Lance Corporal (British Army)

A junior noncommissioned rank of the British Army, OR-3, the first rung of leadership above private soldier.

Overview

Lance Corporal wears one chevron and is addressed as lance jack, the first leadership appointment in the British Army, often commanding a fire team of four. The rank descends from the lancepesade of Renaissance armies, a corruption of Italian lancia spezzata, broken lance, a veteran soldier of a knightly lance. OR-3 in NATO terms, it peers with the US lance corporal grade. Historically acting lance corporals were appointed temporarily, and the rank still functions as a proving ground: soldiers show leadership before substantive corporal promotion. The British lance corporal mirrors across Commonwealth armies from Canada to Australia.