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What are the unspoken reasons the get you overlooked for Sergeant First Class
Posted in these groups: 
Promotions
Training NCO
Promotions Training NCO
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 3
SGT Towler, this is a classic vague question.
There is obviously an answer you're looking for that matches with your thoughts (i.e., seeking confirmation bias to the reasons you think), but it could be anything from the commander doesn't like your sports team to your favorite color.
If you believe the boss/board is/are a closet racist/sexist that hasn't been discovered, then your notion is that it's the color of ones skin or their sex. Maybe you think they are anti-X and the person up for promotion is 'X'
However, all the legitimate reasons are spoken about in the open and there are numerous briefs from HRC on the matter of "why you might not look good".
There is obviously an answer you're looking for that matches with your thoughts (i.e., seeking confirmation bias to the reasons you think), but it could be anything from the commander doesn't like your sports team to your favorite color.
If you believe the boss/board is/are a closet racist/sexist that hasn't been discovered, then your notion is that it's the color of ones skin or their sex. Maybe you think they are anti-X and the person up for promotion is 'X'
However, all the legitimate reasons are spoken about in the open and there are numerous briefs from HRC on the matter of "why you might not look good".
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SSG (Join to see)
Negative sir I don’t hold bias in questions I’m just wanting to get a little understanding on what is expected and what’s not expected to make Sergeant First Class. On my army career tracker my goal is to make the rank of First Sergeant so I’m just wanting some type of understanding of getting there. I appreciate your response could you point me into the direction of those briefs if you don’t mind.
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COL Randall C.
SSG (Join to see) - Ahhh.... much clearer what you're asking for now. I applaud you for having a long-term goal and trying to identify what's going to make it happen and what could impede you that you want to avoid.
There was a great article written in the NCO journal about six or seven years ago. It didn't jump out when I looked for it, but I'll keep searching and post it if I find it. It would be slightly dated today (selection boards instead of promotion boards .. changes in points .. etc), but the core of the article still stands.
You'll have an in-person or virtual BOGSAT (Bunch of Guys/Gals Sitting Around a Table) where they all get a chance to review your file and give you a score (I THINK it's still a 1-6 score with 6 being the best). What would give you the best score ... that is the question that has been asked A LOT.
The answer is "it depends".
I've been on boards where another member fixates on the photo and the attention the Soldier gave to his ribbons. When I asked him about this, he told me, "I give so much importance to this because it's a great indication of attention to detail. If they are going to screw up a small detail that's important to them, how can we trust that they aren't going to screw up the small details that are important to others?"
I've been on others where they give a lot of credence to education (both military and civilian). Their approach was "A leader is always learning. Learning how to refine something that works to make it better or learning better ways to do something. If a leader shows me that they stopped learning, then in my opinion they've topped out".
I consider those opinions being 'outlier' opinions. I'm not saying they are wrong, just that those aren't the mainstream opinions about "what makes a great leader". I keep saying leader, because that's what we expect of senior NCOs - to be great leaders.
THAT'S what's going to make you stand out among you peers. When you're up for your E7/E8/E9, I want to know you're a great Soldier (all your individual metrics - APFT, weapons qualifications, etc), but more importantly I want to know you're a great LEADER. As an NCO you should be focused on the troops under your care. Do THEY have great individual metrics. If so, that reflects very favorably on you. If they don't ... well, that also reflects.
There is a saying in the military - you control your own future.
Make sure you engage with your leadership, especially your rater and senior rater. Make sure you make their goals your own and do what you can to accomplish them - If your platoon leader/PSG have weapons qualification as one of their stated important goals, than it should be one of your important goals. If it's vehicle licensing for them, then it's vehicle licensing for you. And so on.
Make sure you press for formal or informal feedback on "how am I doing"? You don't want to come across as a lackey or someone who's most important focus is how someone else perceives you, but you do want to get feedback on how you are doing, what you can do to improve, what areas you are excelling at, etc. Reinforce success and adapt and fix your shortcomings.
All that said, if you are focused on taking care of your troops and supporting the successful accomplishment of your leaders' goals, then you're 90% of the way there.
There was a great article written in the NCO journal about six or seven years ago. It didn't jump out when I looked for it, but I'll keep searching and post it if I find it. It would be slightly dated today (selection boards instead of promotion boards .. changes in points .. etc), but the core of the article still stands.
You'll have an in-person or virtual BOGSAT (Bunch of Guys/Gals Sitting Around a Table) where they all get a chance to review your file and give you a score (I THINK it's still a 1-6 score with 6 being the best). What would give you the best score ... that is the question that has been asked A LOT.
The answer is "it depends".
I've been on boards where another member fixates on the photo and the attention the Soldier gave to his ribbons. When I asked him about this, he told me, "I give so much importance to this because it's a great indication of attention to detail. If they are going to screw up a small detail that's important to them, how can we trust that they aren't going to screw up the small details that are important to others?"
I've been on others where they give a lot of credence to education (both military and civilian). Their approach was "A leader is always learning. Learning how to refine something that works to make it better or learning better ways to do something. If a leader shows me that they stopped learning, then in my opinion they've topped out".
I consider those opinions being 'outlier' opinions. I'm not saying they are wrong, just that those aren't the mainstream opinions about "what makes a great leader". I keep saying leader, because that's what we expect of senior NCOs - to be great leaders.
THAT'S what's going to make you stand out among you peers. When you're up for your E7/E8/E9, I want to know you're a great Soldier (all your individual metrics - APFT, weapons qualifications, etc), but more importantly I want to know you're a great LEADER. As an NCO you should be focused on the troops under your care. Do THEY have great individual metrics. If so, that reflects very favorably on you. If they don't ... well, that also reflects.
There is a saying in the military - you control your own future.
Make sure you engage with your leadership, especially your rater and senior rater. Make sure you make their goals your own and do what you can to accomplish them - If your platoon leader/PSG have weapons qualification as one of their stated important goals, than it should be one of your important goals. If it's vehicle licensing for them, then it's vehicle licensing for you. And so on.
Make sure you press for formal or informal feedback on "how am I doing"? You don't want to come across as a lackey or someone who's most important focus is how someone else perceives you, but you do want to get feedback on how you are doing, what you can do to improve, what areas you are excelling at, etc. Reinforce success and adapt and fix your shortcomings.
All that said, if you are focused on taking care of your troops and supporting the successful accomplishment of your leaders' goals, then you're 90% of the way there.
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COL Randall C.
Found it just after I hit the "comment" button.
https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/nco-journal/docs/searching-for-the-secret-to-promotion.pdf
https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/nco-journal/docs/searching-for-the-secret-to-promotion.pdf
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I think you need to go look at the NCO evaluation process briefing. People aren't getting overlooked, it's a competition. Saying sokeone got overlooked is like saying someone lost a race because they weren't selected as the winner.
The NCO eval board looks at your records, assignment history, NCOERs, and education, and compares you to your peers. You get rated on an OML of who will get promoted first, all the way to last - if/when any slots for promotion open that month.
The NCO eval board looks at your records, assignment history, NCOERs, and education, and compares you to your peers. You get rated on an OML of who will get promoted first, all the way to last - if/when any slots for promotion open that month.
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