What's the most unusual way you have seen someone receive notification of promotion?

I got my orders promoting me to Captain through distribution. About a month later I was told to show up at a meeting where i would be promoted. I had to search for s set of fatigues that still had 1st Lt. bars so I could act surprised.

I worked in personnel (73270) so I always knew I'd been selected for promotion before the squadron commander came around to notify me. I found out I'd made tech sergeant when I walked into my office at the CBPO that morning -- the NCOIC of the promotions shop at Sheppard AFB, Texas, saw me walking across the parking lot, opened the window and yelled, "Jeff, you can buy that new car now!"

I was a PFC deployed to Kuwait to stage for the invasion into Iraq in '03 I had been in country for a few weeks and had picked up a nickname (Doogie, like Doogie Howser MD). No one knew me by my actual name, no one called me my actual name I was Doogie.

We all got called up for a huge formation by (then) Major General Mattis and SgtMaj Bell. So the Formation is going, I'm way at the end and can barely hear what is being said for the formation when they start calling out names... They called out my name and I didn't even recognize it, General Mattis called it out again 2 more times when my SSgt Whispered at me "Doogie, they are calling your name" so I fell out, and reported to the front of the formation.

General Mattis made a joke loud enough for the formation to hear about how I was such a hardcharger and took to my new nickname that I didn't even know my own name anymore, I was then pinned LCPL by General Mattis and SgtMaj Bell in front of the Division and everyone chuckling (upfront and in formation).

At the drop zone rally point by the general.

Battle field

In the Army Reserve, it all depends on your command. I had submitted over a dozen promotion packets for E5, and had kept sending them in to just piss off the S1. No one was getting promoted, the command didn't care, and the CSM's were wondering what the hold up was as they kept telling soldiers to put in their packets. Somewhere was a stack of packets probably holding a door open or sitting next to a broken shredder at our Headquarters. I kept asking around, sending in packets, and finally got a random call from the RSC. My name was on the unable to promote list because my command hadn't updated my points to the new system for over a year. I had the most points on the list and they wanted to know what the holdup was. More phone calls were made, people became angry, and our HQ unit was livid that the right question had been asked to the right person. I wasn't promoted by my unit, or Central MarsG, I was promoted by ARMEDCOM. My command tried to rescind the promotion as they said I had not followed proper procedure. ARMEDCOM responded that it doesn't work that way and I was promoted. I got an email. My command had held it back for 3 months in hopes of finding a way to rescind the promotion. No ceremony, no announcement to my unit, just promotion orders, orders transferring me to another unit (an 8 hour drive away) as an E5. E5 to E6, same thing, an email saying I had been promoted and transferred. I have never seen an NCO Promotion event in the reserves, but I have helped organize a few when on active duty.

My own experience was that i was in Iraq, and while there i received an email from someone congratulating me. The person who congratulated me is an individual who was never a close friend or someone who i would have been close to. He saw the list and sent me a notice on AKO. Two days later my chain of command gave me the good news.

I was with 4/31st Inf in Vietnam 1968-69 being an RTO...It was a terrible time not only fighting the enemy but the constant rains from the monsoon made it ugly....In early 1969 I was a PFC then not knowing that I made SP4 until a month after I got promoted...no one told me...I only found out when I went on R & R where I got my orders which had "SP4" on it...sure surprised me

In 1975 I was a Lance Corporal and a member of the Marine Security Guard Detachment at the American Embassy in Saigon, RVN. $hit the fan and we left somewhat hurriedly :-) ... float over to Manila where our C.O. and all Staff NCO's were recalled to D.C. along with everyone who had less than a year on the program. That left myself and 15-18 others to sit around until we received orders for our next post. I received my orders about 3-weeks later and off to Asmara, Ethiopia I went (now the capital of Eritrea). Anyway, upon arrival my NCOIC kept referring to me as "Corporal" Crouse - he told me that's how it is on all the telegrams from HQ. He sent off a request for clarification and we were informed by date of rank for promotion to Corporal was 01 May 1975, about 3 weeks prior. Sure glad it happened that way as pinning on Blood Stripes at the Marine Bar in Saigon could have been a crippling experience :-) - and the Marines in Asmara couldn't touch me as I was already a Corporal when I reported in... one of the few good memories of 1975.

As myself, my ERB. Was e2 then it said e3. I was getting paid for it for almost a month. So I threw on my PFC, no ceremony or anything. No one said anything either. Then my 1sg noticed downrange later that year that I spent almost 18 months as a PFC and my peers who had joined up after me were being promoted to SPC before me. He had a come to Jesus with Truck (SFC) in front of the entire office with the commander, xo, section leader, AND battalion XO (iirc) that I was going to be promoted by the end if the month. Fun stuff.