How would you find old Army regs?

2018-11-10T13:57:13-05:00

I recently read a story that was about an NCO getting promoted in 1970, but the story involved his CO being on the promotion board. Seems fishy to me, but I also wasn't in the Army in 1970 and it's been a minute since I studied NCO history.

Response by SSG Robert Perrotto made Nov 10 at 2018 2:23 PM

2018-11-10T14:23:44-05:00

wow - not an easy thing to research, as any regs from then are not available online, and googling the question "Can an officer sit on an enlisted promotion board" gets absolutely no answer. Gonna have to go with our Vietnam era brethren for this one.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Nov 10 at 2018 6:08 PM

2018-11-10T18:08:25-05:00

Yes an officer could then and could now, not likely. The commander signs all promotions. Thank you for your service.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 10 at 2018 6:11 PM

2018-11-10T18:11:02-05:00

If the CSM can't sit on the promotion board then a captain is required to preside.

Response by 2LT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 10 at 2018 6:11 PM

2018-11-10T18:11:44-05:00

There is a repository for outdated regs on APD going back to 1970.
Go to the search tab and try your luck there.
You may have to trace back the reg's lineage.
https://armypubs.army.mil/default.aspx

Army Publishing Directorate

APD MISSION: The Army Publishing Directorate (APD) is the Army’s centralized departmental publishing organization in support of readiness. APD manages, authenticates, indexes, sustains, procures printing, distributes publications, forms, and digital media. APD VISION: Providing innovative publishing services to the Army now and into the future.

Response by SFC Ralph E Kelley made Nov 11 at 2018 6:38 AM

2018-11-11T06:38:47-05:00

In WW2, the Korean War and till General Westmoreland put a stop to it in Vietnam, O3 Captains in the Army could promote and bust NCOs on a whim.
They were called 'Blood Stripes", because some people would dilberately set-up NCOS to take their ranks. - It took the Commander of the unit to do it. In the past, Soldiers were promoted based upon position/rank vacancies (e.g., Platoon Sergeant/E-7), cancelled requisitions that left positions unfilled, and Department of the Army quotas. Under the old system, a Soldier could not compete for promotion at the local installation selection board unless a position/grade vacancy existed at the unit of assignment. This created a "right time/right place" situation which did not afford equitable promotion opportunities for all Soldiers and did not ensure that the larger needs of the Army were being met. Promotions to sergeant major, master sergeant, and sergeant first class were centralized at HQDA on Jan. 1,1969, March 1, 1969, and June 1,1970, respectively.
The current promotion board for junior NCOs 'evolved' When exacty it began or what year I don't know but in 1971 it was 'still new' army-wide, but may have been something different units did on-their-own whereas others did not. Which I think was the actual case on many installations rather than an army-wide directed insititution.

Additional information quoted from the "Department of the Army Historical Summary: FY 1972":

"As the Army's strength has decreased, attention has centered upon efforts to improve the quality of the force. Through the Qualitative Management Program, there is a conscious effort to prevent promotion stagnation as the size of the Army is reduced; each loss (denial of re-enlistment) under the qualitative management program creates a promotion allocation for those remaining-loss of an E-7 would create an E-7, E-6, E-5, and E-4 promotion allocation. To improve the quality of the enlisted force, termination points were established for each enlisted grade and management tools were provided to screen out lesser qualified personnel before re-enlistment eligibility. And professionalism -a major precondition for a volunteer army-is stressed.
The Qualitative Management Program contains three features: separation of personnel whose performance and potential fall below standard; denial of re-enlistment to those not promoted or recommended for promotion after designated points in time; and screening and evaluation to measure professional knowledge, competence, and potential for advancement.
Several changes were also made in the Enlisted Promotion System. Promotion of all senior enlisted personnel was centralized, and that of
IMPORTANT PHRASE:
" E-6's and E-5's semicentralized so that eligible personnel competed by qualitative standing determined by point scores at the battalion-level."
CONTINUED
An Enlisted Evaluation System that combines the efficiency report with occupational specialty evaluation test scores to measure over-all performance was expanded in fiscal year 1972 to cover all phases of enlisted personnel management-promotion, re-enlistment, retention, school selection, and proficiency pay.

Response by CPT William Jones made Dec 27 at 2019 12:45 PM

2019-12-27T12:45:33-05:00

I was an officer on active duty during the 70's and sat on a couple of boards that interviewed several people eligible for promotion. The board was decided on at Brigade Hq without knowing who was going to be boarded. all candidates waited in a separate room and were called in one at a time and interviewed them after each one finished forms filled out and when all completed forms sent to Bde Hq for action