Are you on track with where you should be in your career?

Short answer no. But as my first line said “ quite trying to do too much your going to get burned out fast”

For me yes. Got promoted to SFC at 9 years and went to become Warrant on my 10th year. Made CW3 last year. Been fortunate enough to make all ranks first time go and have always progressed in each job starting from platoon leader to a working in SQDN/BDE levels. I was very fortunate with the stars aligning and having good leadership during my early years in the Army. Not everyone is given that luxury and get out at during their first enlistment missing out on what could have been a great career.

Yes!

I find that regardless of my preferred timeline, I’m always exactly where I need to be.

Could I look at the what ifs and fantasize that if I did this or that or not, I’d be looking at my first SGM look? Of course.

But there were great things that happened due to my choices and if they had gone any other way, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

I’m grateful for where I am today and for all the experiences in between. They helped me grow as a person, husband, father, friend, soldier, and leader of soldiers.

All of which allow me to continue my career with minimal interference.

No. I am definitely not where I should be. Been in for 11 years still a SGT. BUT, i know why. O
It's not that I'm a bad soldier or mess up or anything like that. I just had events in my life that set me back a little and now that I'm squared away there I can focus on my career again.

Nope. If I would've stayed on Active as an 11C I'd be on the track to getting looked at for my 7. But I signed a Dec statement (no regrets there, it was a family move), my reserve unit took over a year to get me a reclass slot which just happened to be 2 months before deployment, and no time for ALC. But, I'll grab an ALC slot sometime this year and make 6. Then I'll I keep on keeping on.

"Yes", On Track, "One Day at a Time"

Over two decades of professional life, half in uniform...half out; I've learned two truths about "career tracks". First, if your job doesn't directly relate to either making or saving money for your employer...you are expendable. Second, it pays to hitch your wagon to the right horse. As military members, we're all "expendable", because everything we do costs money...and we don't actively participate in "making" or "saving" it (well, unless you want to count paying taxes) at any statistically significant level. That means choosing the right "horse" is a pretty big factor. As a young JO, the very last thing I was thinking about during service selection was "my career"...I wanted to be altruistic, heroic, and "cool"...I had also wanted to fly jets since I was seven. As it turned out, that was a bad choice, for many reasons; looking back through the eyes of an older man...choosing a career with an enormously "lopsided" ratio of entry-level employees to mid-level billets, in a mature technological field with a severe "bottleneck" for tasking, was a mistake. I'm not expert on Army enlisted career specialties...but I would assume your MOS offers better potential for longevity and promotion. Information is a vital resource, and technology is weaponizing it in ways hitherto unseen. Again, just my perceptions as an outsider...but with Special Operations currently ruling the roost; it may not be the fastest route to promotion; however, it may be one of the surest routes to a solid twenty-plus years of service. Best wishes, and good luck.

Make E-6 by seven years in the military?

Yes, I feel like I have hit every mark where I expected to. I have honestly done everything I have ever wanted to in the Army.