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

I think the Navy is similar to the Coast Guard in this regard. You come out of basic as an E2. Once you reach your Duty station and get settled in, then you can get your course for E3, be it Seaman, Fireman, or Airman. By the time you have finished ity and your Practical Factors, then you pretty much have the 6 months in rank, and you get the promotion. After that, you are them moving into NCO ( E4 ). At this point you decide which Rate / MOS you want to strike for and then apply for the course ( or you can go to school which is a fast way up ). Once you start into the NCO advancements, it involves the Courses for each advancement, Time in Rate, Practical factors, and Sea Duty ( usually 1 year ). Once you have met those, there arte still the Servicewide exams. The highher you score on those the higher on the list you are. For instance, if you are #100 on the list and they are filling 101 billets, then you wil get the promotion, if you are 102 on the list, you won't until a billet opens. If your are way dpown the list, then you will have to take the Servicewide exmas again and hopefully score higher. Those in the Air Rates don't have the sea duty requirement as far as I know. I have see a slick sleeve Chief ( E7 under 4 ). He was an ET ( Electronics Technician ) which was a critical rate in the Coast Guard and the advancement was fast. We he shipped over and got his hash mark ( and was finally allowed in the4 CPO club ), he received a $12,000 Shipping over bonus. Mind you, this was in '66 and that was big money then. Now, as to the question, I think it depends on the individual. Some are very good at what they do and are good leaders, and i would say in those cases no. I had a Chief that was a BT. He made BT3 then went to work in the base Post Office. He had all of his Sea Duty requirements, and just kept taking the courses and I have no clue as to how he got past the practical factors and taking the Servicewide Exams and making the list. When he was finally transferred from the Post Office to the ship, he wasn't all that impressive. Most of the time if we had a problem, he was left out of the loop.

I made E-6 in 5 years 8 months. Fast tracking right? I wore E-6 for over 12 years before I made E-7. Nothing bad or wrong in my records. Sometime you just get stuck in the system. When I finally did make the E-7 list my sequence number was 2. I'm thinking well I should be pinned in a month or so. Yeah right, the list came out I think in July 2000. I didn't get promoted until March of 2001. More to the story but that is saved for another day. If you are one of those guys that can't make E-7 by the time you hit 13 years or whatever don't look to me for sympathy. My DS told me where I could find that. But I would do the same damn thing all over again knowing the conditions. No regrets.

Yes it’s possible. I know an E7 that made E7 in 6 years, I’m saying she’s an E7 because that’s all she is....not a Chief.

Yes. Making rank is more than technical expertise in the rate. There is a question of maturity and experience that grows in importance as you assume responsibility not just for yourself but for those assigned to you for leadership and guidance. I made E-5 in 3 years, and E-6 in 6, and although it was because of technical knowledge and skills, my leadership abilities were not always the best. Being younger than my peers pushed me to be friends with junior personnel, which made discipline enforcement difficult. Thankfully, it took me a few more years to make Chief, so I had time to learn those all important leadership skills.

In Vietnam I saw SSG E-6's made with 18 months in the Army.... In my unitat Coleman Barracks Mannheim Germany we had an E-7 Platoon Sgt SFC at the age of 24 and he had not been in combat, all his time was in Germany and stateside.... 1965 He was the best Platoon Sgt I ever had in 8 years but then 4 of those 8 I was a platoon Sgt at 21 in combat

CPL JIM JOHNSON made E4 IN 6 months before going to Vietnam in 03/70 offered E5 09/70 if I RE-Up one more tour Vietnam 69-71.

Fact is the following. I was in the US Navy during the 80's. I saw Phillipine immigrants promised asylum if they induct to the US Navy. The problem I have with this is they wore Petty Officer rates, and they had severe English language capabilities. These "Rocks" were not even in our country as US citizens long enough to graduate from Boot, ATD, or "A"school let alone make PO3 and above. We talk whether or not we skip through the ranks too fast. The "Old Salts" know what I am talking about. I am certain nothing has changed since then.

Graduated Basic with E-3, FC "A" school got me E-4 at 9 months in, an E-5 at 2.5 years. I moved up too fast and wasn't ready for it. They shoveled too much responsibility on me too quickly and it showed. Got out at 5 years.

I made SSG (E6) 11E30 in just 3 1/2yrs this was 1969. but this was due to the times as Nam was still going on. SFC(E7) 19J40C7 in 10yrs (1976) I could have made this earlier but one year DA changed the time in grade then the following year they changed time in service. I made MSG in 17yrs 19Z50D8 (1980). about 6 months prior to retiring I received a letter from the SMG academy my first thought at the time was I only had 3yrs on MSG. But I opted to retire. It sounds like we were in about the same boat in time.

I know a draftee who made Sgt E-5 in under 2 years because the Major was trying to get him to re-up. That same officer also went 9 month promoting no one else for 9 months. I was an E-4 drawing pro-pay so I think I was qualified with nearly 5 years service. Not always fair.