Why doesn't the Army Frock all of its Senior NCO? The Navy frock theirs. Why are we still in the past?

Impatient? What's the point of a promotion list if you get frocked?

I’m the brigade commander’s senior advisor in both of my duty positions so I figure I should be frocked to O4 lol

I commented on this Frocking term a few years ago. The term originated back in the days of sail, when an enlisted man would get promoted at sea to replace a senior sailor while deployed across the oceans. The senior sailor, before getting off the ship and get aboard another to be transferred, would ceremoniously give his Frock coat to the sailor assuming his rank / billet. With modern technology and communications, there is no NEED to Frock any longer. It is done on-board, underway, nowadays, merely to get around the slowness of the Navy bureaucracy, for practicable purposes. At least that is how my Bubble-head son tells it to me, and the historical sources i have read.

I feel that you have "Pay-Dues" first. Second you have to at least have two Special-Duties(Drill Sergeant, Attache NCO) and have 15 years of service under your belt before considered being Frock.

Thought I would weigh in on "Army Frocking" from an experience I had when I was stationed with USAREC HQ in FT Sheridan, IL in 1984. Since the fort was very small and near Great Lakes Naval Base a lot of our support including base housing was handled by the Navy. I arrived to USAREC as a SSG(P) therefore going from JRNCO to SRNCO status upon being promoted. Had the Army Frocked me as a SFC I would been offered Senior Enlisted Housing, which was available immediately without a wait. But because the Army never frocked, I only qualify for Junior Enlisted Housing, which had an eight month waiting list. So I had to drive my wife and kids to North Carolina to live with my parents and I lived in a BEQ until housing became available.

1SG (Join to see) - Sergeant; "Frocking" is a form of "Queue Jumping" and the US Army has a long history of insisting that only people who actually hold the substantive rank hold the position appropriate for the rank (in an other than "acting" role) other than during emergencies/wartime.

Another reason is that the number of personnel of any given rank is limited by law and "Frocking" gets around that limitation because the "Frocked" person isn't REALLY holding the rank that they are wearing (and exercising). This is a rather "untidy" situation and most "Army-types" don't like to have "untidy" situations.

The Brits have a lengthy history of using "Brevet/Acting" ranks so that a person with special qualifications can actually do a specific (short-time) job without the handicap of being "under-ranked". Sometimes (usually) the "Brevet" rank is known colloquially as "Acting/Lacking" meaning that the person holding it has all the authority of a person of that rank BUT does not receive the pay and benefits of the rank.

The situations are rare that frocking is justified, at least from what I have seen. I have been an acting 1SG for exercises and other reasons when I was the highest ranking available, but I honestly didn't want the position on a permanent basis, as I had too much to do as part of my actual duty position. The few Soldiers I have seen frocked were in over strength positions so they were frocked to give them a job.

In the early to mid 80's it has became illegal to promote a person to the next rank called "Acting Jack" without the pay and recorded on official documents like a ID Card. Frocking a person whom is promoted to the next higher grade when a billet was temporally vacant for one reason or another with in a command and it was on limited basis. But too get Frocked one must have passed a promotion test or meet the points to be promoted. But once the original individual came back to full fill his billet the person that was Frocked was demoted and was called a "ADMIN Reduction in Pay and Allowances. But all have this has to be sent up the channels by the command for approval or disapproval. A lot of time, effort and paper work has to be done and is time consuming is why one don't see much of it. It has been over 20 years since I retired so things change and I might not got it all right but that's what I recollect.

I was Frocked I wore AJ Corporal till I had enough time in grade coming in as a E-3 never hurt me....

When I was in Germany, the Army unit I was in allowed a promotable SFC to wear MSG rank without holding a First Sergeant position.