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

Best in uniform, best blousing, best head gear and best high shine or spit shine.

I was a seaman (E-3) and had been transferred to the Joint Ship's Office as a Yeoman striker. I took the YN3 test only 2 weeks after I transferred. Part of the office was the enlisted part. When they got the advancement message they said my name was not on it. So, when the CO called for a Captain's Mast (my first go as the Legal Yeoman). I got my job done - contacting the defendants and was standing beside the CO reading out the charges, and recording the sentences. When the last one was finished, the Operation Department and most of the ship's officers came up on the 01 level and the CO raised his voice, "Seaman Williams, you are standing in the wrong place. I have one more charge sheet prepared by your boss. Present yourself! I did, not knowing what I had done. He started reading out the "charges." The last charge was being out of uniform, finishing with, "Sentence: Advance to YN3 (E4) and assume command of the Ship's Office." Our Senior Chief had orders to leave as soon as we docked next day.

In 1983, while in a tent city in Graf, my battery commander called me into his tent and started to chew my a$$. He and the 1SG told me that I was being put in front of a courts martial board for some minor infraction, and that I could tak my rank off and leave it in his desk. All very serious and disapproving. They then told me to call a formation outside. In front of the whole battery they called me forward and pinned me. I thought I was a goner, when they called me up in front.

Well I was working on a 2/1/2 ton truck and I was ordered to get off the truck and get in formation and said no I to get the job done and finally they ordered me to get down and got in formation and then called out to the front of the company and got promoted to Sgt. SSG MarkFranzen USA cold war veteran.

While stationed in Tokyo with the AFRTS HQ one of my young troops made SSGT.The CO and I called him into the commanders office where the CO told him to stand at Attention.He then started to read the promotion like it came out of UCMJ..You could see the poor guy was worried.Then the CO turned the page and read the real promotion .The Col and I started laughing at the look on my troops face,

It's a long story and if your ever around we'll have a few drinks and I'll tell you; but I really, really pissed off a short shit CSM.

In 2002 the first line leader SFC Taylor at 1079th GSU Ft. Dix NJ hand carried the pin on rank to the soldier who was on duty at a busy checkpoint, placed it in the soldiers hand and said, "Here you got it" then drove away.

Never had a promotion ceremony of any type!! Seemed to always just get handed the promotion orders. I have seen others in the same unit get a formation, pin-on, hand shakes and cake.

I was working in an secure facility that required you to go through a two turnstile gate both in and out. One day our commander came up and requested the gate security to call our shop and send out a SrA. HE goes out and they stop him in the turnstile so he can not get out. There was a security Forces car sitting outside the gate. You could see that someone was in the back of the car with the window slightly cracked open. The commander comes up the the SrA and asks what he did last night and if he was downtown in the bars. He said he was. The commander then told him that a person identified him as the cause of something that went on down there. As he was talking the security guy came in and told the commander that the person in the car positively ID the SrA. The commander said it could not have been him as this guy was a Staff Sergeant and not a SrA.

I was out processing from the 558th MP Co. when attempting to clear finance the Sgt refused to process me because I was out of uniform. I was wearing PFC insignia. He said your not a PFC but Specialist 4. Go to clothing sales and fix your uniform then come back. He then handed me orders dated two days earlier. I was in the field then.