Army Council (1904) practice, however, a huge amount of influence was retained by the exceedingly conservative C-in-C Field Marshal Prince George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge, who held the post between 1856–1895. His resistance to reform caused military efficiency to lag well behind Britain's rivals, a problem which became painfully obvious during the Second Boer War. The situation was only remedied in 1904 when the post of Commander-in-Chief was abolished and replaced with that of the Chief of the General Staff. An Army Council was created along similar lines to the Board of Admiralty, chaired by the Secretary of State for War, and an
United States Army enlisted rank insignia all grades below them. They had the same insignia as the regular rank of their grade, but with a cloth "T" inset between their stripes. The subdued insignia were abolished, but could still be worn with the Class C khaki uniform until they wore out. In 1948 the pay grades were broken up into seven "E" (enlisted and non-commissioned officer), two "W" (warrant officer), and eleven "O" (officer) grades. The technician's ranks were abolished and were absorbed into their equivalent line ranks. The rank of private was divided into the ranks of recruit (Grade E7), private second class (Grade E6)