Monday, June 24, 2013

His Promotion

Do you know what they call a Gunnery Sergeant Select?


A Staff Sergeant.
Apparently, it is a funny joke among Marines, especially Staff Sergeants who just found out they will be promoted in the next month or two. Which just happens to be the case for my husband.

Woohoo! The husband finally got promoted to Gunnery Sergeant. It's a long time coming for him. I know 8 years of waiting has created a lot of frustration. The most frustrating thing is he hasn't even been considered for promotion until this year. The first 6 years of his military career he went from Private to Staff Sergeant. Then everything halted in his MOS (military occupation speciality) and started moving at a snail's pace. A lot is happening in the military and some of us old timers are seeing some new policies played out. Some are negatively impacting our peers and it's hard to stomach. At this point, re-enlistment and promotion are worthy of celebration! And celebrate we will. There are traditions to uphold and every Staff NCO promotion means a "wet down". Otherwise known as a party. But we have to wait until he is a Gunny for that. And you better believe it will be blog worthy!

I want to take a minute to explain more of this promotion stuff for my readers without military affiliation. Military promotion is done a little differently than in the civilian workforce. Generally speaking, military members are promoted based on time in rank than personal merit. Therefore, a great staff sergeant who has only been a staff sergeant for a a year will not be considered for promotion against a mediocre staff sergeant with three years in the rank. The new stellar staff sergeant has to be meritoriously promoted or wait until he is "in the zone". I am not a military person and I don't claim to know if this system is a good one. But compared to a civilian job, I believe it is dysfunctional and promotes complacency. The military system doesn't encourage anyone to be amazing because most of the time amazing won't be rewarded.
Nicole
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9 comments:

  1. Chelsea E.June 24, 2013 at 7:26 AM

    Congratulations to your husband! That's great news!!

    And, I agree that it's so dysfunctional. There are guys on my husband's boat who still aren't qualified for subs, but will continue to get promoted. One of the best officers on the boat put in his resignation and wrote a long letter explaining how dysfunctional it is that he does his job and gets promoted at the same rate as the guy who plays video games at work. It was a truly fantastic letter, and I hope it gets in the right hands so people figure out how messed up the system is!

    Again, congrats!!!

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  2. JenJune 24, 2013 at 7:45 AM

    Congratulations! That is wonderful news. :)

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  3. KatieJune 24, 2013 at 10:11 AM

    Yay!!!! Congratulations!!! Love wet downs! Have fun!

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  4. Chelsea PhelpsJune 24, 2013 at 12:21 PM

    Congratulations to your husband! Have fun celebrating! :)

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  5. Alejandra June 24, 2013 at 1:54 PM

    Yayyy! Congratulations to him and your family!

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  6. KaraJune 24, 2013 at 4:46 PM

    Congrats to you husband! We know a couple guys who made the list this time.

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  7. KatieJune 25, 2013 at 11:28 AM

    Congratulations to him and to your family! Hoping you have a sweet time of celebration!

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  8. Lori CareyJune 26, 2013 at 8:01 AM

    Congrats Gunny Select!

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  9. K.NewgardJune 27, 2013 at 6:55 AM

    Congratulations!

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