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

During a formal ORI outbrief in the base theater, the (O7) briefer announced that while personal appearance for the wing as a whole was excellent, there was one gross violation of uniform standards that needed to be corrected on the spot. He ordered the Wing Commander, the Squadron Commander, and a TSgt, by name, to report to the stage. The briefer then proceeded to "chew out" the two commanders that they would allow this TSgt to be so grossly out of uniform and then presented the TSgt with his MSgt stripes! At the other end of the spectrum, I found out I made 1Lt by seeing my name in a list of promotees in the base newspaper (six months before it was expected). Seems Personnel screwed up and forgot to notify my squadron commander .... who was very upset about it.

I was on active duty for USAR with a friend whose civilian job was cutting Senior NCO promotion orders, so he told me I was selected for E-7. He had a co-worker cut my orders and email them to him, he handed them to me, and I bought my new ACU rank. The next day, I was talking to another friend and he kept looking back and forth from face to my new rank. In order to embarrass him, I yelled, “Stop looking at my chest!”

I was suppose to receive some kind of medal from the Vietnamese Navy,went up their chain fo command and then up ours , got lost so was told that it was to embarrassing to go back to the Vietnamese they would field promote me to E5 instead, I said yes sir, aye aye sir. I am not disappointed.

When I was a company commander in Germany, I had a SGT selected for SSG report to me in my office, with the 1SG. I had the UCMJ open on my desk. I had him at attention in front of me. I asked him, “Do you want to tell me about it?” He actually confessed to several things I never knew about, lol. Then I had my 1SG read the orders and I pinned him. Later, I got chewed out by the BC, not because of how I had done it, but because she felt she should promote all E6 and above, not me.

I was on a Reserve TDY at Ellington, in Houston. Had to run back to my civilian job office, one morning, to take care of some brief business. While enroute, got a call from the CO informing me that a Captain I was working with had been promoted to Major. A promotion he thought he wasn'

Me.
Made 1SG.
It's a long story, and can only be told over a few beers.

;)

Does this count? I had a friend who was a SSgt and found out that he was supposed to be getting promoted to GySgt the morning that he was standing tall due to getting DUI in town. As a result, the CO showed him the warrant for GySgt and tore it in half, placed it back in the envelope.

Not a promotion but...my high school had served as a Marine in Viet Nam. He always walked with a limp but would only say that he was injured in Nam. During my senior year (1984) we were all quietly led to the auditorium for an assembly. They then called our principal to the auditorium for an emergency. When he got there, General Paul X. Kelley was there to award him the Silver Star for meritorious actions while serving as a PL in Viet Nam. Led his platoon out of an ambush and refused Medevac until every one of his Marines was accounted for.

The only time I’ve seen a high school principal (and Marine) cry in front of students. He had lost six Marines in that ambush but made sure that they returned home to their families.

I was a SP4 in Kaiserslautern in ‘75. Every month Top and my commander would ask me if I would like to go to the 7th Army NCO Academy. I would politely say no thank you, that was for SP5’s, and outstanding SP4’s, and I felt that since I was still a SP4, the last did not apply. I think it was September 75, Top and the old man Came up and asked me again if I wanted to go, which I politely declined, telling them that there is surely someone else more deserving. Thats when Top handed me the orders to report in one week to Bad Tolz, FRG for 7th Army NCOA. I didn’t really read the orders, I just seen where they were for. That’s when the Captain stepped around Top and told my i had better be in the correct uniform when I report, handing me SP5 pins. Ended up having the best leadership training experience as the only EOD guy there. But that is another story.

In the middle of my 15 month deployment to Afghanistan I found out when I noticed my LES showed more pay than the month before.
I knew my O5 board had met but was always out on missions and frankly had more pressing things to worry about.
A great friend there was a retired South African Army Colonel so he met me one morning at the helo before a mission with a new LTC rank he had gotten. He threw it on the ground, stomped on it so it was good and dirty, swapped out my Major's rank and then saluted me.
Best damn promotion ceremony I could have ever asked for...;)