Is it possible to get promoted this quickly in the Air Force? Is this typical for band members?

Don't think they are band stripes as they look like regular stripes. Marine Bandsmen have a harp in place of the crossed rifles on their stripes and Army uses the old fashioned point down stripes for their bandsmen.

Personally, I don't care. The Army Band is the same way. Why don't I care? Because they will always be in the rear with the gear. They will never be giving me orders in the field, they will never influence the outcome of a battle. Their job is MWR. More n power to her.

I think if you are doing a great job at what you are doing you deserve all the promotion you earn. some officers move even more faster, all in who they know in higher ranks. God Bless her she is serving our nation is she not.

So, I don't have time to read all the comments in this thread and there's a reasonable chance somebody else has made the following statements already but here it goes, anyway.

I am a Warrant Officer Bandmaster in the Army. That means I command an Army Band: regular, everyday, Army Band assigned to a Division. I have made it my business to know as much about military music in all the services as I can so I can speak with relative authority on this subject.

While many of you may not agree with what I'm about to describe, it remains the truth and I'm posting it simply for your collective information.

Across all services - Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force - there are regular bands that support training commands, major commands, Divisions, etc. These bands are staffed by dedicated musicians who work very hard to not only be the best musician they can be but also the best Soldier, Sailor, Marine and Airman. They go through the same initial training as everyone else and the same enlisted professional development training. They get their enlisted promotions on a similar timeframe to everyone else.

Additionally, each service maintains at least one "special band" or "premier band". These bands are typically based in Washington, D.C. but also support the needs of the service academies in West Point, Annapolis, and Colorado Springs. The Army has four special bands - The USMA Band, The US Army Band "Pershing's Own", the US Army Field Band, and the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. The Navy has two - the US Navy Band and the Naval Academy Band. The Air Force, two as well - the USAF Band and the Academy band. The Marines also have two - The President's Own Marine Band and the Commandant's Own Marine Corps Drum and Bugle Corps.

These special bands have very specific and special ceremonial or outreach missions, including supporting Arlington National Cemetery, The White House, and other ceremonial missions in the National Capital Region, as well as touring the Nation and the world spreading goodwill and the message of our military services. In order to attract the highest level of musicians in these organizations they must be able to pay them a salary about equal to what they could make in the civilian sector. The only way to do this is by awarding them the starting rank of E-6. Many of these Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen stay at the grade of E-6 for at least as many years as an average servicemember would take to achieve it in the first place.

Is this the ideal system? Perhaps not, but the way military pay is structured, it's currently the only system.

Yeah she's in the national AIR FORCE BAND. My buddy in basic is also in the national Air Force band (he however has his masters degree) and once out of basic he sewed on E-6.

Well ladies and gentlemen we have all picked the wrong AFSC

It's possible. Not sure how the USAF handles their specialty bands and band members. But I know from experience in the Army that certain specialty bands automatically promote you to E-6 when you complete your training. The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps is a perfect example of this. We has a couple of teenage SSG's in the FDC when I was there.

I believe the same holds true in the Navy. Navy Band members leave basic and are E-6 withing a ridiculously short time

If people do their research they can have a better understanding of the requirements to be in the actual service band (not a regional band or drum corp).

Band members get rank faster than any other mos and because their tests are on music and theoretical speaking they could have been practicing for years. Also it had been common practice since major Glenn Miller for musicians to be ranked as NCO right out of basic. There was for a time the same practice for pilots with active licensing.