What rank did you hold the longest?

I held SSG for 7 years before pinning 7.

PVT E-1 3 Months, PVT E-2 3 Months, PFC 7 MONTHS, SPC 4 Years, SGT 4 Years, SSG 4 Years, SFC 3 Years until Medical Retirement.

Private

After RA, I went national guard and was promoted fairly quickly to E-5. I held onto that rank for 13 years. Decided to get out completely due to my civilian job sending me to Taiwan for a couple years and of course the fact that there was too much nepotism and “good oil’ boys in my unit. Final straw was when a non MOS trained individual not only got an electronics inspector job, but the full time equivalent as well. And to boot, he got promoted to E-6. Without previously attending BNCOC.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved my 35E job. It was the only thing that kept me there so long . But enough was enough

My longest held rank was SSG. Held that one for seven years and two months. SFC would be second place, at five years and four months. Well technically, since I retired as a SFC and therefore hold that rank for the rest of my life, I'm sure it won't be long before it overtakes all the others combined, lmao!

SSgt.

MY OWN EXPERIENCE REGARDING RANK WAS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT, BEING IN THE ARMY RESERVES DEC 1963 / OCT 28 1964!
AFTER BASIC AND WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE CRANE OPERATOR TRAINING , I WAS AN E-2 .
AFTER ABOUT A YEAR LATER BECAME A E-3
BUT I NEVER BOTHERED WITH PUTTING THE STRIPE ON ANY OF MY UNIFORM!
I ONLY WANTED TO GO RESERVES BECAUSE OF THE DRAFT AND I WAS ONLY WANTING TO BURN DAYS UNTIL I GOT MY 6 YEARS IN!
AS I HAD A GOOD RAILROAD JOB BY THEN
THE PAY MISSED BY NOT HAVING HIGHER RANK AND PAY WAS IRRELEVANT TO ME!
NO ONE SEEMED TO NOTICE MY LACK OF A PFC STRIPE UNTIL I WENT TO E-4 SPECIALIST
AND MY PLATOON SGT WAS PERPLEXED
BY MY GETTING E-4!!
I TOLD HIM I HAD BEEN E-3 FOR A YEAR AND DIDNT SEW THE STRIPE ON CAUSE ME AND MY WIFE SPLIT UP, AND I DIDNT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT WHAT MY RANK WAS ANYWAY!
HE THEN SAID HE WAS GOING TO LOOK INTO IT, BUT NOTHING WAS SAID!
AT THIS TIME I FOUND OUT HOW TO GET EXCUSED FROM MEETINGS AND TOOK THIS ROUTE!
UNDER THIS I STILL HAD TO GO TO 2 WEEK SUMMER CAMP PLUS THE LAST 2 WEEKEND
MEETINGS BEFORE SUMMER CAMP!
BY THIS TIME I HAD A NEW PLATOON SGT
AND HE WAS UNAWARE THAT I WAS A E-4
IN STEALTH MODE , LOL!
IN SPRING 1967 WE HAD AN APT TEST WHICH I MUFFED BECAUSE I DIDNT GIVE A DAMN FOR PROMOTION OR COMMAND!
THIS SET UP A SERIES OF EVENTS THAT
WON ME A MEDICAL DISCHARGE BEFORE
OUR UNIT WAS ACTIVATED FOR NAM
16 MAY 1968!
YEARS LATER I FOUND I WAS BUSTED BACK TO E-2 BUT WAS UNAWARE OF THIS!
WHEN I GOT MY FINAL PAPERWORK
FROM MY DISCHARGE, I WAS LISTED AS E-4
AGAIN WITH A GOOD CONDUCT ON MY DISCHARGE! AGAIN, NO ONE TOLD ME ANYTHING!!

Just under 20 years as a SFC. 22 Apr 1981 to 6 Apr 2001, (my retirement date).

I was a boatswain mate E-5 for over 5 years because boatswain mate has been a closed rate for many decades and if you are not in the top 1% you don't advance

I was an E5 from 2003 to 2013.

Factors included:
- switching from Marines to Army
- having very few award points coming into the Army because the Marines rarely give out awards
- having zero college credits due to constant deployments in the Marines
- the sequestration starting in 2010
- the point system changing in 2011 thus erasing some of my military education points

Alls well that ends well though :D