 as the origin of the corporal rank in the Army.

The other years don’t fit this origin: 1776 is the year of the Declaration of Independence, not military rank creation; 1861 marks the Civil War’s start; 1942 is during World War II. None of those years correspond to the initial establishment of the corporal rank.