Time between promotions

[Concernedad]

I've been trying to find an accurate timeline on how long it takes a sailor (at a minimum) to get promoted up from E-5 to E-6 and came across this...

Here's the minimum time required to advance (no guarantee).

E-1 to E-2 9 months
E-2 to E-3 9 months
E-3 to E-4 6 months
E-4 to E-5 12 months
E-5 to E-6 36 months
E-6 to E-7 36 months
E-7 to E-8 36 months
E-8 to E-9 36 months

Can anyone tell me if this is correct?

[CryptoDad]

Sort of.

Advancement to E-3 is automatic, so yes.

For E-4  and up, what you are looking at is the Time In Rate (TIR) before you can test for the next advancement. After testing a Sailor has to wait for several months for the results and then if slated for advancement it may be several months more before the advancement actually takes place. So at a minimum, add 3 or 4 months between testing and advancement. at which point the TIR clock is reset.

[CryptoDad]

And one more thing: E-5 and E-6 can have one year cut from the needed TIR if they have a eval recommendation of EP, Early Promote.

[Concernedad]

That is interesting. I didn't know they could get time cut off. So, it looks to me like a sailor must pretty much re-up in order to get to E-6.

[CryptoDad]

Anyone who could come close to E-6 in 4 years should be a candidate for an officer commissioning program: Naval Academy, STA-21 or (if they had a  bachelors degree already) OCS.

[Concernedad]

Well I was thinking after a 6 year enlistment, but same answer probably applies.

[CryptoDad]

My Sailor started at E-2 on a 4 year enlistment, re-upped and made E-6 in under 7½ years. Missed a couple of advancement cycles because of really low quotas. Great evals, good test scores, just not good enough.  I could see a Sailor starting at E-3 in an undermanned rating, excelling all down the line and making E-6 in six years.

[Concernedad]

Yeah, but as you know, they don't wait 'til the end to get you to re-up. So, in order to get to that E-6 level, you're going to have to commit to more time in. And of course there is the other issue of even though you get promoted, you don't actually get paid for that promotion for quite some time. 

I guess what I'm trying to ascertain is, my son went in as an E-2 (on a 6 year enlistment), in a little over 3 years he became an E-5. In order for him to reach E-6, will he have to wait 3 years from his last promotion to test to move up?. Due to low quotas, he also missed either one or two chances for promotion. I have no clue how he has done on evals and stuff as he tells nobody nothing. 

[Lynda]

The other thing to keep in mind is how full the rate is - sometimes it doesn't matter how good your evals are if there is no room for movement in the rate you can be at a stand still. Can be very frustrating for the sailor.  My son just got out after 13 years because the navy is overstaffed in his rating.  He thinks he has better options in the civilian world.

[Concernedad]

Thanks Lynda

[CryptoDad]

"will he have to wait 3 years from his last promotion to test to move up?"

Yes, the TIR clock starts ticking when the last promotion takes full effect with the pay raise.

Your son's an ET, right? Last advancement cycle had 315 E-5s competing for only 32 E-6 positions. Tough to advance with those kind of numbers.

Last time my Sailor re-enlisted she had to cross rate, YN to CTR, just to stay in the service. Now she finds herself in a position where she's competing against E-6s with 10+ years as CTR against her 3 years. She's playing catch up and it will take a long time to make Chief, so she will probably call it quits at the end of this tour and go reserves.

[Concernedad]

Good information, thanks. Crypto, did your sailor change ratings solely based on potential to move up, or did she think moving from yeoman (or is it yeowoman?) to cryptologic technician would be more interesting? Are there a lot of civilian jobs for this particular skill? 

Anyway, you've answered my question. Thanks again.

P.S. One day you'll have to teach me how to read those charts on how many get promoted and how many applied. I find much of the info perplexing.

P.S.S. I wonder how difficult it is to get promotions if you are an SO?

[CryptoDad]

The cross-rating was not entirely voluntary. Under the now defunct "Perform To Serve" program she could not re-enlist as a YN because of overmanning, even though she had outstanding evals, 2 Junior Sailor of the Quarter awards and letters of commendation.from the WHMO. She sat down with her career counselor and looked for undermanned ratings that would fit her ASVAB  scores. CTR was the only decent match.She was really bummed out by the whole thing since she had a career path mapped out leading to an LDO commission and working in the Pentagon or an Admiral's staff. She's been looking into civilian jobs that would use her admin skills more than anything in the crypto field.

And the term was "Yeomanette". Really. http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2006/fall/yeoman-f.html

SO advancement to E-6 was pretty decent last cycle: 69 openings for 119 test passers, 58%. The previous cycle saw all 108 passers advanced, 100%.