Promotions leave some staff NCOs out in cold

[unhappycamper]

Not a given
Thousands in promotion zone will get passed over


Promotions leave some staff NCOs out in cold
By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday May 4, 2008 9:49:43 EDT

For sergeants hoping to pin on that first rocker — and staff NCOs hoping to move on up — now seems like the perfect time to make the Corps a career.

Deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan give you a chance to show what you’re trained to do, and efforts to grow the force are opening up a broad path to promotion in most military occupational specialties.

But the truth is that thousands of sergeants and staff noncommissioned officers in zone for promotion will get passed over this year. In fact, over the next few years, they may actually get passed over repeatedly.

The Corps’ ongoing expansion to 202,000 Marines by the end of 2011 means bigger promotion zones and earlier consideration for thousands of Marines. But it also means that some Marines will move into the zone too early to be truly competitive.

In their place, Marines who have been passed over once, twice and even four times are getting promoted, surprising their superiors and even themselves. Old-timers who wouldn’t have been a factor a few years ago are increasingly getting the nod.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/05/marine_promotions_050408w/



uhc comment: "now seems like the perfect time to make the Corps a career"? You too can be part of the how many deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan can I made before I'm dead or permanently maimed.