Why is it frowned upon if a person wants to stay a lower rank?

Thanks SrA Knight. I had two Sergeant E-5's in Germany in 2005 that both had 20 and were a couple of the best NCO's I ever had. Neither of them cared that they weren't selected for the E-6 board because they liked things how they were. If not for them and my getting demoted I may have tried for promotions I didn't want & possibly take them away from those that did. I'm glad someone gets it.

When I was in the army they started making people sign a statement of intent to reenlist in order to be promoted if they were close to their ETS. That happened because we did have some people get promoted and then almost immediately leave the service. I don't know how enforceable that was but it worked where I was.

Good question. I don't know since the original photo doesn't have that blue tint to it.

She was wanting a form that let us live off base from the first Sergeant and went to the company asking for him by last name without rank and when asked if that was who she wanted said "He may be your 1SG, but he ain't nothing to me". Then a week later one of the step kids, both boys of which was in ROTC punched another Cadet in the mouth for not saluting properly (I had to pay $200 because his wire from the braces he wore went into his jaw). His Mother was German and had an article put in the German paper about the incident. the same boy a month later tripped a girl by the hallway stairs trying to scare her. She got shin splints and I had to pay her medical bills. Her father was a SFC and contacted my Colonel (I worked in a dental Battalion & he was the same as a Captain in a normal unit) about it. The Colonel told the LT to deal with it, so he told me "You need to train your family in military ways and get them in line". I told him I would try, but they weren't soldiers or animals so they might not do as told. Sure enough it wasn't long until the MP's called about my 18 y/o stepdaughter who was falling down drunk at the Officer/NCO Club on the Kasern. That happened for about four weeks. The final straw came on New Year's Eve/day when I had to pick her up at a bar on the economy because her ride left her. I had two drinks 1.5 hours before leaving, but when I was stopped at a checkpoint I blew a 0.54 which in Europe is drunk and got a DUI there even though my record is clean here. The Colonel told the Captain that was the last straw and to send them back citing the SOFA agreement and I got an article 15 for failure to obey a direct order since I couldn't keep them out of trouble or "Train" them as directed and got the first DUI of the year so he wanted to make a statement. The Article 15 wasn't read until April 5th and the demotion wasn't automatic, by the way. It was suspended for six months pending me not getting in further trouble. I ended up forgetting I hadn't taken some paperwork to Brigade yet in late September and mistakenly told the CoC I had. When I saw that I was mistaken I did the right thing & told them I hadn't taken the paperwork when I stated I had but had afterward. The LT didn't have an issue, but the Colonel said I had failed to live up to the suspension clause and would lose my rank on October 2nd. That is the part everyone has issues with including the LT that had to take my rank. Since the incident that I got the article 15 for happened Jan 1st then six months would be July 1st, however the Colonel stated orally that it was from six months from April 5th which would be October 5th (Three days after the demotion took effect) which wasn't stated in the actual Article. Needless to say it shouldn't surprise anyone that I am divorced, don't drink at all anymore (not that I did much back then), don't like being around people or drama so I live alone and I refused to get my rank back after all that happened when I lost it. BTW I know drinking & driving is wrong and if I could have got her home by a taxi or friend, any other way, I would have.