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

I just landed in a drop zone during an exercise overseas, and the ops sgt pointed me out to the General running the exercise, and congratulating me there, and invited me to the five pm briefing.

When I was promoted to A1C my NCOIC notified me by throwing a zip sandwich bag full of rank to me as I walked through the warehouse! Zweibrucken Germany, 26th Supply Squadron, July 1984.

They told me as I was eating lunch that I was being promoted to E-3 at noon formation.

I have heard a few stories of higher ups giving a full "dress down" of the one being promoted and then promoting said person right at the point that they would be droppin bricks.

Maybe not unusual but surprised. I returned to Ft. Campbell after a 18 month tour in Korea as a Spec 4 over 4. About 2 weeks later they called out promotions while in am muster formation. Announced my name and was promoted to Sgt E-5. I had no idea, no orders sent to me, I had no prior knowledge! I had not even been to BNOC. I was happy of course but about crapped myself. Lol

NO IDEA ON NOTIFICATIOJM. DURING THE VIETNAM ERA THERE WERE DPPO' S APPOINTED TO ACTIVE ROLLS IN THE SEA BEE' S. SOME OF THESE APPOINTEES HAD ONLY CIVILIAN EXPERIENCE AND HAD A TENDENCY BRING THE HAMMER DOWN HARD ON MANY MINOR INFRACTIONS. AND ONE OF THEM WAD ME. DPPO DIRECT PROCUREMENT PETTY OFFICERS, E TAYLOR PO2.SGT.

I was an MP in the 1st Armored Division in Germany (1977-1980). I got E-2 out of Basic. One day I was scheduled for day shift MP duty so I wasn't at my company morning formation. So I was at Division HQ at Hindenburg Kasserne directing traffic at the main gate. I was standing up on one of those barrels to place me above the traffic. My PSG comes driving in (A real character of a SSG named John Phillip Sousa, no kidding). He was an ornery cuss at the best of times. I wave him through but he stops in front of me and begins chewing me out. "If you're not in the proper uniform when you report for duty tomorrow, I'll see to it that you lose those new stripes". I didn't have one clue what he was talking about. So on the first break I get, I call the company from the gate shack phone and ask the unit clerk what's going on. He tells me there was a bunch of promotions at morning formation and I made PFC. I spent that night sewing PFC stripes on my Class A's and trying to get them exactly right because I had duty again the next day.

I was a SSgt and Plt Sgt for an 81 mm mortars plt. Went to get my masters so I went on IRR. When I decided to go back to active reserves they told me I had been promoted to GySgt while on IRR. Good thing since I was applying to a Master Sargent billet and they would not have let an E6 have it, but a Gunny could fill this billet.

When in Camp Casey, Korea in 1993 I saw a guy that despised the command team bring up a lady to pin on his rank that everyone assumed was his spouse.
Turned out it was a hooker he hired and signed onto post to pin him just so the commander or 1SG wouldn't get the satisfaction of promoting him...

When I returned from Vietnam in August, 1969, I was initially assigned to a basic training command. The commander at the tome, LTC Betts had a tradition for promotions that I experienced upon becoming a Captain. On my promotion day, we all went to the company mess hall, where a gallon jar was filled with beer. LTC Betts made it clear that the only way he would pin my bars on was for mento drink that jar of beer where he had deposited those bars, and come up with them in my teeth. I did it, was completely drunk, and the picture taken of that event still sits in my den!!