Can I decline being promoted to Corporal?

Embrace the suck.

My son was an E4 working an E6 billet, he didn’t get a penny more. You do what you have to do I guess, so you essentially got your line number, if you plan to get out your ok I’d guess, your just EAS, you want to stay in you killed your career.

Be very careful, this type of attitude can be seen by your leadership as laziness or just plain immaturity. They have selected you for the job because they great potential in you. This can derail your young career.

I honestly am not happy reading this, If your just in the military for the money, then you should of NEVER enlisted . You as a NCO was promoted to lead your squad / team because of showing you have the tools to do so, You passed the board and yet because your required to complete BLC or get back from Ranger school is to me a sign of someone afraid they can't pass the next series of test to prove you deserve those stripes and just looking for the easy way to be paid for not wanting to further gain the knowledge your peers will rely on you for, And if you in anyway what so ever think this attitude will get you through BLC or Ranger School , then just maybe instead of declining being promotion to Corporal you should be talking to your Commander about a discharge out of the military. I never once gave pay a thought when I enlisted or passed the NCO board and so on , There was 2 real reasons I joined the Military , (1) To help protect and defend the Greatest Nation in the world against Monsters like Russia , China, North Korea and (2) serve in the best Military, beside others that had the same reasons (or better reasons) as why enlisted and when I enlisted back in the 80's the Cold War was escalating, and USSR was trying to flex their Muscles and so on , I stood guard on the DMZ in South Korea and never once was the question about getting the proper pay . I'm very disappointed in reading something like this and JUST maybe the answer you should be considering is being Discharged and finding civilian employment with an employer you feel your qualified for.

Did someone from duffleblog pose this question?

Yes, you can deny a promotion, however that may stop or hinder career progression and may impact retention. Best of luck but if you are concerned for financial gains by primary, you may have chosen the wrong career entirely. I fulfilled E8 and E9 positions as an E6 for the mission and for my Marines. The pay is not what my survival depended on.