Inside the Army’s enlisted overhaul: Why your next promotion may take longer

The Army has been seeing increased retention since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, decreased end-strength under the latest budget request, an end to the Global War on Terror, a need to make better staff sergeants, mandatory lateral appointments to corporal, and a new competition and selection processes for key senior enlisted leader positions.

Those factors are just some of the reasons why the path to promotion may be slowing and narrowing for some enlisted troops across the force. But the Army says this is an effect of a new approach to talent management that’s focused on getting the right soldier in the right assignment at the right time.