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This year\u2019s board will be the first since December 2015 \u2014 last year\u2019s was nixed because of a scheduling mix-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the years, the numbers of chiefs forced into retirement has fluctuated. The most retirements came in 2012, when 593 were not continued. The lowest was in 2015, when just 161 were separated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For worried sailors who feel their record doesn\u2019t paint an accurate picture of their service, letters to the board to alert them of mitigating circumstances can be sent until Nov. 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf they want to submit additional documentation along with that memo, they certainly have that right,\u201d Smith said. \u201cAll of those things will be considered by the board.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
WHO\u2019S AT RISK?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most chiefs under review will be approved for continuation. But those with red flags will face possible retirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The board will be looking for adverse information in the past three years, Smith said, or in the time since the sailor made chief petty officer. Possible red flags include any documented nonjudicial punishment or misconduct, as well as substandard or declining performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An evaluation with an individual trait grade of 2.0 or below, documented evidence resulting in a sailor\u2019s inability to perform their job, physical fitness failures or security clearance loss in a rating that requires continuous eligibility are examples of such determining factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t have any of these triggers in your record, then you really don\u2019t have anything to worry about,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIf you do, it does not mean you automatically go home \u2014 it just means your record will be looked at in greater detail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The primary document used in the review, as with selection boards, is the annual performance evaluation, Smith said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are lots of opportunities for commanding officers to point out where the performance of their chief petty officers are,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThe principal source document we use in any selection process is the evaluation and it\u2019s going to be heavily considered for it\u2019s verbiage, for CO\u2019s recommendation, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf the CO recommends advancement and retention and marks them accordingly, those are factors that are absolutely considered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HOW THE BOARD WORKS<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
One flag officer will preside over the board, which will also include 10 or so other officers and about 60 master chiefs as voting members, the same composition as in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once in session, the board breaks into panels, just as the enlisted selection boards do, but that\u2019s where the similarity ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unlike officer boards, there will be no pictures \u2014 just names \u2014 included in sailor records, something some senior enlisted think needs to change..<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each panel produces two stacks of records, those with adverse information and those without.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once a panel has completed its review, it takes those records into the \u201ctank,\u201d a large room where records are briefed and voted on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those with no adverse information will be briefed as a group. The board votes on this group as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If 51 percent of the board agrees, they\u2019ll be set aside as having been approved for continuation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those with adverse information come next. Each record will be briefed to the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe bar is pretty high as to what would cause your record to be screened in the tank,\u201d Smith said. \u201cAnd if you find yourself in that group, it\u2019s your performance that\u2019s warranted that discussion. It doesn\u2019t mean your going home, as there could clearly be mitigating circumstances that will come out in the conversation. It just means that conversation gets to be had.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, a chief who had a physical fitness failure three years ago, but who has since improved and has no other adverse information in his record, will most likely be approved for continuation, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it will be an entirely different case for someone who, for instance, went to mast two years ago and whose performance never recovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
APPEALS<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once the board\u2019s results are published, there\u2019s no appeal. All those not continued will be required put in their request to retire by March 16 and must be retire on or before Sept. 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The only exceptions to these cases are operational and readiness waivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Operational waivers are for circumstances when the loss of the sailor will hurt the command\u2019s ability to complete their short-term mission. These waiver can buy a sailor an additional three months of duty, but no more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The board was created in 2009 as a solution to multiple issues facing the Navy at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the most recent draw down nearly a decade ago, the Navy\u2019s senior leadership viewed the high retention of retirement-eligible senior enlisted leaders as reducing advancement opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In February 2009, 60 of 82 ratings were at or above 110 percent capacity among sailors with 20-plus years of service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back then, some senior Navy officers wanted to give the boards quotas \u2014 mandatory cuts of up to 2,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the top enlisted sailor at the time, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (SS\/SW) Rick West, and others fought back, and persuaded Navy leaders to instruct the board to make a \u201cquality cut\u201d to weed out what West and others called \u201cdeadwood\u201d in the ranks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Almost 9,000 senior enlisted sailors Navy-wide will have their records reviewed next month to determine whether they can continue to serve or if they must retire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":70411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,26,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3087],"class_list":["post-36951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"AR3GHWD6AVB7VFDUTDJZR6HW6U","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2017\/11\/06\/nearly-9000-chiefs-facing-mandatory-retirement-what-you-need-to-know\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n