Military Draw Back Beneficial Or Hurtful For Junior NCO's and Junior Enlisted?

2015-09-17T22:00:05-04:00

With the cut backs and draw down, more space is being "unclogged" higher up the food chain (I.E. 20+ year E-6s who have shown little improvement). Will this open up space for advancement, or will promotion points stay high.

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Sep 17 at 2015 10:03 PM

2015-09-17T22:03:18-04:00

SGT Private RallyPoint Member the drawback will hurt the force, in the war against GWOT we need manpower to defeat the enemies of America. Promotions will always be there in my opinion. Must be vigilant for war!

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 17 at 2015 10:27 PM

2015-09-17T22:27:11-04:00

It will open up space, but only moderately. The service as a whole is being cutback, so the new openings for promotion will happen, but some of the slots will just go away, and the lower ranks will "sort themselves out" (which means not get promoted and have to leave for high year tenure) as I've heard it said :-/

Response by SFC Wade W. made Sep 17 at 2015 11:44 PM

2015-09-17T23:44:41-04:00

Downsizing has always had some good points and some bad. The good is that those who are just occupying space will have to go. The commanders will have to finally get rid of space wasters that they were ambivalent about before. The service members who were not sure whether they wanted to be lifers or not will now have to decide as they see the slots disappearing above them so the people left are dedicated. The bad is there will be a lot of good people who you would love to have on your six will get out. They will think that the stability of serving is now questionable so they will leave for a more secure future. I served during a couple of these events and it is always a time of concern but the services always make it through and there are always good troops that remain to carry the torch.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 18 at 2015 12:30 AM

2015-09-18T00:30:15-04:00

The Drawdown is going to hurt for a little bit! SFC Promotion selection rate for the MP's was an ugly 17%. Only 164 of 940 eligible MP SSG's were selected for promotion. So not too many SSG openings from promotion. Hopefully that will inspire some of the non-selected to look inside and determine if it might be time to cut sling load. Don't expect promotion point to drop too much in the near future.

Response by CW5 Jim Steddum made Sep 26 at 2015 4:02 PM

2015-09-26T16:02:20-04:00

Force Shaping is very important to the force. Yes, it "unclogs" the bottlenecks to advancement, forces Soldiers of all grades to be more competitive, and helps the force achieve mandated end strengths. But, yes, it also hurts. Good people will lose their jobs, but it really is just business.