What exactly does "Promote as soon as possible" mean? Is Promote now better

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 00:07:21 -0400

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 23 at 2015 12:09 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 00:09:21 -0400

Promote now or immediately is better. What's even better is if there are substantial statements supporting it.

Response by SFC Rollie Hubbard made Jul 23 at 2015 12:21 AM

SFC Rollie Hubbard — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 00:21:49 -0400

I would agree with SFC Dominique Kess, now is better

Response by SSG Trevor S. made Jul 23 at 2015 1:10 AM

SSG Trevor S. — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 01:10:16 -0400

Retroactively promote to correct obvious mistake from last year's board *would be a better bullet
In seriousness I agree with SFC Private RallyPoint Member

Response by SGM Matthew Quick made Jul 23 at 2015 7:16 AM

SGM Matthew Quick — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 07:16:26 -0400

1. Promote Now/Immediately
2. Promote ahead of peers
3. Promote with peers
4. Do not promote

The issue with 'Promote as soon as possible' is not really clear. Clarity is imperative for board members, especially during the SFC board because of time constraints.

Response by SSgt Alex Robinson made Jul 23 at 2015 8:00 AM

SSgt Alex Robinson — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 08:00:45 -0400

Promote now implies the ratee is ready for promotion. Any other wording in my opinion does not suggest the person is ready.

Response by CW4 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 23 at 2015 8:10 AM

CW4 Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 08:10:06 -0400

Great comments from all so far. I know for us Warrant Officers, we have to quantify and enumerate our current performance and future potential.

1. Number 1 CW3 out of 12
2. Top 1% of every Officer under my Command
3. Top 2% of any Warrant Officer that I've served with in my 20 years of service.
4. Promote now ahead of peers and place in the most challenging operational and broadening assignments available.
5. Possess skills necessary now of CW5.

I don't know how much info the NCOER will allow you put down. I never really like the bullet format, our OER lets the Senior Rater use a paragraph format to capture our potential for promotion.

Response by CMSgt Mark Schubert made Jul 23 at 2015 9:36 AM

CMSgt Mark Schubert — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 09:36:04 -0400

Absolutely! It's subtle, but it means (to me) that the individual may not be ready - with "Promote Now" there is no ambiguity.

Response by SFC Thomas Skinner made Jul 23 at 2015 4:09 PM

SFC Thomas Skinner — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 16:09:35 -0400

It means the Senior Rater is inexperienced Always get 1SG or CSM/SGM to review and provide guidance on NCOERs its required. All SSG and above should be checked by the CSM, it would prevent that type of comment from becoming permanent record. SGM Matthew Quick hit it perfectly. Along with each of those "promote" comments you also need strong supporting comments to back them up.

Response by SFC Carey Cox made Jul 23 at 2015 11:58 PM

SFC Carey Cox — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 23:58:17 -0400

Yes but even better is promote now ahead of peers!

Response by MAJ Ben Williams made Jul 24 at 2015 12:03 AM

MAJ Ben Williams — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 00:03:03 -0400

A couple of my old bosses drew some pretty fine distinctions between
1. Promote ahead of peers
2. Promote now/immediately
3. Must promote now/immediately
4. Absolutely must promote now/immediately

Response by SFC Oranthal Smith made Jul 24 at 2015 2:44 AM

SFC Oranthal Smith — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 02:44:10 -0400

Promote as soon as possible to me is not the best statement to use. Promote now is just what it is "Now".

Response by 1SG Dustin Springer made Jul 24 at 2015 5:31 AM

1SG Dustin Springer — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 05:31:02 -0400

In my experience if you place "Promote Now" there needs to be quantifiable bullet that follows such "Number 1 of 6 that I senior rate".

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 24 at 2015 5:47 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 17:47:54 -0400

I don't want to beat a dead horse here... but "Promote as soon as possible" sounds to me like a senior rater wants to send the message to the NCO that they have the potential to be promoted, but wants to send the message to the board that the NCO needs more time to develop.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 25 at 2015 9:08 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 25 Jul 2015 09:08:32 -0400

Both of those are poorly worded. "Promote ahead of peers" should be the phrase used.

Response by SFC Dave Parker made Aug 27 at 2015 3:27 PM

SFC Dave Parker — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 15:27:46 -0400

The whole NCOER system is skewed and everything is inflated (at least it was 20 years ago before I retired, and I doubt it has changed.) If you evaluate an average NCO (and most NCOs are average, because that's kinda what average means) as Promote with peers, your CSM will jump all over you like you are trying to ruin that person's career. "Promote as soon as possible" should be restricted to only a few percent of a command's evaluations.

Response by SFC Eric Williams made Nov 9 at 2015 10:03 PM

SFC Eric Williams — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 22:03:30 -0500

It refers to sequence numbers.