{"id":26649,"date":"2019-06-17T21:52:18","date_gmt":"2019-06-17T21:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/06\/17\/are-you-ready-to-take-a-spot-advancement\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:15:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:15:08","slug":"are-you-ready-to-take-a-spot-advancement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/06\/17\/are-you-ready-to-take-a-spot-advancement\/","title":{"rendered":"Are you ready to take a spot advancement?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After 22 years in the Navy, Senior Chief Aviation Electronics Technician Jeffrey Satterwhite had one more job he wanted to tackle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He wanted to become an aviation maintenance master chief, the top enlisted maintainer at a command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs the maintenance master chief, you\u2019re the one responsible for things getting done,\u201d Satterwhite told Navy Times. \u201cAs a senior chief or supervisor, you are involved, but at the end of the day, you\u2019re not the one who is going to take the heat is something goes sideways. I was ready for that responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But first he had to make E-9. He\u2019d been a senior chief for six years, so his first few visits to the board weren\u2019t successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then last summer the Navy made Satterwhite an offer he couldn\u2019t refuse, but his dream job came with a catch: He\u2019d have to fill a critical at-sea billet few others wanted. If he was selected for that, he\u2019d automatically pin on master chief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By fall, he\u2019d made the cut. Now he\u2019s a master chief, the top enlisted maintenance sailor assigned to the flattop Nimitz\u2019s aircraft intermediate maintenance department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTruth be told, I really wanted the job and might have considered it without getting E-9 in the deal, but that advancement really sealed it for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Master Chief Avionics Technician Matt Satterwhite poses for a photo on board the aircraft carrier Nimitz on June at Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Olivia Banmallly Nichols\/Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Bob Burke wants to hear. The Navy\u2019s former chief of naval personnel spearheaded reforms designed to woo talent to the toughest assignments at sea and ashore, and spot advancements were a top priority<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to trickle that down for all pay grades,\u201d Burke told Navy Times shortly before he was tabbed as the next VCNO. \u201cThis is going to be a way of doing business. If you\u2019re a hard-charging sailor, willing to go to a hard job in a hard place, you can speed up your advancement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Master Chief Satterwhite is near the peak of the Navy\u2019s enlisted manpower mountain but Navy Personnel Command is looking at how it can boost junior sailors, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next phase of the program will offer E-5s first class petty officer crows if they\u2019re willing to recruit or train the next generation of sailors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It expands on an initiative the Navy already runs that give officers spot promotions if they fill critical billets above their pay grades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year\u2019s test of the \u201cAdvance to Vacancy\u201d reforms focused on senior enlisted sailors like Satterwhite. For petty officers, it\u2019s been dubbed the \u201cAdvance to Position\u201d program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same basic idea as what we started last summer, said Bernie Dunn, deputy director for career management at Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tennessee. \u201cWe were encouraged with what we learned from that, and that led into this evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those perks could include advanced training or the ability to stick around in a fleet location in exchange for taking on a tough billet or moving to a command that\u2019s hard to staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dunn believes adding these sorts of inducements to routine negotiations add another \u201cmeasure of flexibility and choice\u201d when sailors mull over orders or plan their careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s still part of a \u201clearning evolution\u201d and Navy leaders are studying as they proceed \u201cbut it\u2019s fair to say that we\u2019re going to further explore this concept,\u201d Dunn added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Adm. Robert Burke was confirmed as the Vice Chief of Naval Operations on May 23. (U.S. Navy photo\/Released)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Because it\u2019s still in the test phase, Navy leaders have kept the numbers of spot advancements low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last fall\u2019s senior enlistment program hooked 91 applicants and 19 were selected to advance into their critical jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe idea is to not only see if the idea takes off but also to measure what, if any, impact the advancements might have on rating manning levels,\u201d Dunn said. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the things we\u2019ll have to learn as we go forward but right now the numbers are small enough that we can manage that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To screen the candidates, the Navy convened a special board. Once chosen, the senior enlisted sailors were frocked to their new pay grades and started getting paid at the new level once they started doing the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike other senior enlisted boards, however, the pay grades for the frocked sailors were temporary. They still had to be confirmed at the higher level at the next annual selection panel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To give that first class of candidates a boost before the selection board, panel members were ordered to give special consideration to those in the temporary pay grades, as long as their performance and conduct met standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The master chief selection board liked what Satterwhite was doing so they made his advancement permanent<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou still have to be racked and stacked with your peers,\u201d Statterwhite said. \u201cBut the special consideration helps, provided you are performing well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the board doesn\u2019t make the temporary advancement permanent by the time the sailors rotate out of their jobs, they\u2019re returned to their previous pay grade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Recruit division commanders salute graduating divisions as they enter Midway Ceremonial Drill Hall during a pass-in-review graduation ceremony on June 14 at Recruit Training Command. (Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Spencer Fling\/Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Officials have capped the initial 30 spot advancements to petty officer first class at just 30 billets. Twenty are for recruit division commander jobs at Great Lakes and the other 10 are for recruiters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be eligible, petty officer second class sailors must have served six years on active duty and have met all the usual requirements to advance to E-6. They must have cut a minimum standard score of 50 on the most recent semi-annual exam and be in their detailing window and slotted for shore duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also must meet special screening standards for evaluation marks, fitness scores, medical readiness and legal issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sailors applying for either billet will be racked and stacked by a formula that includes their performance marks, awards, pass\/not advanced points, education and service in pay grade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe still want to make sure that the folks who are ultimately selected for E-6 are the ones that we, in fact, want to advance,\u201d Dunn said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because sailors from all ratings are eligible to apply, individual rating test scores won\u2019t be factored into the ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And unlike the senior chief petty officers, they won\u2019t be eligible for immediate frocking, according to NavAdmin 122\/19, which was issued on June 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, they will be advanced to first class once they attend training, arrive at their new commands and qualify for the positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials will be closely watching the application and selection process and will tweak the rules and procedures during this initial test run, Dunn said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSailors can expect expansion of the advancement-to-position program in the coming months, both in terms of jobs and number of billets,\u201d wrote VCNO Burke\u2019s successor, Vice Adm. John. B. Nowell, in the June 3 NavAdmin message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowell had served a Burke\u2019s deputy helming manpower plans and policy before becoming the 59th Chief of Naval Personnel on May 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Rear Adm. John B. Nowell (right) is promoted to the rank of vice admiral by Rear Adm. Jamie Sands during a May 24 ceremony at the Midway Ceremonial Drill Hall at Naval Station Great Lakes. (Lt. Cmdr. Frederick Martin\/Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Burke told Navy Times in March that he believes the spot advancement initiative likely will expand soon to \u201cintensive shore assignments\u201d such as those in the afloat training groups and shore maintenance facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThings like that have to do with getting and maintaining our fleet ready again, making our training readiness and warfighting readiness as a fleet as good as it can be,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll be incentivizing our best sailors to go to those hard jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Satterwhite said he welcomes the reforms and will encourage his sailors to apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d make it clear to them that they\u2019re not going there to try a job. They\u2019re going to do a job,\u201d Satterwhite said. \u201cThey need to understand fully what that job is and be ready to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t