The Marine Corps will likely promote more than 4,000 sergeants to staff sergeants this year, the highest number since before the start of the drawdown.
After dropping last year, allocations for staff sergeants are projected to rise substantially in fiscal 2015.
Sergeants hoping to pick up rank will compete for The staff sergeant selection board, set to convene July 15 aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, is expected to dole out 4,072 slots, 1,106 more than last year. The spots cross 141 military occupational specialties. up frompromotions across 141 military occupational specialties. That’s up from 2,966 more than last year. The spots cross 141 military occupational specialties. in fiscal 2014, a boost of 1,106 allocations over the year prior.
That’s promising news for career-minded Marines. It follows a March announcement that gunnery sergeant promotion slots had also reached the highest number since the start of the drawdown. Nearly 1,900 allocations were expected for staff sergeants looking to make gunny, paving the way for more junior Marines to pick up rank.
The total number of allocations could fluctuate in the lead up to the Staff Sergeant Selection Board, set to convene July 15 at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, on July 15. The board’s gathering, but the breakdown is outlined in Marine administrative message 248/15, released in mid-May. offers insight into the direction the Corps is taking.
Among For instance, among the MOSsoccupational specialties boasting the highest number of staff sergeant allocations in this fiscal year 2015 are , infantry unit leaders, which will see the largest increase of any fields. In fiscal 2014, there were 131 slots for sergeants in that MOS to pick up rankwere set aside. This year, there are By contrast, officials are expected to advance 350 open slots. sergeants this time around.
That is in line with one of Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford’s top priorities. After taking the Corps’ reins, Dunford highlighted the shortfall in noncommissioned and staff NCOs noncommissioned officers in his planning guidance, noting that the deficiency affected training, maintenance and discipline.
“In the end, our readiness and combat effectiveness are degraded,” he wrote.
Allocations for supply administration and operations specialists, motor transportation operations chiefs, radio chiefs and administrative specialists likewise will also spike this year.
The large number of staff sergeant allocations boost also means jobs previously closed to promotions are once again eligible. Marines in 16 specialties, including tiltrotor crew chiefs for the MV-22B Osprey and light armored vehicle technicians, will see opportunities for advancement this year.
Nine MOSs are newly closed to staff sergeants this year, including But a little more than a handful of fields are newly closed. Those include aircraft mechanics for the EA-6 Prowler, fixed-wing aircraft mechanics for the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, packaging specialists and cryogenics equipment operators.
Six of the MOSs closed in 2014 remain frozen this year, including For Marines in six fields, some things never change. The list of jobs ineligible for advancement carried over from last year is comprised of specialties like aviation meteorological equipment technicians, aircraft maintenance support equipment electricians/refrigeration mechanic,s and aircraft electronic countermeasure systems technicians for the Prowler.
The overall boost in allocations for staff sergeants is in step with the expansion of slots for gunnery sergeants announced earlier this year. As of March, Officials expected to let 1,891 staff sergeants pick up rank as opposed to 1,129 the year prior.
The upswing provided an earlier indicator that sergeants, corporals and lance corporals could see more opportunities for advancement despite the ongoing drawdown in force strength. Openings at the gunnery sergeant level generally trickle down to lower ranks, officials said at the time.
Even so, it behooves Marines hoping to advance should to make sure their paperwork is in order before ahead of the selection board meets ‘s roughly nine-week powwow. Sergeants should be sure Making sure, for example, that their professional military education requirements are accurately reflected in personnel files is a must. A discrepancy there could leave a Marine labeled “not qualified.”
Commanding officers should notify Marines eligible for promotion prior to the board’s convening date, officials said.
