E-4 to E-5 attend the promotion board and utilize the point system and E-5 to E-6 use NCOER, ERB, and DA Photo for promotion any thoughts?

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 14:43:28 -0400

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 1 at 2016 2:47 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 14:47:44 -0400

How would MOS in/out strength be tracked and used for mid-grade NCO's in this method?

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 1 at 2016 2:57 PM

WO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 14:57:11 -0400

Because 798 that's why.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 1 at 2016 3:15 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 15:15:03 -0400

I had to submit a packet and calculate points for my SSG board.

Response by CW5 Andrew J. Foreman made Jul 1 at 2016 4:56 PM

CW5 Andrew J. Foreman — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 16:56:57 -0400

How would points be distributed for NCOERs, ERB and DA photo?

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 1 at 2016 6:53 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 18:53:08 -0400

Have you made a list of pros vs cons? I can't think of any pros of changing.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 1 at 2016 9:38 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 21:38:21 -0400

I personally hate promotion boards. Any shitbag can memorize a creed, some questions, and some general info for a day. How many NCO's have you met that can't do there job? How many times have you wondered "How the fuck did this person get promoted." I've seen people buddy buddy, kiss ass, and many other methods to the top. I feel a Soldier should be promoted based off performance of those who see them perform on a daily basis and for combat NCO's a field environment as well. I've met many deployed grunts that I wouldn't pick to be on my laser tag team and some squared away people who just never got the chance to earn that combat patch.

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 2 at 2016 4:15 AM

TSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 04:15:35 -0400

That sounds like making promotion to E-6 like a Senior NCO board. Well, leadership at the lower levels is very important. I would argue that is maybe even more important than senior leadership. It requires hands-on and direct guidance from those directly with them. It is very important that junior NCOs know how to lead, train, and mentor young Soldiers. This cannot be done by looking at some well written words on paper.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 2 at 2016 7:34 AM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 07:34:45 -0400

E-4 and E-5 use point and board. E-6 and above use board only as well as NCOERs school etc

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 2 at 2016 8:54 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 08:54:06 -0400

All promotions above PFC should be based on merrit.

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 2 at 2016 9:42 AM

CSM Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 09:42:23 -0400

Instead of promotion boards we should have technical and tactical tests. Soldiers should have to prove that they are up to the task of becoming a leader. I've been on boards where I recognize the name being boarded and know this Soldiers to truly be a piece of garbage but his NCOERs make him look like he walks on water. The promotion system is broken and has been for a long time. The most squared away Soldiers can be stuck in MOS's that just do not promote. And the unit's refuse to reclass them to another MOS because they are mission critical. So until the powers that be revamp the system we will continue to look over qualified leaders and promote dumbasses just because they are in a certain MOS that is easy to get picked up.

Response by PVT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 2 at 2016 12:50 PM

PVT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 12:50:34 -0400

They system is completely broken bro. I know of a soldier well now an NCO that can't even tell you the 7 Army Values or how to move a fire team in sometime as simple and reacting to contact. While I was in ALC this guy came down on auto promotion list and guess what? They promoted him to Sergeant. Yes that's the future of this Army.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 2 at 2016 5:24 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 17:24:52 -0400

Well you still have to have the points to make E-6 as well with most MOS's. I get what you're saying, but in my opinion, making E-5 is a push of that individual into another "dimension" as they must continue to practice leadership and tune it in order to make that next jump as a Staff Sergeant. You see and witness a highspeed E-4 doing what they have to do to get into the NCO ranks, and from there you test them with added responsibility to see what they are truly capable of so that the seniors really see that this person really has what it takes to continue up the path. Hard to test an E-4 in that manner. I hope you catch my drift.

Response by MSG Johnathan Mathes made Jul 2 at 2016 6:30 PM

MSG Johnathan Mathes — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 18:30:53 -0400

Maybe im wrong.... but seems to me it isnt the junior NCO S promotion that there is a problem.... its at the senior ranks.. anyone can look good on paper... why is it that some seniors keep getting promoted .... a they have kissed the right ass and they are known well or they look good on paper...i didnt even have a da photo on record for Sfc ... should have been a immediate disqualifer...... i wasnt ready and i had a steep learning curve...everyone wants the rank but doing the job and being good at it doesnt always equal promotion.. being good on paper.. a audie murphy member.. or morales is also a crock of bs.... ive seen the products... not impressed... we need to get back to promoting leaders... not gi ing it away... and if they fail not for the lack of trying but because they suck .. remove them back to a lower rank.. and promote someone else...who can handle being a platoon sgt... 1sg or sgm .. csm .. not everyone will make it but we would have less toxic leadership... and leaders and not just stripe wearers

Response by SGT Matthew Reid made Jul 2 at 2016 8:20 PM

SGT Matthew Reid — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 20:20:27 -0400

Yes promotion board and PLDC was required for me to be promoted. Do you want to be a leader or do you want the promotion is the question. Leadership is not deserved, it is earned. I hope that helps SGT Branch.

Response by CSM Eric Biggs made Jul 3 at 2016 6:40 AM

CSM Eric Biggs — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 06:40:58 -0400

E-4 to E-5 promotions have almost nothing in the Soldier's career to utilize to base an opinion on whether the Soldier is a leader or not. E-5 up have various things to base an NCO's leadership ability on. One thing Raters and Senior Raters need to do a better job of is; if an NCO is a "Shitbag" they need to articulate that in the Soldier's NCOER. Bad NCOER's have a way of pointing out to Senior Leaders sitting on promotion boards that this "NCO" is a shitty leader and probably should't be promoted and/or given more responsibility.

In my opinion promotions should be based on whether or not you can lead troops, how well you know your job and that's it. If you know your job well but can't lead yourself out of a wet paper bag, you should't be promoted. The same thing holds true for the inverse; if you can lead a group of absolute idiots through a complicated mission but either suck at your job or have no idea how to do it, you should't be promoted.

Response by SSG Mike Busovicki made Jul 5 at 2016 9:21 AM

SSG Mike Busovicki — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 09:21:03 -0400

On top of promo points (we used correspondence courses to max out education points), I recommend also studying for the board with questions from "Army Study Guide.com". Though not an official DA publication, keep in mind that the promotion board members (A) don't have time to make up their own questions usually, and (B) most boards I've attended had questions that were picked from this website (or very similar). This makes sense to me, as that would imply somewhat "standardized" board questions Army-wide. You can't have an "easy" promotion board in one battalion and a "difficult" one in another battalion. Make your bio short and goal-oriented (near term and long term), and stay on top of current events.

Good luck!

SSG Bus

http://www.armystudyguide.com/

ArmyStudyGuide.com - A FREE Online and Audio Army Board Study Guide for U.S. Army Promotion...

A FREE Online and Audio Army Board Study Guide for U.S. Army Promotion Boards and Soldier / NCO Boards.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 5 at 2016 9:21 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 09:21:52 -0400

We had SQT's down range on my last tour to Afghanistan. I myself, have never been a fan of boards because I have seen a lot of book worms become leaders in the military by rank and not by action. Going to a board, answering questions and then getting the status does not make someone a leader. I feel that these decisions should be made at a platoon level and then pushed through the command for the final approval. For instance, set up SQT's based on the unit's METL and hold evaluations during Team and Squad training that is all held at the platoon level. This is when leaders can evaluate their Soldiers to determine who is going to be a good leader. Leaders need to lead, and in order to lead people need to want to follow them. This sort of character cannot be earned by reading ADP's and book knowledge, although they do help. True leaders are born that way and have a natural ability to lead Soldiers. Boards have done a terrible job in finding these Soldiers, because in my experience most good leaders hate playing dog and pony and going to boards. So I do believe NCOER's and monthly counselings are a good indicator, but only if the leader doing them is doing them currently. At the end of the day true leadership can only be found through observation and training events. We cannot continue to think that making Soldiers cram for two weeks for a ten minute board will make them leaders, especially considering that most of them do not retain that knowledge that they just spit out during the board.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 5 at 2016 11:06 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 23:06:46 -0400

To me boards are a way for senior leadership to see how those soldiers attending the board carry themselves under that level of mental stress, more so e4s going to the 5 board, as far as e5 to e6, that e5 should know by then certain things such as your more common Army Regulations for instance there's a lot of soldiers out there that don't understand AR 670-1 But then again I've seen some fresh SGTs that go and try and correct soldiers when they are in the wrong as well. Back to what I was saying about the mental stress aspect of it, if a soldier falls apart during the board how well do you think that same soldier will deal with the stress of leading a team or squad on and off the battle field.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 8 at 2016 11:34 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 08 Jul 2016 23:34:53 -0400

The question here isn't really clear. Is it a suggestion?

Response by SSG Dennis Wood made Jan 12 at 2017 2:10 PM

SSG Dennis Wood — Thu, 12 Jan 2017 14:10:50 -0500

I don't even understand if this is a question. Remember even though you are in an over strength MOS that you need to be recommended for a board in the first place. A good way to stagnate your career is to hop on a forum and complain about the system that is in place.