Can I be forced to go to the board even if I’m not ready?

I'm not in the army so this information may not be 100% accurate for you but I went on my promotion board after being told the day of that I was on it. Sometimes that's the way it goes. Just go, be professional, and be confident in your answers even if you're wrong. You're likely to be recommended and if not it's good experience for the next one so you'll know what to expect. If the issue is that you don't think you're ready to be an NCO you can non rec yourself on your board. I wouldn't recommend doing that because it will skyline you but you can do it.

You have to go. Do the best you can but if all else fails just say that you have been concentrating on knowing all aspects of your job so that your leaders don’t have to waste time training you on your job and giving them the time to do leader tasks. Who is going to fault you for that? Good luck.

Not sure if they can force you, but don't turn it down. I got told I was going to the board the last hour of the duty day, the day before we started a 4 day. The board was the day after the 4 day. Work with your FFL to study and crush it. Even if you bomb it, give it your all and it'll show and make them want to continue to develop you.

If you knew you were Boardable, you should have been studying all along. Back in my day, the Board only convened when x number of a particular rank had reached the point cut-off for Boardability. You would be told when you reached the cut-off but were not given a lot of lead time for when the Board convened.

My ETS IS 2021

The easiest thing to do is study the best you can with a buddy , do the best that you can do and see where it takes you, options are always better than nothing. Your COC informed you of the board, it is a Soldiers personal responsibility to be ready at all times. As soon as you made SPC your studying should have started. You can refuse to go and pay the price, you can go and act like an incompetent individual unworthy of promotion and pay the price or you can give it your best and be professional and get elected for SGT, even if you decide your a one and done and get out, you never quit and that translates into civilian life very easily. I got hit with last minute boards back in the day and I sat on a number of last minute boards. Its all in the presentation and ability of those selected and how they act under pressure. You can memorize every reg there is and still come across as a buffoon, I have seen it and its not pretty. I also saw a number of troops purposely fail the board and it did not end well for them. Don't be " that guy".

Back when I was a SPC, I knew the exact day that I was going to be board eligible and I made sure I was preparing, so I don't buy the short notice excuse. These boards happen on a regularly scheduled basis. You go before the board once you reach the required TIG/TIS, etc. You've had plenty of time to study, you just didn't use it. and if you just suddenly woke up and "oh shit, I'm going before the board" then you've been asleep at the wheel ever since you made SPC.

When I was a "Buck" Sergeant, I had dropped a CID packet, which was somewhere in their approval pipeline. In order to be considered for CID, one cannot be more than E-5P. So I had told my first line that I was waiting for word from CID about my packet. For about 3 months, he didn't submit my name for the SSG Board. Then one month, he got tired of waiting and told me I was going. I reluctantly agreed and decided that I wouldn't prepare at all, and that would prevent me from being considered for SSG. I went into the board totally unprepared and nonchalantly. As I was a S-1 NCO, I had close professional relationships with all the Company 1SGs, who were always trying to stay on my good side in a perceived effort to get even better service. So most of them only asked a couple of truly "softball" questions that anyone who has been in the Army for a day would know, and one of them just asked one question regarding his Orderly Room clerk's quality of submitted documents, then said that was all he had for me. The CSM leaned forward to look at the 1SG and asked "Really?" At the end of it all, I got recommended, my CID packet got kicked back, and then I got assigned to Korea, where I got promoted after my first week in-country.