Editing Private first class (section)

===United States Marine Corps===

In the [[United States Marine Corps]], the rank of private first class is the second lowest, just under [[Lance corporal#Marine Corps|lance corporal]] and just above [[Private (rank)|private]], equivalent to [[ranks and insignia of NATO armies enlisted|NATO grade]] OR-2, being pay grade E-2. It was established on July 1, 1918,<ref>40stat714</ref> to match the already existing Army rank, primarily because US Marine units were "often called upon to serve" with US Army organizations, such as in the [[American Expeditionary Force]] that served in Europe during [[World War I]] (e.g. 4th Marine Brigade of the U.S. Army's 2nd Infantry Division). At the time the two ranks were directly equivalent. However, the USMC rank of PFC is one grade lower (E-2) than the similarly titled US Army rank.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/estimatessubmit00affagoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/estimatessubmit00affagoog/page/n266 240]|quote=secretary of the navy private first class 1918.|title=Hearings Before Committee on Naval Affairs of the House of Representatives, on Estimates Submitted by the Secretary of the Navy, 1918|first1=United States Congress House Committee on Naval|last1=Affairs|first2=Lemuel Phillips|last2=Padgett|date=1 January 1918|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>