What training, education, experience, personality traits, or other factors helped you get promoted?

2020-02-01T16:16:39-05:00

What training, education, experience, personality traits or other factors (dumb luck) helped you advance to the rank you hold now or the rank at which you separated or retired. Try to limit your response to 3 to 5 factors. This is intended as a possible leadership lesson for younger or less experienced RP members.

Response by SPC Margaret Higgins made Feb 1 at 2020 4:28 PM

2020-02-01T16:28:38-05:00

Lt Col Jim Coe: I attained the rank of Specialist Four; as I had been to college/my university.

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made Feb 1 at 2020 4:31 PM

2020-02-01T16:31:42-05:00

I'll start.
-Listening to what the Air Force told me I should do to get promoted and doing it. Have a Masters Degree. Complete professional education appropriate for rank. Broaden experience beyond cockpit.
-Demonstrating I could work hard and smart at jobs nobody else wanted (life support officer, safety officer, magazine editor, joint service staff officer) drawing positive attention to myself. Resulted in general officer endorsements on my OERs, which at the time were the gold standard for getting promoted.
-Keep up with technology and exploit it. I served when computers were coming into the Services in large numbers. I liked working with computers and learned new software quickly. Became a functional expert on both desk-top PCs and mainframe client-server systems. Capability to produce management information made my work valuable to Senior Officers. In today's world, I would look to becoming and expert on using web-based applications, wireless technology, and AI. (Example: I was a DTS approver. I believe I understood the systems functionality well and seldom struggled with it. Helped my employees and some supervisors use the system correctly.)

Response by CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 1 at 2020 4:42 PM

2020-02-01T16:42:56-05:00

Doing my job. Self-improvement. Motivation.

Edit - Add the last troop leading step of acronym BAMCIS - Supervise. The only person that can ensure orders are carried out as intended is the one that issues the order. Take nothing for granted before you put your name on the line.

Response by Lt Col Charlie Brown made Feb 1 at 2020 5:35 PM

2020-02-01T17:35:07-05:00

Volunteering for additional duties that expand your skill set. Making sure you have the appropriate level of PME and civilian education completed for the next rank/grade

Response by Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen made Feb 1 at 2020 5:43 PM

2020-02-01T17:43:25-05:00

Being the best at what you do then all that Lt Col Charlie Brown said.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Feb 1 at 2020 5:55 PM

2020-02-01T17:55:30-05:00

No training deaths! I still remember a poignant message from a poster that I was a loser for retiring as a MAJ. What a low blow! lol

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 1 at 2020 6:21 PM

2020-02-01T18:21:59-05:00

Cut off score for E6 was very high at 2002 points. I had max points in Civ Ed, Awards and Decorations. Completed mil correspondence x2000credits and still below cutoff. Prepared many hours of review, practice and potential board questions. Maxed board resulted in 2003 points - 1 pt above requirement. Completed Associate Degree, SF and other skill tng, positive and team player. 5 years to E7 - 2 more years to Warrant. Retired as CW3 with Masters Degree. Not bad for barely graduating from High School with terrible grades and attitude.

Response by SFC Terry Wilcox made Feb 1 at 2020 7:38 PM

2020-02-01T19:38:45-05:00

Working at least one pay grade level above what you are paid, being the one your piers seek for answers and do that one or two or three things extra in your duties to make sure your expertise is noted. This Thanksgiving Cake could have been a standard sheet cake - But all your commanders would not want their photos with this four foot by four foot 250-pound cake.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 1 at 2020 8:06 PM

2020-02-01T20:06:30-05:00

Dedication, willingness to do the right thing, education

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 1 at 2020 9:04 PM

2020-02-01T21:04:02-05:00

I received a wavier for each rank I’ve earned. And what I can say is :
1- Always be at the right place , right time, right uniform
2- keep a positive attitude at all times , the energy you put out can and will affect those around you. Be proficient at your job.
3- do the things no one else wants to do ie ; SOM boards , COC detail, go to college , do your ssd(s)/dlp(s), do your corresponding courses.

Response by SFC Casey O'Mally made Feb 1 at 2020 9:18 PM

2020-02-01T21:18:10-05:00

I workwd very hard to demonstrate competence/expertise, even when it wasn't my MOS (Staff time, Orderly Room, MRT, etc.) I was the guy that my boss gave the hardest jobs because (s)he knew I would get it done.

I tried to always set the example. Showed my troops what right looks like. And showed them I was willing to do everything I was asking them to do. Guard duty, burning fecal matter, motor stables, PT, you name it.

I stayed out of trouble. 'Nuff said.

Integrity. 'Nuff said.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 1 at 2020 10:59 PM

2020-02-01T22:59:01-05:00

I worked very hard; volunteered for tasks, tried my best to go above and beyond. PT was not my strong suite ( my score wasn’t low, but wasn’t a 300 either) so I worked harder in every other area to stand out whenever possible.

Stayed out of trouble.

Studied for boards.

Watched and listened to the ncos/ officers around me so that I could learn their duties.

Helped those in need when I could.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 1 at 2020 11:49 PM

2020-02-01T23:49:00-05:00

N---No one is more professional that I.

C---Competence is my watchword.

O---Officers of my unit will have maximum time to accomplish their duties; they will not have to accomplish mine.

But seriously....It was literally my being in the right place at the right time; never compromising my integrity; and working hard...doing what I needed to do...to gain the trust and confidence of my superiors and my Soldiers.

And all of this was well after I finally performed a rectal-cranial extraction.

Response by SSG Brian G. made Feb 2 at 2020 9:49 AM

2020-02-02T09:49:26-05:00

There is going to be a good variety. ROTC in High School and a Bachelor degree meant I came in as an E-4. After that it was volunteering rather than being volun-told and have a can-do attitude. After being MOS-Q, doing unit cross training in other MOS, putting in for schools like Airborne, Air Assault, Pathfinder, et., taking whatever was thrown at me and just doing it without gripe or complaint, mentoring other soldiers. And of course there is good ole luck.

Response by COL Vincent Stoneking made Feb 2 at 2020 12:57 PM

2020-02-02T12:57:33-05:00

(Note: All my comments refer to promotion via centralized boards)
1. What Lt Col Charlie Brown said - MEET the requirements for the next higher grade.
It is seriously astounding how many people miss this one and then get butt-hurt that their "obvious excellence" does not give them a waiver.
2. Have your records up to date.
If your records don't reflect #1, it is as if it doesn't exist. Again, it's been a minute, but I recall looking at stats for Officers that showed over 40% never even reviewed their "my board file" going into a board. Hint: It's probably wrong. Yes, HRC/S1 should square you away. Ultimately, it's on you - If you want to get promoted. As they had on the clay tablets back when I went through ROTC - You are your best career manager, nobody cares as much as you do.
Side Story - I don't know what was up, but on my most recent board, they used the new Automated Record Brief. About the only thing that was right on the first pull was my name and dates of (one never happened....I appeared that I was never a CPT) prior promotions. This is despite the fact that all of my documents were routinely uploaded and correct in IPERMS, which is the source they used to update the ARB.

Quite honestly, the two points above will separate you from your peers and get you far for "on time" promotion. If it's a "fully qualified" board, you win.

3. Have a documented record of consistent high performance.
It's no good having some evals that say "rock star", a bunch that say "average", and a few that say "meh." I sincerely recommend you do everything you can to "help" your rater write reviews that match your career goals. The first thing is genuine high performance. The second is helping by documenting your performance in an easily digestible format, that matches what the two of you agreed to in your initial and subsequent counselings, assuming they happened. To be quite honest, I have a time or two (or more) assisted my supervisor by writing a draft eval to "help them get started" at least once, my supervisor's contribution was to sign the evaluation. It's not how it should be, but I'm not going to stand on principle, especially when I know the boss can't write....

It's a bit tricky figuring out what "consistent" high performance looks like. I have a "depriving a village of it's idiot" eval in my file. Seriously, Senior Rater recommendation that I be separated. Luckily for me, the timing of the eval was such that by the time a board looked at my file, it was very clear that that eval was an outlier as it was preceded by a string of "Promote ahead of peers/TOP of pyramid" (yeah, that old!) and followed by an unbroken string of "Best/Above." Had that been a recent eval when I went to the board, I suspect I would have been twice passed over.

4. Do extra. In a way that shows in your record.
In my case, I did the Defense Strategy Course, the Air War College, and the Army War College. I was also a fanatic about tracking my results as a CGSC instructor and a BN Commander. Thus my evals were able to correctly say that I was in the top X% of instructors per student feedback (As opposed to "a top instructor who reaches the students") and that I had increased Unit fill from X to Y. They distinguished my LTC--> COL file from my peers. Very likely not decisive, but you never know the exact tipping point. Find a way to to put your thumb on the scale. What that is will depend on whether Active, Guard, Reserve and roles.

If you do 3 & 4, that will go a long way towards "best qualified" boards.

NOTE: My emphasis here has all been on "shows in your records." That's key, as it is what the boards actually see. I'm not downplaying the "be excellent in your job." You should do that because of pride and being a professional.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 2 at 2020 1:56 PM

2020-02-02T13:56:27-05:00

Quick background: I enlisted in 2011 and left active service for ROTC.

1) Planning: I distinctly remember the day that I sat down and decided what I wanted to attempt to do with the rest of my career. My father told me that all military service is honorable and the main factor is where you want to end up. I had to decided if I wanted a chance at being “MSG Ford” or “LTC Ford”. “LTC Ford” sounded better to me, so I decided to ignore everything that didn’t help me get to that point (outside of my daily work duties of course).

2) Accountability: In order to keep from spinning my wheels, I created short, medium and long term goals. I purchased 2 dry erase boards and put both short and long term plans on them. Every Sunday afternoon, I would take an hour or two to honestly reassess my progress. Goals aren’t real until they are written down and checked off.

3) Education/Presentation: I’ve found that if you make it easy for your leaders to help you they generally will. I was always the smartest person in the room about the commissioning programs that I was seeking. I made sure to understand the information in the milpers as throughly as possible so that I could give my leaders easily understandable, actionable requests.

4) Go above and beyond: I took every opportunity to stand out for the right reasons. NCO of the month/quarter boards, both at the battalion and brigade level got me on the radar screen of senior leaders who were essential in helping me get to where I current am.

Response by LTC John Griscom made Feb 2 at 2020 9:00 PM

2020-02-02T21:00:49-05:00

Relying on the advice of good NCOs at my first assignment gave me a step up during the rest of my career. Got more mentoring from them than my superiors. Taking advantage of all education/training opportunities. Good bosses that made opportunities available.