The 2017 selection board season officially opened Monday as the selected reserve and reserve full-time support boards began the deliberation process in Millington, Tennessee.
The reserve board, traditionally the first enlisted selection board of the year, considers both drilling reservists and those on active duty to be full-time support community. It is the only enlisted selection board that considers multiple paygrades for advancement.
In the selected reserve, there’s both good news and bad.
This year, there’s a moderate increase in advancement opportunities for E-8 selected reservists looking to put a second star over their chief’s crow. A total of 393 eligible senior chief petty officers are competing for 47 openings at E-9, meaning roughly 12 percent will advance, an increase from 42 openings and 9.7 percent advancement the previous year.
Half of the 48 ratings at the selected reserve level — 283 sailors in all — have a chance at promotion. Three out of every four aviation electronic technicians will advance, way up from the 33 percent promotion rate last year.
Eight ratings that went sans promotion in 2016 are advancing sailors this year, to include special warfare operator (SEALs), who have seven eligible sailors competing for two spots, a 28.6 percent chance.
The other 24 ratings, comprised of 110 sailors, will have to wait until 2018. For the 46 eligible logistics specialists, it’s the second straight year with no quotas. Promotion opportunities for the constructionman billet dropped from 33 percent in 2016 to zero this year.
PDF: Select Reserve Cycle 233 E-8 quotas
For the 1,664 drilling reserve chiefs seeking to add a star to their uniform, the news isn’t good. At this level, there are 58 ratings, and 40 of them have an opportunity to advance.
With just 161 quotas, however, the chance to advance dropped to less than 10 percent, down from 251 quotas and a 13.7 percent advancement last year.
On the winning side are fire controlmen, who will advance 100 percent of the three eligible sailors. There’s also good news for the naval aircrewman helicopter rating, where one of three candidates will advance, up from zero in 2016.
There are 138 reserve chief petty officers who will have to wait to advance until next year, as 13 ratings are going without advancement (up from 12 in 2016). Three ratings have no eligible candidates this year.
Twenty-six eligible personnel specialists are among those now having to wait patiently, down from only one quota last year that brought a 3.7 percent opportunity to advance.
PDF: Select Reserve Cycle 233 E-9 quotas
The reserve full-time support community is small, with a total strength of just over 12,000.
At E-9, there are 19 total ratings, with 13 offering a chance to advance. There are 17 quotas, providing a 14.6 percent to progress. That’s down from 22 quotas and a roughly 19 percent opportunity last year.
Of note is that one rating, aviation support equipment technician, will again have a 100 percent promotion rate.
Damage controlman will advance one of three candidates, while aviation maintenance administrationman and naval aircrewman mechanical will both advance one of four. No other rating currently provides higher than a 25 percent opportunity to advance to E-9.
PDF: Full-Time Support 233 E-8 and E-9 quotas
The number of ratings with no quotas sits at six, with 13 sailors already waiting until next year. Five of the six were also offered no quotas last year. The new addition to the club is culinary specialist, which last year advanced its one eligible candidate, but has no openings for this year’s board.
This year’s bright spot in the full-time support community came in the form of a slight odds increase for the 810 eligible chief petty officers to advance to E-8, with 64 quotas (nearly an 8 percent prospect). That’s up from 53 eligible sailors and a 6.5 percent chance in 2016.
At the top of the heap is the 47 percent chance at promotion for the naval aircrewman mechanical rating, where eight of the 17 eligible chiefs will receive their senior chief star, up from just two quotas and an 11.7 chance last year.
If there’s any good news for the 40 culinary specialist, Navy counselor, and aircrew survival equipmentman ratings, it’s that only one of them (Navy counselor) is providing no opportunity for advancement for a second straight year. Last year, four ratings allowed no advancement, and all but one will advance someone this year.
The board is slated to deliberate until March 17, with results published by mid to late April.
