What is the difference between the CPL and SPC ranks?

Its actually a little worse than this. Especially in the guard. Not exactly sure in the active side but when you lateral over to a cpl you become an nco but not a full sgt. While this is a step forward its hard cause your peers still view you as just another one of them and when you get put in charge you get more flack and its much harder to maintain civility between being the superior. Some of your closer friends might be the ones that give you the most problems as they view your rank as a way to manipulate and get out of duties because you are such good friends, but as you take your job seriously it becomes stressful to deligate fairly.

CPL (Join to see) what you describe happens in active duty units too. What the new corporal has to decide is if the rank means anything to themselves. If the rank means nothing, give in to your friends, otherwise let them know what it means. If they are your friends they will respect you and your rank. It is only slightly different in the civilian world when someone gets promoted.

CPL Clyde Willis i completely agree, im sad to know it is the same in active status. But you are very much right, a true friend will listen and do what was said.

CPL Clyde Willis - I ran into this just before OIF 1. I passed the promotion board and was promoted to CPL a few weeks before we deployed. My platoon in the Battery was made up of older NCOs. All three of our Paladins had section Chiefs that had been in the unit for several years. They made sure that anyone that was promotable was shifted over to another gun section. That curtailed quite a bit of the the problems you would find with a lateral from SPC to CPL. Once you pinned on the SGT stripes a guy might be shuffled to the other gun line in the Battery or if there was no viable spot to fill they would trade you off to another Battery the Regiment(3d ACR at the time so there were only 3 firing Batteries with 2 platoons a piece. 3 Batteries with 6 guns a piece.)