Thousands more sailors will soon be eligible to advance without the hassle of an advancement exam, and make the move up to 12 months early.
That’s due to big changes coming to the command advancement program, the authority that allows skippers to spot advance sailors to E-4, E-5 and E-6, Navy Times has learned.
Those changes, set to take effect Oct. 1, include:
■ More eligible. Sailors with early promote evaluations are eligible up to a year early, making the CAP cycle the same as the semi-annual petty officer testing cycles.
■ Advancement window. Commands must spot promote sailors between July 1 and Sept. 30, before personnel officials set quotas for test-takers.
The changes will give your commanding officer more say in who makes rate and will align the CAP advancements with the process by which most sailors advance.
“We want COs to be able to make the call and use CAP to advance their best people,” Vice Adm. Bill Moran, the chief of naval personnel, said Sept. 4. “Allowing COs the same EP waiver authority to reward hot-running sailors with that early promote themselves, better aligns CAP with our overall advancement system and puts more power in the hands of the command triads.”
As the Navy assesses the program long-term, other changes may be in the offing. These include extending CAP to shore duty beyond recruiting commands and spot-promoting to chief.
Moran has decided not to boost the number of CAP quotas, as many go unfilled, but said he is open to increases later.
His nearer goal: to change fleet culture. CAP has mixed reviews in the fleet, with many griping that rather than rewarding top performers, skippers pick those who get the most face time or who are near their high-year tenure cap.
Moran says that must change.
“What we’re also emphasizing under this CAP program is that we hope you would CAP your best performing sailors,” he said in a July interview with Navy Times. “In the past, you could argue CAP was only used for sailors who couldn’t pass the test.”
Moran’s changes have reportedly saved the CAP program, and officials hope the changes will be another incentive — like the sea pay hike — to persuade sailors to stay in and return to sea duty.
New rules
The new CAP rules will restrict when COs can advance their people, allowing personnel officials to better manage overall advancement quotas.
Starting Oct. 1, CO’s will only be allowed to CAP sailors during the three-month window.
“We want to have the clearest picture so we can build the quotas for the September and March advancement cycles and continue to stabilize the workforce,” Moran said in the Sept. 4 interview.
Some COs feel the restrictions aren’t necessary, but officials say it’s what most commanders are doing anyway.
“Our 2012 study indicated that 86 percent of CAPs are concentrated immediately after the release of advancement exam results, with the majority during the summer months,” Capt. Karan Schriver, who heads enlisted plans and policy on Moran’s staff, said in June.
As part of the management moves, the Navy will move the CAP program, starting in fiscal year 2015, from a calendar year schedule to one aligned with the fiscal year.
The 2014 calendar-year program will be cut short by three months, and all remaining 2014 quotas will go away Oct. 1.
Under the current rules, COs must advance CAP sailors by Sept. 30 and report it to Navy Personnel Command by Oct. 15.
Quotas outlook
Eligibility is expanding under the new rules, but not the pool of quotas. Officials say they want to see more used, and are weighing a boost to the numbers in coming years.
CAP quotas are based on the size of the command. So under the existing rules, a command with 100 or fewer authorized enlisted billets can CAP two sailors: one to E-5 and one to E-6.
Commands with more than 100, but fewer than 1,000, billets, like a cruiser, get two E-5 quotas and one for E-6. Those between 1,000 and 2,000 get four E-5s and two E-6s.
And commands like aircraft carriers, with upward of 2,000 billets, can spot-advance six E-5s and two E-6s.
While there are no quotas to spot-promote to E-4, commands can take unused E-5 or E-6 billets and instead advance someone to E-4, but they’re still limited to the total number of quotas.
Although Moran was considering an increase in CAP quotas, , he backed off the idea. As it stands, roughly one in three quotas go unused every year.
“We have had years when we haven’t used the full authority of CAP,” he said. “And to me, that’s a good sign that COs are taking their responsibility seriously.”
For now, officials want to see how the program works with more eligible sailors and a new management system. If all goes well, an increase in quotas could come in future fiscal years.
CAP, Moran stressed, isn’t for so-called poor test-takers or those nearing their high-year tenure. It’s intended to reward the best sailors.
Moran says he is encouraging skippers to “CAP sailors who they think should move on because they’ve demonstrated their ability, and not to wait on the exam.”
What he wants is a new dynamic in using CAP. If COs and CMCs believe they have a sailor who is a “shoe-in” to make it on the next exam, then why wait, he said.
“Why not make a call on your best and guarantee that sailor’s going to advance?” he said. “It’s going to open up quotas for those behind them, but you’re ensuring your best and brightest advance.”
Far-reaching possibilities
For now, the only way to get an automatic advancement to chief is through the Sailor of the Year selection process, in which four E-6s are spot-promoted.
Schriver told Navy Times in June that leadership currently feels the board process is still the best way to advance sailors to chief petty officer.
But some would like to see a limited ability for the fleet to be able to choose their best via spot advancements.
“It’s something that could be considered in the future but officially isn’t on the table at the moment,” said one senior official who asked to be anonymous because he wasn’t free to discuss the issue publicly. “The board system is tried and true and what we feel is the best way to pick our new chiefs, but then again, COs and command triads know their people best, so it’s an idea that at least deserves to [be] looked into and debated.”
Another possibility: expanding CAP to shore duty. As designed in 1978, CAP originally targeted sea duty commands.
A few special shore duty commands have earned the right to use CAP, including Navy Recruiting Command, the Recruit Training Command, the Ceremonial Guard and the USS Constitution. Many sailors would like to see that list expanded.
Officials don’t see that changing while the fleet still has thousands of unfilled billets.
“It’s something that has been discussed, because it’s something we’re hearing from sailors a lot,” the senior official said. “It’s something we’re interested in investigating, but we need to reserve this now, at least in the short-term, to sea duty and special shore commands.”
