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

If you have a 4 year degree, no.

guess it all depends on your job and branch of service... in my job, yeah, we could definitely make E6 in 3 years. But, you better be a damn good one or demoted...

1 year in training, 1 year in Viet Nam and 2 years as a DI after 2 purple hearts. After 3 years and moving into year 4, E6. No problem on my part.

AGE + EXPERIENCE = MATURITY I once saw a person promoted just to 3rd Class Petty Officer (E-4) right coming out of boot camp because he was promised it if he would enlist for 6 years vs. 4 years when he went in. I think he had just turned 18 a few months before. He fu__ed up with the additional responsibility and actually was busted to E-1. I can't tell you how many E-6s I saw in Vietnam when I was stationed as a MP in jeep patrols in Danang who were absolute idiots. They were leading POs (NCOs) for our entire watch schedules which included about 10 men and 3 jeeps. They were in one of our 3 jeep units and I had to drive them often until I made E-4 and became the PO of the my own jeep. Some came on drunk, I saw one who deliberately had me stop in a village just to shoot one of the villagers dogs out of spite. So NO they should not be promoting people to E-6 early!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In most situations in the Navy the E-6s had the most contact as an upper NCO with the men under the command. They acted as a real example to people who were just coming into the military. Many times an E-6 has to be the "one adult in the room" as they say.

Met a fellow once who had a daughter in the Air Force Band as an enlisted member. When she finished basic training she was handed Technical Sergeant (E-6) rank because of her job. Was it right...don't know, but it happened. That's one case, but I have known others who were able to work themselves through the ranks quickly, many times because of being in the right place at the right time but also because they were good test takers. Seems to fall under the very open heading of "it is what it is".

I felt like I made Captain too fast in the mid 60s, but the Army needed to fill slots.
The Army came out with a policy in 1966 for certain MOSs to be promoted immediately without regards to TIG. Had an E-5 on the E-6 list; promoted him to E-6 one day and to E-7 the next day based on that policy.

Congratulations! I'm certain your superiors who are evaluating you saw something in you that made them believe you are worthy of the rank. Don't let yourself or them down. Find out what is needed and wanted from your superiors and deliver to them a better product than they have ever received before. We can have this conversation again when you are being promoted to E-9!

I worked with a guy who made Staff Sergeant in three years. It took 15 years for him to make SFC.

Ahhhh.....the old "shake and bake" phenomenon question lol
The biggest problem with this argument is it looks at this from a purely quantitative PoV, versus a qualitative one. Yes, there's no real substitute for raw experience, and yet if a soldier demonstrates the maturity, leadership skills and skills competency for their MOS there's no reason they shouldn't move up in rank/responsibility with all possible speed.
I too have seen and experienced the snake pit environment where junior NCOs would gladly throw their peers under the bus to advance their own careers. A better model IMO is the mentorship approach you see in the 18 class (SF) MOSs. In an ODA the lowest ranking guys are E-5s and E-6s, and due to their small size it's incumbent for the senior team noncoms to not let their lower ranks eat each other.
A small picture approach is the best approach IMO. If a fast riser is doing his/her job and being a good leader who cares how wuickly they made their stripes?

Like CSM Sweeney, I made my rank to fast, although it took me 10 years to make SFC. Now, I was a bit more mature and educated, graduating from college prior to enlisting because I thought that was citizens were supposed to, and I still do. I had a reserve component assignment and was selected for promotion at 12 years. Fortunately, I was deep in the secondary zone, so it took a couple of years to get to my number. I then was "handpicked" by the Regimental CSM who didn't know me from Gomer Pyle to take a !SG position. My belief is that everyone meets their asshole career wise, and depending on how awful they are and dumb luck, you either survive or get sidetracked. My first company had me with a sociopathic loser and I lasted fifteen months before the various CSMs smelled to much burning connections in my head, and I went into a series of SGM positions at Division and then Corps. Started ti break down physically while at Corps G3; we were run by insane Rangers. I then went to Europe, meet the new CSM and asked for a company. Group Commander asked me to move from the S2/3 SGM position and take the HHC after he decided to relieve the First Sergeant. I had that company for two years, and then went back to the states; CSM network plugged in and I got another First Sergeant Assignment. By this time I was starting to leave parts on the side of the road. I decided to retire, submitted my stuff which the installation held, because I was already selected and on the CSM list with sequence numbers of 1 in both. I proud of being selected and putting my sociopath sexperience in the proper perspective, but I couldn't be the soldier I thought I should be in that position, so I went through with the retirement. I got my opportunity to grow in those years as a First Sergeant and as Readiness SGM, Corps G3 Training SGM and Group S2/3SGM. I have missed being a soldier and leading soldiers everyday since I signed out; but, I had learned and grown and absorbed values that made me believe that I owed it to the Army and the soldiers I had led and the soldiers I might lead to accept fate.

So, if you make rank too quick, at some point it will catch up to you and you'll have to learn and grow and struggle. And if you do it well enough, you'll be successful and get more opportunities. Unless, as I did, you run out of time.