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

In the ancient days of Vietnam, when NCOs in the Infantry were rare, and casualties were high, the Army had the NCOC program where young soldiers who did well would go through 90 days of training on what it took to be an Infantry Squad or Team Leader, followed by 90 days of OJT running a training squad/platoon back in an Infantry AIT battalion. Then they were shipped off to Vietnam to serve as a small unit leader.

I was “first-cycle” which means my time in NCOC was not voluntary. We were just sent. After the first cycle, the program became. Volunteer.

Rank too early, probably, but special circumstances ruled the day.
Oath of Enlistment June 1967 PVT E-1 age 19
Grad from Basic PVT E-2
Grad from AIT PFC E3
Nov 1967 entered NCOC program (Non-Commissioned Officer Candidate) Corporal E-4 (not Spec 4!)
Grad NCOC March 1968 SGT E-5
Vietnam June 1968 - June 1969 11B4P age 20-21
June. 1969 assigned as Instructor, Ground Committee, USAIS, Fort Benning (Black Hat)
Went before E-6 Promotion Board December 1969, Promoted SSG E-6 on December 10, 1969, age 22.
E-1 to E-6 in 913 days.
ETS May 28, 1970

Great job I made Sgt E-5 at 18 mos then SSG. E-6 in 28 months and I was 22 yrs old and Msg E-8 buy the time a was 32 everything is possible just being in the right place at the right time.Retired in 1986

I made E-5 in 2 years but I worked at it in the office and studying in the barracks. It was more productive than going out and geting wasted like so many squadron mates were doing. That was 1956-58.

This guy was promoted to Captain at 21 after enlisting at 17 and then going through OCS. Fascinating story. Worth a watch. https://youtu.be/Oz9oHHV8pTM

I made E-5 at the end of my three year enlistment this I think was due to the Military's manning woes due to the War in Vietnam,granted I still had to attend the NCO academy and pass the sergeants board back in Ft. Polk,but I feel the rank of SGT needed more experience and training in my MOS so yeah I think it was too quick in my case

I think there should be an alternate rank structure for every branch, one that allows servicemembers to earn more with promotions based on work ethic, but without placing them in higher positions of authority and decision making. I don't see anything wrong with making rank quick, but the problem that usually occurs is the servicemember lacks proper leadership experience when they are slotted for a higher leadership position.

I was an PO1 at 23 and a Chief at 26. And yes, there is such a thing as making rank too fast. Senior Enlisted are relied upon for their experience, and when you lack the years to provide said experience, what really does thia Sailor have to provide at this point? I retired as a CMDCM.
The opposite is being stuck at PO1 and not making Chief until near the end of their HYT. Generally, they were never able to make that needed transition I to wearing that Anchor.
With all that said, you take what opportunities the Navy offers you, and if you promote "too fast" you have to make that extra effort to learn faster as well. Seek out great mentors and learn from your mistakes.

I am addressing the Enlisted side. I have seen some individuals that had the military knowledge and mature attitude to working in that new position. But, I have seen individuals that were not ready for advancement to the next rank. In my last 10 years of service, I have meet some Senior NCO's that were promoted and shouldn't have. E-7s and above are matched up with an officer to advise and support the missions set forth by their officers. They need to have the over all military knowledge to advise their commanders, and must support any course of action their commander chooses 100%. As long as these orders are lawful orders.

I never saw too many fast burners in the AF and most of that stopped at E-7 as then you had a promotion board and more than scoring high on promotions exams were required. Funny things like experience and leadership ability. My AFSC (MOS) only got 2 E-8 slots a year and 1 E9 but those went away when they lumped us with a larger AFC for selection to E8-9. Most of my AFSC were 1 deep except maybe at MAJCOM so you pretty much supervised yourself only so hard to compete with those in other career fields. Kind of sucked but paid off on the civilian side as job skill is in high demand. I had an EE degree as an enlisted troop but was mostly 1 deep most of my career when it came to the board. When I was in I think there was only about 75 AD types in my field.

Yes and no , if we are at war and your making rank because all the folks above you are getting killed off and you got to step up to survive I see no problem , because trying to stay alive and save those around you as well tends to mature a fellow or gal right quick . You will grow into the job .
On the other hand in a peace time environment making rank too fast can lead to failure , at a young age your just might not have the right combination of life experience and knowledge to take on all the responsibility of the rank .

I don’t know about the army today and speed of promotions. I joined in 1960 and retired in 1982. During the early 60s it was not unusual for NCOs to retire in grades E5 and E6. I saw some quit old captains and majors. Enlisted senior grade promotions were not centralized. Then Vietnam happened. I made E6 in 5 years just a little over a year TIG and E7 with 7 years TIG at age 27. Made E8 in 12 years and E9 at 17 years. Good for me but not sure it was right for the army. All that aside, yes I was promoted way to fast. Real maturity and realization really didn’t show up until after I made E8 and found out big time I had a lot of catching up to do. It was not easy to supervise and lead soldiers much older than you and with much more experience. Bottom line maturity, experience, and leadership ability should should be the keys to promotion not a bunch of paper.

There really may be something to making rank too soon; I made E-8 rather quickly. After my selection I made a trip to my command HQ, joint command, and the deputy commander, USAF colonel, called me into his office to advise me that I might have made E-8 too soon and could hurt me in making E-9; while on the other hand the commander, a two-star U.S. Marine endorsed me all the way. The Colonel told me he had sat on many selection boards and had seen this often; as it turns out I did miss E-9, Chief Master Sergeant, in two cycles by .75 each of the two years...decided to retire. HN

My father in law made E-7 in 2 years. He was USAAF stationed on Tinian Island Aug 1945. He was a little upset when his daughter told him she was dating an older guy who was married before. When I asked her to go to a formal with me, she told her father I was coming to pick her up. He wasn't that thrilled until I showed up as a major in dress blues, and all of a sudden I became God in his eyes.

I joined when I was 21. In HS I was in ROTC and played sports. In College, I played two sports softball and basketball and worked. I knew i would have been a better NCO than the useless squad leader we had who made e-5 with a waiver. It would have taken a waiver for me to be promoted and they didn't want two NCO's on a waiver in the same platoon.

91-99 I went in as an E-3, made e-4 in less than a year. I had enough promotion points to make e-7 at my 4-year mark. I maxed out on Military education points and Civilian education points. The only place I could get more points was my PT test but no way I was scoring 300 on that. My only issue of not getting promoted was going to PLDC. Every time I was slotted to go I blew out my knees. They have both been replaced now. I was Active 91-96 then NG

I saw something similar in Medical School. Jefferson had a 5 year program in which High School graduates went to Penn State for the next summer, academic year, the NEXT summer, then (when they would have been sophomores in college) started their first of 4 years at Jefferson. The next summer they were back at Penn State, then they finished their 2nd, 3rd and 4th years at Jefferson. And there you are; 5 years out from High School and you have MD after your name.
These kids stuck out in our class. They were, of course, brilliant. But they had NO real world experience. We more traditional 4 year college grads had at LEAST figured out how to handle alcohol and unsupervised social interactions. These folks had not even gotten that far yet.
Being a doctor is about WAY more than book learning. It's about life. A LOT of what we do in uniform is the same. You don't really learn about the life part until you've experienced it.

I am aware of someone who made E-7 in under 4. he was what we call a "Slick Sleeve" as he had no Hash marks. They would let him in the CPO Club at Cape May, until he got a hash mark. He was an ET ( Electronics Technician ). He got his hash mark and a Shipping over Bonus which was $12.000, and that was a lot of money in '66. I got some of it playing poker. LOL

I joined the Army on 8 Dec 1947 (at age 17) and was discharged on 14 Feb 1948 on a medical discharge. I enlisted again (fraudelent) on 28 July 1948 (got the fraudelent mess all squared away and no charges filed). I made Cpl E4 on 4 Dec 1950, SSgt E5 on 11 July 1951, SFC E6 on 9 Feb 1953 and then a long haul to SFC E7 on 14 Aug 1961 and then MSG E8 on 16 Mar 1966 (retired on 1 July 1972. When I made E6, I was 23 years of age and NCOIC of a large Comm Center. My last 6 years in were as 1SGT of 4 Army Security Agency Agency units. I feel I was not too young or got promoted too fast. I really enjoyed my Army career although they kept me overseas for 15 1/2 years with duty in Korea and Vietnam.

I made E5 in 6 months but then again it was Vietnam 1969-1970 and I was in the 1st Infantry Infantry and yes I was ahead of the curve in regards to responsibility to the squad and volunteering for things no one wanted ( like becoming a point man ).

I made E-5 in three years and did not know enough to be a real Sargent. My promotions were combat-related because of time there and a shortage of personal. Many things I should have been able to do I could not.

Depends on the individual and has to be evaluated on a case by case basis. I made E-6 in three years and two months and continued to advance throughout the remainder of my career for the next 25 years.