E6 in 3 years? Is there such thing as making rank too soon?

I see a big problem with going up to fast in rank. I had an E-5 come to my unit when I was with the 25th ID in Hawaii. He came on board after we had just received a new cohort unit to my company. Had been in the army for almost three years. I asked him how did he get promoted so fast. Evidently, he was working for a Colonel in a non-11B position. Being an E-5, I had to place him in a team leader position. Hell, he did not even know how to march troops and in the field, he was totally lost. On a 10 mile road march this Sgt. starting literally crying which was an embarrassment for me being the platoon Sgt. I called the company and requested for him to be picked up and taken to the hospital. To make a long story short, I wrote an evaluation on him and recommended he be tested in all 11B squad leader testing. This soldier was totally lost, did not even know how to orient or read a map. After the evaluation, it was recommended he be demoted to SP4 and reclassified as a 71L. In the end, he just became a gofer and was discharged. When at war, blood stripes are excepted because you earned them in battle, if a survivor, you had to be doing something right!

E1 to E5 from my experience seem to be packed into the same sardine can. The first bit of structure I ever saw was the LPO E6. After that, every Chief and above. In the IT community, being a push button 3rd doesn't mean anything - advancement is 100%. It's all about the race to E5. E6 sounds great - more money, more pay, more respect, but the "shit that rolls down hill" tends to bury the E6s and occasionally trickle down below that. It's no wonder why they say PO2 is the best rate in the Navy.

Oh I agree...but the Push Button 3rds is where I had my first experience with it. Those kids tried so hard to act like they mattered...but no one cared. It was funny when E-5s just smacked them down and told them to get to work as soon as they got to the fleet tho. Always bugged me when I saw them walking around Great Lakes acting like they were hot stuff. Trying to boss around us E-2s and E-3s. Most of them just gave 'em dirty looks and walked away.

You are in now? It was different 20-25 years ago...Those kids were full of themselves.

It's almost a COMPLETELY different Navy than when I was in, Shipmate. haha (Not being sarcastic...it's just a fact) :D

With certain ratings, Sailors can sign an extended contract to promote to E4 upon graduation of A school. If the Sailor comes into the Navy with college credit - or passes the initial knowledge test and holds a position in RTC, they can graduate bootcamp as an E3. Considering that RTC is 8 weeks and school is about 5 months, you're looking at an E4 around the 6-8 month mark. If this E4 gets a good eval or depending on where they are in the cycle, the can take the test with 6 months TIR and be frocked once they meet the 1 year TIR requirement. Now you have an E5 with a year an a half in. If this E5 is a stellar performer and gets a ranked EP eval, this takes a year off their TIR requirement of 3 years. This Sailor can theoretically be frocked to first before their 4 year mark at 3.5 years. If this Sailor ends up doing the same thing as an E6, at 5.5 years in (depending on where they land in the cycle), they are eligible for Chief (E7), if they make the cut on the test they can submit their package to the board. If the unlikely event the board chooses them, they will undergo Chief Selection Season and be frocked in October - potentially putting them at 6 years. This person can also make Senior Chief before their 8 year mark as recently seen in a Navy article with the MCPON.

*If the E6 is Sailor of the Year for the Navy, they are capped to Chief. This could theoretically allow someone to make Chief in 4 years, though don't get your hopes up!

Have to be a hell of a high speed guy for that.

Yeah, depending on what you sign up for, you can get certain things faster. When I went in, the Nuke Program almost guaranteed you a fast track to advancement. Back then they were desperate for people to work on subs and carriers. They gave some hefty recruiting bonus to them too.

I studied my ass off to pass my E-4 test. I spent most of my free time learning everything I could about my rate, so I could score well to make sure I advanced. I scored VERY high on my test. There were obviously some things I couldn't learn, because I didn't have access to them on a Carrier, but I got my hands on as many tech manuals as I could. There's a LOT more involved with advancement in the Navy these days. I have a lot of friends who are active duty...I see what some of the multiples are these days...I felt bad for some of them. No matter how hard they tried, there was no way they could advance. Multiples of like 999.99 or something...Meaning closed advancement...Why do they make you take the test if they aren't going to let anyone advance? Anyway...that's just a musing of mine..

I was up for E-5 at my EOAS, but chose not to take it, because I didn't want to take the slot from someone who was actually going to be there...My ALPO tried to get me in trouble for that...My LCPO understood my decision and told the ALPO to shut it. hehe I knew I could have aced that test...but I would have been home before the results were out, so what would have been the point?

Advancing in the Navy seems a heck of a lot harder than the Army, E-1 through E-4 is pretty much automatic if you don't mess up and you just coast through. You can get to E-4 quickly if you work hard and have a good NCO support channel.

Getting to E-5 requires a board, so you need to impress some E-8's and show you have the knowledge required. Not a whole lot of testing as I understand.

Yes, Chief. I am awaiting the STA-21 results, but regardless if I accepted or not, I will be awaiting the E6 results from the test next week. My Senior Chief tells me that I don't have anything to worry about and that I would make a good First Class. However, I am not naive enough to think that it won't go unnoticed that a First Class with no service stripes is checking onto his first ship. I'm a leader, I know the instructions and the resources to take care of my people, I know what my leadership and Chiefs expect of me, and I plan on getting qualified as soon as possible. However, if I do make E6 the first time up, I feel I will be on rarefied ground.

Checking on to your first ship as a 1st Class(heck even as a 2nd Class) can be quite daunting. No one is going to care to much about your lack of hash marks, their opinions will be based on your performance. Go hot a heavy on the quals, even showing up as a 2nd you'll have less time to earn your ESWS than junior Sailors plus you'll have more pre-requisite qualifications that are consummate with your pay grade.

There are already 2 IT1s more senior to you on O'Kane so I wouldn't stress about being dropped in as LPO right off the bat. This will give you time to get qualed and learn how to be a ship IT. The other side of this is you will have to find another role in which to display leadership, usually through a collateral duty.

SCPO (Join to see) - Thank you, Chief! I am definitely looking forward to the O'Kane and being a part of the Team!