Posted on Feb 7, 2014
SPC Multichannel Transmission Systems Operator/Maintainer
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A hot topic us IET soldiers here from our NCO is SSG and above. They say quote a staggering number of SSGs and above stay at there rank/do not try to advance and just "ride it out". My question is this:

should NCOs have to show clear progress in there career/job/progress and leadership in all aspects and maybe raise the retention points as motivation along with reform the promotion system? Now, if a SSG shows indisputably and irrefutable evidence he or she is advancing and working hard they should be able to stay in that rank past the RCP. But then again they've have earned the rank to retire. Is there something the army could do to help weed out those nco's that get to comfortable and lazy with the rank? Just a curious topic
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1SG Eric Rice
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<p>Private Gist,</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I commend you for starting the coversation and addressing your concerns as a soldier. It is imperative that you as an individual do what you can to constantly improve by continuing&nbsp;military and civilian education, physical fitness, basic soldier skills, and many other things. Regarding service members that have obtained the rank and hanging out at E-6/SSG there can be many reasons for them not progressing.&nbsp;As&nbsp;the number of soldiers continue to decline&nbsp;service members will be heavily scrutinzed. There are only so many positions in the Army for each&nbsp;rank in each MOS. So if an NCO does not get promoted it does not mean that they did something wrong or they are not a good NCO. The person at the next rank may not have got promoted or retired in order to make a position available to fill.&nbsp;As far as points go the promotion system at the senior levels do not use the points system. It is based off of individual accomplishments indicated&nbsp;on their NCOER (Noncommisioned Officer Evaluation Report) which they recieve&nbsp;annually. NCOs&nbsp;must also show improvement just as much as soldiers need to as well.&nbsp;Here is some advice for you as a young soldier to be successfull.&nbsp;Find a good&nbsp;mentor and&nbsp;learn everything that you can from them. They do not have to be in&nbsp;your MOS&nbsp;but someone that you can look to for guidance and emulate.&nbsp;For starters you can log onto AKO and find the Army Career Tracker. You can&nbsp;ask someone to be your mentor and they can&nbsp;give you guidance of things to accomplish in&nbsp;order for you to be successfull. If you cannot find someone&nbsp;you can look me up on there. I would be happy to&nbsp;assist you in your journey as a soldier.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Regards,</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>SFC Rice&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
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CPL Michael Hostutler
CPL Michael Hostutler
10 y
Private, Gist. You should adhere to SFC RIce advise I have known this man all my life and we joined the army together find u a good mentor if you plan on making the Army a career I know it is hard to do when you young you want to hang around your friends but you need to focus on things that will advance your career like school and correspondence course staying fit and listening to your mentors advice this will be a challenging task but one that is necessary to set yourself apart from your fellow soliders study military history study your common knowledge task and you will succeed
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SPC Multichannel Transmission Systems Operator/Maintainer
SPC (Join to see)
10 y
Sfc Rice,
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SPC Multichannel Transmission Systems Operator/Maintainer
SPC (Join to see)
10 y
Sfc Rice,

Thank you for wise words and taking the time to respond to a question that has potential to ruffle some feathers. I find it important to ask questions and learn as much as I can.

CPL,

Unfortunately it is true. A lot of people my age do like to have fun more so than advance there career. I have my whole 20 years of my life always liked hanging around older people. I think it's more important to work hard and advance your career. It is also important to have fun, within your limits. So I appreciate your comments. My goal is corporal. I do not want specialist. I want responsibility and be able to make an influence as a Jr NCO

SFC RICE,

I am going to go add you on career tracker. You seem like the kind of individual who is good at mentoring and you seem like you care and are very knowledgeable. I started SSD1 in AIT until I couldn't get back in to start on module 2 because they blocked me from continuing because I am still in AIT. I graduate next Wednesday and should be at Fort Riley by the 21st. I'm excited to start and am aiming at progressing fast and doing all I know I am capable of. I thank you for your interest and comments and hope to keep in touch.

PV2 Gist
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SPC Robert Patrick
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Ah Good old Gordon. PV2 Gist, while you make valid points that I agree with.  One of the biggest things I would suggest is for you to stay competetive like SPC Gamble said.  If you seperate yourself from your peers go to college go volunteer for military schools and work on becoming both tactically and technically proficient you should be fine regardless of the Promotion points.  Also you are going to come across those E-5's and E-6's throughout our career (I'm sorry if I offend any NCO's) not so much at the SFC Level.  Regardless of your personal opinions of those individuals be sure to treat them with the respect that they deserve.  And as my battle Above stated there are good NCO's who get stuck at a rank after getting injured and medboards can take quiet a while to complete.

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1LT Infantry Officer
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It's called the Qualitative Service Program.  It applies to SSGs and above with a certain Time In Service and Time In Grade.  The TIS & TIG combination basically targets NCOs who are below the power-curve for promotion goals.  It is different from the Qualitative Management Program in that it doesn't go after people who have fallen afoul of Army regulations as much as it goes after underperformers.

It is currently a temporary program and I hope they make it permanent.  There is some basic information here:  http://www.ncosupport.com/military-news/qmp.html and I recommend joining S1NET in the Army Professional Forums at https://www.milsuite.mil to further research the subject as HRC's website is not very user friendly.

On a personal note:  I think the real problem with stagnation is that you aren't eligible for retirement until you hit 20 years TIS.  There is plenty of people that should leave at 18, 15, 12, or even 10 years and who refuse to do so because they won't get jack for the time they've already served.
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