{"id":28491,"date":"2017-12-19T18:09:02","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T18:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/12\/19\/growing-navy-raises-up-or-out-caps-to-boost-end-strength\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:14:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:14:43","slug":"growing-navy-raises-up-or-out-caps-to-boost-end-strength","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2017\/12\/19\/growing-navy-raises-up-or-out-caps-to-boost-end-strength\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing Navy raises up-or-out caps to boost end strength"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Needing to fill critical billets and grow by 4,000 enlisted sailors by next fall, the Navy has extended up-or-out limits for junior enlisted sailors and also cancelled its early out programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two major changes will help the Navy grow its current active-duty force of about 324,000 up to 328,000 by the end of the fiscal year \u2014 and potentially more beyond that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are in a growing Navy,\u201d Vice Adm. Robert P. Burke, the chief of Naval Personnel, wrote in a Dec. 14 Navy-wide message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis requires more people, at a time when we are still working our way back to desired sea duty manning levels, and when the competition for talent is especially keen. We will certainly recruit and train many more Sailors to help meet these demands, but that will not be enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Effective Feb. 1, active-duty sailors at the pay grade of E-3 must advance to E-4 by the time they hit the six-year mark, a one-year extension of the Navy\u2019s current policy which forces sailors to leave the service if they fail to advance by the five-year mark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the Navy has officially canceled it\u2019s Enlisted Early Transition program in effect since 2015, which allowed sailors in overmanned ratings to get out of the service up to two years early with their skipper\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up-or-out eased … again<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy\u2019s up-or-out limits, called high-year tenure, or HYT, require sailors to advance to certain pay grades along a certain timeline or face being discharged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the Department of Defense allows individual services to set these limits independently, the Navy can adjust those up-or-out caps to shape the size of the force. The Navy tightened these limits during two decades of force draw-downs, but has now reversed course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This announcement comes on the heels of the Navy\u2019s two-year extension of the high-year tenure limits for E-4, E-5 and E-6, which went into effect in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That the extension of petty officer limits could allow as many as 3,000 sailors to remain on active-duty over the next couple years, officials told Navy Times in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The one-year E-3 extension will also help increase the size of the force as well, retaining more sailors in the short-term \u2014 there are currently 1,280 E-3s slated to hit the five-year limit in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\t