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

That's pretty fast in my opinion. I made E-6 at 10 1/2 years and 10 years seems to be the average...for my MOS anyway. Can't speak for other jobs.

Unless there is a critical need, it is better to have life experience before rank. One ofthe reason shave tail lieutenants were so notorious for being lost when trying to lead.

I know every case is different. I do think age factors in to it. I made E-5 in 2 years. I was 22 and in 1970 there were lots of E-1 thru E-4 younger than me. You can never tell what might have been but I wonder if I would have been accepted as a Sgt. if I had been 18. The main reason I wonder this is that I know I could not have been ready when I was 18. Of course, there are those that absolutely would have been ready.

Honestly it all depends on where you make your ranks. If just move up but are never in a leadership position then it does you no good. I have seen E7s who have never led other NCOs, never did a personalized counseling, never rated a subordinate. One should seek the experiences over the rank. If you can do both at the same time then it makes more sense. E5 in 4 years, E6 in 5yrs, E7 in 9yrs & E8 in 16yrs.

I THINK my MOS was 72455 (computer programmer). I made E4 in 3 years, and got an "early out" 6 months later. I think the USAF did away with 72435. I MIGHT have stayed for another 4 if I was offered E5 at reup and guaranteed E6 in another 3 years. With a total of 8 years in I would have been 27yo but I would have had to change MOS. At that time, 1965-69, the USAF seemed to promote entirely by time-in-grade; everyone in my unit got promoted to E4 at the same time even though I was the only one with an E6 MOS.

I recall "Nuke" ratings would get E-4 early in exchange for 6 year elistments.

I'd have to say that "it depends". Like others here, it should be taken on a case by case basis. Because E-5s were in short supply in my MOS, I made SGT in two years, and I think that was jolly well too soon for me. But the one guy in my platoon who was promoted on the same day as me, no older and same TIS, and with whom I went to PNCOC/CA, he was a real leader and commanded instant respect from all with whom he came into contact. I wasn't of the same caliber at all, although I wasn't incompetent -- I was just out of my depth for the first year, I think. It's such a crapshoot sometimes. I've seen lieutenants who shouldn't have even have been sergeants, and sergeants who could have successfully commanded a battalion (I'm thinking of the command sergeant major who, in an exercise, was put into the position of doing exactly that, when all officers in the battalion were designated casualties). I've also never been a fan of "up or out" policies. Because there are some who are very competent squad leaders, or lower level unit leaders, but can't handle higher responsibility.

To preface this, I am second generation USN (Father was an 0-8, and retired after 33) and brother served also (he retired an O-5). Being raised Navy I have seen many, many (especially junior officers) who were promoted much too fast for their emotional maturity, and skill levels. Smart senior enlisted leaders were usually smart enough to rein in those said people before lasting harm was done to, the service, personnel, and equipment, or themselves (this is why we trust CPO's the way we do). Hopefully, it was NOT a CPO (promoted too fast), I did encounter a couple of these (both were technical rates, in high demand), since the senior enlisted people were, by then, incapable of reining them in it fell to a team of BOTH senior enlisted AND junior officers to muzzle/control this person, in this particular case they (that enlisted/officer team) saved the CPO from PHYSICAL retribution (some of the people they had decided to ride on wanted to take them to unmanned space(s) and 'counsel' him!

There can be, but that greatly depends on the individual putting on the rank. I've met some great folks that moved up far faster than I ever did. They were well prepared for additional rank and the responsibilities that came with it. Others thought because they schmoozed their way to Blue Jacket of the Quarter there was nothing their seniors could teach them. Some of us had to laugh when the duty section run by that individual was always a train wreck, collateral duties went unattended, and forget about leaving a phone message of E-mail and expecting a response. Too busy trying to weasel into the next stripe to respond to those communications.

08 June 1976 E1 to 16 Aug 1986 CPO, for me personally, I had some excellent leaders along the way, made SOY as E5 over 644 shipmates for NCSP San Miguel, made E6, did RM C7, RM CSTS, then two weeks of Leadership Management Educational Training, where 3 months later I took and passed the RMC exam and was board eligible (they wrote the test from the notes in C School). Had a gentleman reported onboard as E4, book smart, no common sense, aced the E5 exam, but command refused to advance him in rank had made some grave errors along the way, he put on E5 a couple years later. Last I seen he was on CINCPACFLT Staff as RMC(SW).