What do you think about promotions while on inactive reserves after EAS?

Sgt Joseph Brent Montgomery — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 22:37:27 -0400

So I was awarded the beloved rank of E-5 Sgt. While I was on enactive reserves after EAS. I was meritorious promoted to E-4 while in active duty after winning boards and feel I worked hard for it while active. I feel I almost cheated and active duty brother or sister by earning E-5 by doing nothing, I would like my fellow service members thoughts on this.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 31 at 2015 10:45 PM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 22:45:52 -0400

Dude, as bad as it sounds, some (very few) Corporals in the active reserve component pick up corporal undeservingly (In My Opinion) . That's just how it is. They pick the most qualified people from the unit (on paper) and make then leaders. Don't sweat about how you attained your rank so much as you do the responsibilities that come with it.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 1 at 2015 12:12 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 12:12:03 -0400

I'm not a 100% but I'm pretty sure when you pick up rank while a apart of the inactive reserves you are not taking a quota away from active duty. Because there are separate boards and promotion authorities for active duty and reserves

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 1 at 2015 3:57 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 15:57:15 -0400

Not only are you not taking a quota away from Active Duty, but if you went back Active, your service would do a rank determination and almost definitely knock you back down before allowing you back in.

Response by Sgt Jerami Ballard made Aug 1 at 2015 9:14 PM

Sgt Jerami Ballard — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 21:14:48 -0400

It was a similar situation for me, meritorious Corporal, damn good pros/cons, and then other Corporals picked up Sergeant when they weren't ready and either suffered for it or created issues in their shops. I felt cheated because my MOS doesn't promote to Sgt/SSgt because of how small our field is and I was passed up for retention because I even though I was an in zone Corporal, I wasn't a Sergeant.

Better late than never I guess....

The good news is that because of how the Marine Corps staffs its slots, you would retain your E-5 rank unless you retrained or moved branches. The promotion scales go
Meritorious >> Active Duty >> Active Reserve >> IRR
So picking up meant that either you were the top of the list upon entering the IRR or your MOS had a massive shift where slots opened up across the board leaving additional slots to promote from the IRR.

Response by Cpl Christopher Bishop made Aug 3 at 2015 6:46 PM

Cpl Christopher Bishop — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 18:46:26 -0400

If anyone should be upset at all (and I'm not necessarily saying they should be), it would be the Corporals who had the E5 cutting score their last month of service, and were not promoted. Granted, the TIS requirement is 4 years for E5, which essentially means the active duty Corporal put in his 4 years, and the Prior Service Recruiters try to dangle E5 in front of you as a tool to get you to reenlist. If the logic NOT to promote those Corporals exists, then the same likely should have applied to you. I'm not saying you should not have gotten yours, I'm saying we should have gotten ours.

That said, the E5 rank is usually flooded with people with anywhere from 4+ years in up to some maximum number of years where they often end up passed over for E6 twice and then are booted out. That has been a lot of years for some Sergeants. I'm sure somewhere within that mess, they are just limiting the numbers of potential 20-year pensions they'll ever have to pay out.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Aug 4 at 2015 3:34 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 15:34:50 -0400

Guilt over something that is of not your doing is a waste of time. It is what it is, and enjoy the new rank.

Response by 1stSgt Eugene Harless made Feb 28 at 2016 1:43 AM

1stSgt Eugene Harless — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 01:43:05 -0500

Its a paper promotion. Its not like its affecting the promotions of active duty personel. I wonder what the parimeters are on this? You are the first I have heard of recently they did this for.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 10 at 2016 10:45 AM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 10 May 2016 10:45:25 -0400

I think it's interesting, albeit silly perhaps, as to why even do it in that component.

Response by Sgt Aarin Williams made Mar 15 at 2022 11:43 PM

Sgt Aarin Williams — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 23:43:06 -0400

I EAS'd almost 2 years ago and found our I was selected as a SGT. Literally today lol while having CPL chevrons on my travel pack. Talk about crazy. Just enjoy the promotion don't lose sleep over it. The rank was earned.