How does an E6 have 6 service stripes?

I know you can retire at E-6 in the Navy. I'd be surprised if it was different in the Army. As for the character of his service, I know it's damn tough to make HM1 in the navy (poor community management and not the fault of the junior hospital corpsmen). With the Army being larger, I wouldn't be surprised to find that they have the same problem with certain MOSs.

Most of the enlisted Soldiers or military that I have known completed are anywhere between E5-E8 in 18 years. If that is active duty. For Reserve duty there could be a multitude of reasons why a member hasn’t made that next acceptable rank. For me, I thought my college and private businesses overshadowed my military reserve. Years ago, 1999-2000, St. Louis Reserve Command, would promote an individual to SFC *(E7) and then follow up on ANNOC. If you didn’t complete it like some did you were then demoted to E6. For me, I found a MSG Position but according to hold it, you have to be in that position 24 months to hold the rank. If you are medicinally retired or in my case MRD than even thought you had kept it 13 months doesn’t count.

High Year Tenure or TOP-CAP for an E6 is 22 years so an E6 could have 7 at retirement.

Active duty and Army Reserves, combined I had 24 years in the service. So I have 8 service stripes. It just happens sometimes. I can make all kinds of excuses but it does not change the fact that some of us knew we would never go higher in rank due to the fact that if you don't always please the people in charge in the Reserves, you just will not go any higher in rank even if you deserved it. of course I don't know how it is in todays Army, I have been retired from the Army/Army Reserves since 1998. So I am a bit out of touch with how things are today. Just remember an NCO is Still an NCO.

18 years of service is not uncommon for SSG. Many retire with over twenty and still SSG.

As an e-4 you should know that.

I retired after 22 years as a SSG. I did 4 1/2 years active duty and the rest in the National Guard. All of my promotions were while on active duty. I had no bad paper. In the Guard they promoted the military technicians of the favorite people first. I was on a waiting list for ANCOC and the BN S1 sent someone further down the list over me because "he needed it more".

Don't take the test after E-6, like me. Didn't want sea duty at the time.

Gotta take into account some circumstances. Many support MOS's were on the chopping block from 2009 to 2014. This was called the sequestration. Many E4's and E5's got kicked out (RCP or barred from reenlistment) when the promotion points got locked out at 798 for those years. And the the ones that didn't get kicked out had to remain stagnant until the 2014 when the promotion points finally came down.

^^^ This scenario was true for tens of thousand active duty members during that time frame. It was rough seeing most of my old transportation company get booted out between 2011 - 2013.

I barely survived myself. Heck, I was a E5 at 14 years before I got promoted to E6. I had to hunker down and gut it out with college classes to gain more points. Still retired though. But it was DAMN tough.

Hard to make rank in certain jobs...sometimes it takes time...

Service stripes or "hash marks" signifying timne in service are normally worn on the left sleeve. At one time (and may still continue today), each hashmark on the right sleeve reprsented 6 months in combat or 6 months overseas service. Either / both are proudly worn.