Army Promotion Requirements For Sgt – Paratroopers assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade prepare to board CH-47 helicopters at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, Aug. 10, 2020. (Gertrud Zach/Army)
The military has seen increased retention since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, reduced end strength under the latest budget request, an end to the Global War on Terror, a need to make better sergeants, mandatory lateral appointments to corporal, and new competition and procedures selection for key leadership positions.
Army Promotion Requirements For Sgt
These factors are just some of the reasons why the path to promotion can be slow and narrow for some enlisted troops across the force. But the Army says that’s the result of a new approach to talent management that focuses on getting the right Soldier on the right mission at the right time.
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To get the full picture, Army Times reviewed and compared promotion data with previous years, researched Army policies and spoke with leaders about the intent behind the changes.
Simply put, the Army is in “a war for talent,” as Sgt. Maj. Mark Clark, the G-1 deputy chief of staff, senior enlisted chief, said in a phone interview with Army Times.
“So as we compete with our sister services and corporate America to acquire and retain the best talent, we must evolve our policies to create a culture that enables our ability to develop and use [our talent].” , Clark said.
Despite, or perhaps because of, the COVID-19 pandemic, the regular military secured 1,693 more recruits in fiscal year 2020 than the previous year, achieving 53,024 against a target of 50,219.
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And the number of posts is holding steady or shrinking as the Biden administration has asked the active-duty military to cut to 485,000 troops in 2022.
Another factor affecting NCO promotions could be the Army’s change to a merit rank promotion system for senior NCOs that selects the best qualified soldiers from the list for promotion, but only when vacancies occur on a monthly basis. Previously, the Army considered senior NCOs for promotion simultaneously during annual selection boards.
As of mid-July, the Army had yet to promote a new sergeant first class or sergeant major from the new OML system, due to a backlog of cumulative NCOs selected by final selection boards held in 2019.
However, these backlogs are almost resolved and promotions will be based solely on the OML beginning September 1 for sergeants first class and October 1 for sergeants.
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Clark says the delay in promoting soldiers from the OML system is due to a “fundamental change in the promotion process.”
Previously, NCOs would first be selected for promotion and then complete their required training to advance to the next rank. The guiding acronym — STEP — stood for “selection for promotion, training, training, then promotion.”
But now, OML is used to select Soldiers for training before NCOs are locked in for promotion, as the Army requires – STEP is now “select for training, training, training, then promotion.”
Clark says the Army has completed the final training backlogs from the old promotion system, but it’s too early to tell whether promotion rates will rebound in the face of strong retention and a shrinking end force.
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One thing is certain: Clark and the Army want to create more experienced NCOs from the ground up.
Clark says the changes are intended to better prepare junior NCOs for the increased responsibilities they will one day have as sergeants and beyond once they become senior NCOs later in their careers.
The shift starts at the lowest rung of the NCO ladder, with an Army directive signed in May ordering the active-duty Army and Army Reserve to appoint as corporals all specialists who can be fully promoted to sergeant. This means they have been nominated by a unit board for promotion and have completed the annual Basic Leader Course.
Prior to the change, lateral appointments to corporal were permitted for specialists selected for promotion to sergeant, regardless of whether they had completed the BLC, but only if they were serving in a position requiring NCO.
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Clark said the old policy presented “some risk” because “we would have promoted [corps officers] who are not trained, taking leadership positions.”
He stressed the importance of linking a new NCO’s training status with the “visible difference” of wearing corporal stripes, although they still receive the same pay as their specialist counterparts.
“The Union’s initiative is designed to create a positive, visible welcome to the NCO Corps for Soldiers who have proven themselves ready,” Army Staff Sergeant Michael Greenston said in a tweet celebrating the new NCOs.
Command Sgt. Maj. Alexandros Putou, Bayne-Jones Military Community Hospital, is removing the specialist rank and replacing it with chevrons for Cpl. Dillan Bryant during Bayne-Jones Community Hospital’s Army Birthday Ceremony at the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk, Louisiana, on June 14, 2021.
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“Now that we’ve given them the tools [training and education] of an NCO, they can begin to perform those duties,” Clark said. He also noted that the new policy allows corporals to receive increased “leader development time” and receive formal feedback and performance evaluations through the Army’s NCO evaluation reporting system.
Clark described the physical initiative as just the latest step in implementing a new program to develop young leaders.
Soon, NCO hopefuls will have to demonstrate proficiency in “warrior duties and individual combat exercises” before being selected by unit boards for the Basic Leaders Course and eventual promotion, Clark said. “The program … is being coded and developed by [Army Training and Doctrine Command] at this time.”
Clark also pointed to recent mandatory questions for unit promotion boards that include “leadership status” questions designed to assess a potential NCO’s ability to “help us address some of the counterproductive behaviors that plague our ranks, such as [ sexual harassment and assault ] and suicide’.
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The Army is also trying to improve the quality of Soldiers’ daily lives and improve the quality of future senior NCOs by making staff sergeants wait an extra year before being promoted to sergeant first class. This change is effective beginning with the 2021 OML assessment boards.
Now, staff sergeants not in a special operations career field must serve 48 months in rank before they can be promoted, an increase of 12 months. Green Berets, civil affairs and psychological operations staff sergeants saw the time requirement increase from 24 to 36 months.
New timing requirements may make it impossible for non-special operations soldiers to make sergeant first class in less than eight years. (Staff/Jared Morgan)
Gone are supposed to be the days of “E7 in 7 years” where promising performers would be rushed through the ranks. Under the new regime, the earliest an NCO can make sergeant first class will be on the first day of their eighth year in the service, with the exception of special operations forces.
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“For the majority of Soldiers, this is the most critical position in the Army,” Greenston told someone who asked about the goal of the policy change. “I need you to have time to serve in critical leadership positions (platoon/section leader) AND expand [as a drill sergeant or recruiter]. 58,000 SSGs lead 58 percent of the Army.”
According to Clark, the old time-in-grade requirement did not give staff sergeants enough experience to succeed as senior NCOs.
The Army often selects staff sergeants — sometimes involuntarily — to spend up to three years as recruiters or drill sergeants.
Many staff sergeants are assigned as drill sergeants. The Army is increasing the minimum time staff sergeants must spend in the grade before being promoted to sergeant first class. (Army/Sergeant 1st Class Brian Hamilton)
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And while expanding tasks is important to an NCO’s development, he said, “many of them haven’t had the opportunity to serve in a key developmental position that would really position them for the next higher rank.”
An infantry sergeant often spends his time as a squad leader, leading four soldiers. For infantry staff sergeants, the goal is to serve as a platoon leader, where they oversee nine soldiers and operate with much more autonomy.
Platoon leader time prepares NCOs to become sergeants after promotion to sergeant first class, where they will be the senior NCO among 39 Soldiers and responsible for mentoring the platoon leader.
“But if [an infantry staff sergeant] serves as a drill sergeant or recruiter, they usually miss the opportunity to serve as a squad leader and may be promoted to sergeant first class and then return to the operational Army as a platoon sergeant without the experience of being team leader,” Clark said.
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And NCOs who went straight from managing four soldiers to nearly 40 — especially after spending three years away from the line as a sergeant or recruiter — often fell short of their potential, he explained.
“If you go to enlist and get promoted to sergeant without having grown up as a platoon leader, your experienced team leaders can lose confidence and that can set us back in different ways,” said the Army’s top NCO.
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