Is 22-23 too young to be an e6?

It depends a great deal on the person and situation. Some service members get E6 very early in their career due to technical prowess. They may not have to demonstrate mature leadership capability. Others have both the technical and leadership abilities normally found in slightly older, more experienced service members. At 23 a service member who joined at 17 has 6 years experience, but a college grad who joins at 22, instant E4, won’t have enough experience in a year or so to be an E6.

I saw early promoted officers move into positions of responsibility at the Squadron level before they had the needed experience. They stood on the shoulders of more experienced but lower ranking officers to succeed. If they were smart they knew it and retained some sense of humility. Many didn’t.

Is it too young, as in impossible? No.
Is it too young, as in effective? Usually, but not necessarily.

When I was enlisted, we had a 23 year old E-6 in our unit. He was very good at his job and I personally thought well deserving of early promotion. However, there are a lot of good leadership qualities that come from maturity and that only comes with time. Certain things you simply can't teach. I was personally a 20-year old E-5 and, while I was proud of my accomplishments, I didn't truly realize until years later that I was probably too young to actually be a Squad Leader.

For what it's worth, I was promoted to E-6 as an 11B40 in July 1973 at the age of 22 after a tour in Vietnam in 1970-71. I went on to attend OCS in the fall of '78 and was commissoned as an armor officer. I spent my last tour teaching at West Point and retired at age 40 as a major with a Ph.D. Bottom line: The army will let you "be all you can be." . . .

Age is irrelevant in the army for some cases. If the person has the maturity and ability to hold the responsibility of a SSG, I'd say no. It might not give the person credibility with some who hit that rank and ride it out to retirement, but I usually don't pay that crowd much attention anyway.

No but it will be challenging. Anyone that makes E6 has the required Army knowledge per Army requirements, they are just missing life experiences. You have to grow up much faster than your peers and it could be a lonely world. A 1SG in their 30s should be able to guide in the life experiences and help one catch up.

Age is relative. I known 39 year olds who were very immature and 20 year olds that had an old soul. Leadership is the ability to influence others through actions. Lead by example.

If they came in at 18, then they 4-5 yrs of service and should have made E4-E5, stand outs could be E6.It's not about age Look at our history- Audie Murphy was an Officer(battle field promotion) before his was 23. Promotions should come from leadership potential/ability, education, excellence

Nope. All depends on the person and their attitude, abilities, knowledge, drive and leadership and what they bring to the table. I know people that are younger than that and have great leadership potential and are respected and conversely I know much older people that really should have never gotten the stripes and position they have now.

From what I’ve seen most e-6 in that age could do there job however it was hit or miss some where great leaders others where heavily power hungry.

My father was a Master Sgt. at 24 in the Korean War. I can't answer your question any better than some can and some shouldn't be.