How does an E6 have 6 service stripes?

Just...uh..................ask the SSG? Stand at parade rest and respect his service and ask him how long he's been in. If this is a picture, ask an NCO at work. If you're not at work, go do soldier stuff like drink and post embarrassing photos on Instagram like everyone else, not rallypoint.

I'm confused about the question. Do you think it took him too long to get SSG or vise versa?

Actually the important thing is the rank he or she wears regardless of service or deployment stripes. I know a few service members that due to assignments never deployed. They have my respect for what they did and how they did it. Also NJP doesn’t have tO be a career ender for young service members if they learn from their mistakes and don’t carry a chip on their shoulder.

That might be you one day PFC! hey hes been in 18 years! Thats quite an accomplishment in itself! Dont try to cheapen it! You are a PFC, so that means you havent been in long enough to question such things! I find your question a bit disrespectful. When i was a young Airman we were treated like kids, meaning you only spoke when spoken too, and you never interupted adults(NCO's) or questioned them in any way! Unless they were giving u a known unlawful or unsafe order! See i came up when times were alot different in the AF. We were more like an actual branch of the military and you got real discipline when you said stupid shit like you just did or did stupid things!

Don't be confused, not everyone has the same military experience and we should all want that. That SSG should be rightfully just as proud of his military service as a general officer. One of the best NCO's I ever had the privilege of working with was an E-5 with 15 years in the army, he was the most professional and technically proficient individuals, regardless of rank, I ever knew. He eventually had to get a special waiver so that he could reclassify into another MOS so he could get promoted to SSG and retire.
My point is don't judge someone by there rank and how much time in service they have. Not everyone shoots up the ranks and becomes a "superstar" and don't assume things about their career, I don't think anyone else would want to be judged based upon unwarranted assumptions. One of the things I like most about being retired from the army is not being judged every day. The army is so judgemental (can't speak for the other branches) that we just can't help ourselves. From the moment we walk into our units first thing in the morning people look at you and they begin judging. What does your hair look like? what is your demeanor? , what time did you step into formation?.
Don't get me wrong, there is a necessity behind this need to judge/evaluate others in the army but this environment creates a culture where we take it too far and begin to make assumptions about people based upon these judgments. For example, the NCO who may carry a few extra pounds but makes his tape. People may assume things like, "oh he/she is a slug", "he/she isn't as motivated or professional as other NCO's".
I can remember when I first came into the army and was an infantryman. The mentality in the infantry was that if you weren't in the infantry you were less of a soldier, weak, insignificant. It took me a long time to overcome this way of thinking even when I reclassified into another MOS. Other MOS's would counter this mentality with if you are in a combat arms MOS you are stupid. Of course, it took me a long time to figure this out but the real truth is we really only need to judge ourselves and do our best to meet the standards established by the army, our supervisors, and ourselves. Everything else is just white noise that distracts from our real purpose in life.

I know him. You answered your own question - he had been in longer than 18 years... You’re insinuating that he’s done something wrong because he didn’t fly through the ranks. What you failed to understand is that our points were maxed out for YEARS up until 2015. Back then, not everybody promoted after being in the Army for 6 hours.
The best CSM I’ve ever had was a SGT for 10 years before he made SSG. Slow progression isn’t always a reflection of wrong doings.

My guess is crappy career progression his MOS. I realize that this is an old post but still relevant. It popped up on my feed.

Aside from all that, perhaps your attention should swing over to his right sleeve and note the roughly 5 years he spent in a combat zone. Get back to work.

I agree with Major Cheek and Colonel Lopey. I have seen great leaders at all levels and I have seen some not so great ones at very high levels. What I would tell a young new Soldier is that you respect the rank and you follow orders, but you will learn that true leadership, has nothing to do with the rank on the chest. The kind of leadership where men and women will follow you anywhere, has nothing to do with what is on your chest, but what is inside. Never judge a book by its cover fits here. I would put a specialist that used to work for me who I made a corporal then a Sergeant before I left, up against many senior enlisted and officers. He was that good. Because he ended up with an illness that he could have retired on out of Panama, (BUT CHOSE NOT TO) he never looked like the same Infantry stud he was when he went in and he never got past SSG, but man was that guy smart and capable. The military is a huge bureaucracy that mostly, but doesn't always get it right. This NCO looks fit, confident, and by the medals and badges on his chest, competent. And. . . Most importantly, he is a volunteer Soldier that served his country during a time a war.

It doesn’t matter. The fact is that this soldier has served 18 honorable years of service to the country. He’s done a lot.

Meh, I’m a (retired USMC) E-5 (Sgt) with 5 service stripes & never got busted down or went to office hours. I served 10 years in the Air Force as a cook, then got out at age 27. The next month I joined the Marines as an E-1 private. I was informed that although my previous 10 years in USAF WILL count towards total service time, the “high year of tenure” rules won’t kick in until I make E-6 (which I never did). So I served 22 years total (5 service stripes). The USMC has 1 service stripe for every 4 years. But I think the Army has 1 service stripe per three years, so a SSgt with 20 years in the Army should have 6 service stripes (the OP didn’t specify which branch).