The Happiest and Worst Time of the Year

Late January to Mid March is arguably the most stressful or happiest time for all promotable Army Staff Sergeants. This is the time of the year that Army convenes it's centralized promotion board for selection to Sergeant First Class.

This is a huge step for all junior NCOs because it means you have had a good career so far. It's not a good thing to retire in the Army as a Staff Sergeant. Corporal through Staff Sergeant are the Army's junior NCO ranks. All of those ranks are important but to make it to the senior NCO ranks means you have made it into the elite and privileged. You won't we be bogged down with most simple tasks that junior soldiers have to go through as a right of passage and sometimes paying dues until you advance.

So why is it such a big deal to be selected for SFC? Well, it's simple look at our sister services and their promotion systems. If you are aware of their systems and have done any joint assignments or know a good deal of sailors, airmen and marines they will tell you that they feel their systems have major holes compared to our. We don't test! However, we stress stellar performance in tough and challenging assignments.

More on that last line. I always tell my friends when they question the board proceedings look in the mirror first. Ask yourself those hard questions.

o Am I seeking positions of greater responsibility?
o Am I seeking an assignment that grows, implements programs or validates training and our soldiers?
o Am I constantly seeking self improvement?
o Am I maintaining myself and my soldiers in a state of peek physical fitness?
o Am I improving programs or implementing new programs to improve my unit's readiness and our soldiers growth?

I just hit all of the things the board members look at when they are looking at your NCOERs. If you aren't doing those things then you are behind the curve already expect to be passed up.

I will say this to be fair to my brethren who are in large MOSs, your numbers dictate how many and how fast they will promote. It's simple if there's a need the Army must fill it. Which means when numbers are involved in the bigger jobs some eye catching issues will be overlooked to fill a void unlike the smaller MOSs. The Army can't afford to over look average performance in the smaller jobs because then the effect of that decision will be felt for years to come if that NCO doesn't change or improve.

So how do they score or measure the eligible SSGs? There is a scoring system in place to move a candidate for promotion up or down.

This is a +5 or +6 system and it works in reverse as well.

So what do they look for as good discriminators?

o Special duty assignments= Drill Sergeant, Recruiter, Equal Opportunity Advisor, Inspector General NCO

o Consistently 270+ (90 in each event)

0 Awards for stellar performance

o College (degree or obtaining a great deal of credits towards a degree)

0 Winning boards NCO of the Quarter, Year, Installation, MACOM or Army, Sergeant Audie Murphy or Sergeant Morales

o How do you look in uniform (no-brainer but some of us think otherwise and make excuses)

One of the biggest misconceptions is the special duty assignment is an automatic selection for SFC.

Wrong, I've witnessed this first hand. Just because you wear the badge doesn't mean you warrant promotion. You must perform and compete against your peers at a high level for you to stand out. Yes, it does help because the job is extremely demanding but you must do well in it for the Army to promote you.

Common preparation flaws that kill us before we get started.

o Old DA photos (usually because we gained a ton of weight and don't want the board members to see it) They will call the unit order you to tape that individual!

o Out of date APFT scores (didn't do so well and don't want the board members to match up your ERB and NCOERs to see what happened or didn't happen)

o Errors on your ERB (6 eyes are better than two, so let your 1SG and a couple of CSMs look at it)

o Failing to send in supporting documents to be included on your official file. It must match your ERB or looks like you are careless or lying.

o Taking an updated DA Photo but not having someone look over your uniform or taking the photo alone. The photographer isn't responsible for how you look just the photo.

Now you have done everything right what now. You wait and pray those SGMs and CSMs like what they see. Honestly, I really wasn't expecting to be selected on my first look. Why? I was young in my MOS and I had been on a string of 2 year assignments. I did feel I was extremely competitive. I was working outside of my MOS as a Drill Sergeant and doing really well. "I was doing the things that Army wants you to do" according to a CSM that I know. Well it worked out well for me. Now I understand the process and the value of picking a more senior NCOs brain and avoiding issues that could harm me. Does that mean I live for the promotions? No! It means refuse to become complacent no matter what assignment you are ordered to.

As an NCO you know you must lead and develop soldiers and remedy their issues. It's an implied task to take care of the troops directly or indirectly. I figured out as a young SGT if you are assigned to a unit that's not mission heavy find a program that's broken or needs revamping and fix it. Those programs are usually the more personal time demanding and dirty. Think of the Safety, EO and Special Populations PT programs and you can't go wrong. Those programs directly effect the unit's climate and soldiers.

Report to that unit and observe how it does business. Talk to the junior troops first then talk to your peers. Discern positively between complaints and valid issues and request the program that seems to be issue with the troops. Trust me even the best units has a flawed program or three.

Some things I honed in own in my tenure as an NCO

o Platoon PT programs
o Special Populations PT
o Equal Opportunity (high value program! but very demanding)
o Safety (heavy focus on this Army-wide)
o Unit functions (dining in/out, organization day, nco call, nco induction)
o Unit sports and Post level teams (I was MVP and selected as a Post Level Coach)
o Youth sports (personally rewarding!)
o Pre WLC Chief Instructor (personally rewarding!)

Some of us do things to be seen but I avoid that limelight and butt kissing. Simply do the job well because you want implement and grow positive change. Become a beacon of hope for things that are wrong and work on fostering change because you personally believe in it not because you are gunning for that excellence bullet. That will happen but do it because you know it's right

Notice I didn't mention anything directly dealing with my job. You must perform in your job and you know that. So no need to mention what you do well in your own little box. You can't that right then you deserve to be promoted. This is all about the Army as a whole and the community in some cases. I did those things because I felt I had ideas and goals that were conducive to positive change not because I wanted to be seen.

So keep your heads up and keep pushing!