Posted on May 23, 2016
SGT Sean O'Hara
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I'm just confused here. How does a SSG have 6 service stripes, that would mean he has been in for 18 plus years since each stripe represents 3 years of service. Any ideas?

Thank you,
PFC O'Hara
Posted in these groups: Armyssg SSG
Edited 9 y ago
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Responses: 1181
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CPL Larry Bezemer
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I agree with most, he looks to be a great solder in a limited MOS.
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Cpl Steve Craver
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It's really pretty easy to understand. Several possibilities could be affecting his current status.
1.) He could be in a MOS that is extremely competitive with no quick path up.
2.) He could be an OSVET (Other Service Veteran) and on a slow path.
3.) NJP. Perhaps in an earlier paygrade.
4.) Could be he saw action in a combative situation (You know, putting your butt on the line).
These are the possibilities in a quick response. Don't judge a leader by his stripes or medals. Leaders come in various conditions.
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GySgt Mike Grow
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PFC O'Hara this is how you get the hard chargers on your ass. Your questions shows you know how service stripes are earned. You should be asking yourself what can that SNCO teach me. Leadership is about much more than stripes, bars, or hash marks.
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Cpl Markus Wolff
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Remember this comes from the mind of a PFC, a PFC with probably one or less years in & doesn't know shit. I am proud to have been a Marine for 6 years & was an e2 twice e3 three times and e4 twice. Loved every minute looking back, but hated it when I was in. I wish I had the caliber to be a SNCO. This guys service stripes represent a lot of years talking a 2ndLt out of some really bad ideas.
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Cpl Tyler Therrien
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I recall as a young Lcpl (E-3) sitting in enlisted club at Camp Pendleton when a man with salt & pepper hair, 3 full boards of ribbons and PFC chevrons walked in. Pissed somebody off that is how it is possible. Doesn't mean he's a POS as someone said maybe just made a mistake and some stick in their butt ran with it. Old native american proverb- walk a mile in the other mans' moccasins before you pass judgement
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LCpl Michael Cappello
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Not all billets are upwardly mobile. Some MOS are top heavy and promotion can come very slow. I would suggest you wait until you are no longer wet behind the ears before you start questioning someone with 18 plus years in. Right now you may think you know a few things, in reality you know very little about the way things really work.
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CDR Naval Flight Officer
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Hmmm. I read it as something that didn't match what he's been taught, and asking for some additional information. That's actually a smart thing to do, seeing as asking questions is a good way to learn.
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LCpl Michael Cappello
LCpl Michael Cappello
5 y
CDR (Join to see) - You are most certainly correct. The only stupid question is the one that is never asked. That having been said, I have found, over the years, that taking the time to accumulate as much information and experience as possible with any given thing helps one to formulate a more cogent query. I believe this explains why toddlers ask questions of a different nature than older children do. Therefore my answer was to gain some "real world" experience first. It was a question that was not of any intrinsic value, other than curiosity in and of itself.
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SGT Billy Glenn Willett
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He goes to a seamster to sew them on.
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SSG(P) Danielle Birtha
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... aaand for those of you who don't know... when you ETS... and then return to service... you lose rank. I ets'd as an E5, and returned 3 years later, to be busted down to E2 and having to regain my rank. NO... you don't get the rank you had when you left back if you choose to return...
so there are many reasons why an E6 might have that many years of service, and combat...
An Article 15 can bust a high NCO down to private, but that now Private will still have all those stripes on their sleeves.
The only way to know the whole story is to ask the person themselves, instead of assuming ;)
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SSG(P) Danielle Birtha
SSG(P) Danielle Birtha
5 y
or, as someone once said... assumption is the Mother of all mistakes ;)
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SGT Stephen Crawford
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Break in Service
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CPO David Gartner
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First off during my Navy career service stripes denoted four years, until about 2000 when we switched to three years per stripe. It was damned confusing for a while. It was only after 1992 that E-5’s were no longer able to retire. In some jobs (MOS) somebody had to die or retire to move up. I was in an enormous rate Gunner’s Mate which had about 6000 guys in it. Suddenly the Navy retired all the Battleships after Gulf War I and now there’s about an extra 1,000 guys... At one point I went up for E-6 against 3,000 other guys for a total of two spots for advancement. That’s the post war peacetime service for you. Most guys in today have never been through a reduction in force or even a period of slow advancement. The average time to E-7 in my job in the late 80’s was 12 years, after the first Gulf War that jumped to 18. I’ve met guys who made E-7 in 8 years during the last few years. It’s all about timing. For you I’m afraid you’re going to face slower advancement for a while, but you’ll be trained by guys with loads of real world experience. Learn everything you can and volunteer for an MOS that’s critically undermanned and you should do fine.
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MAJ Rj M
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I have seen people go on active duty right out of HS, do 4-6 years, get out and by their late mid- 20's go back in and stay 20 years after that..leaving active duty in their late 40's and early 50's..then go into the USAR. There are tons of scenarios
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SGT Thomas LaRochelle
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Bergdahl is a POS!!!!
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SFC Mitch Snow
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I agree with previous response, sorta. The way you worded it, even proposing it, shows you did little to investigate this yourself. That does make this a stupid question. Service stripes can come from prior service, other services. All this indicates is that he had 18 plus years of HONORABLE, NO NEGATIVE ACTIONS TAKEN time in service. E-6 after that long, with those stripes, indicates he 1. re-entered service at some point, 2. Was in an MOS that had promotions maxed out. 3. Incompetent Command that intentionally held him back or locked him in a position due to special need or skill in that specific position.
In all 3 cases, kid, you are looking at a real man. Someone who due to forces probably beyond his control served 18 plus honorable years doing a job no one else could perform.
Instead of trying to stupidly vet him, you should probably be honoring the hell out of him.

SSG Ret. Special Forces
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SGT George Stephens
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Trust me PFC, those stripes were earned. MOS dependant promotions, unit dependant, could have hit a bump in the road which you show me an NCO that hasn't and you'll color me impressed. He's got a hell of a stack going which shows me, that SSG didn't Dodge anything and does his job.

I wouldn't tread this trail.
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SFC Joseph Behmke
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A lot of MOS's dead end at E-6; not only that he could be in the NG or AR. My son's KYNG unit had a Unit Armorer that was about 45 years old and was only a SP4; but he loved his job and didn't want to move. On my 1st tour at FT. Hood, TX, I had a SSG that was a section leader and would have had to change MOS's to go any higher, but he really loved his job in the Welding Section. He had 18 years in and quit to work on the TX oil pipeline in East TX instead.
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SSG William Hull
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I retired as an E6/SSG with 24 years of service and 34 months of combat. I earned every stripe I wear.
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MSG Chuck Pewsey
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I would guess a break in service. Stripes fly away real fast.
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1SG James Kelly
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And your question is?
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SFC Ronald Moore
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My old commo MOS had 998 points cutoff for 10 years.
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SSG Jacen Black
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See this is that mentality as a result of people getting promoted too damn fast on a regular basis. People expecting to make SFC in 10 years.
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