Take E7 Exam?

[Gamecock]

POSTS SPLIT FROM ANOTHER TOPIC

Original topic
http://www.nukeworker.com/forum/index.php/topic,24811.0.html

I think this is where the Navy's advancement system could use some tweaking.  I don't consider the guys selfish.  What is their alternative?  Refuse to take the test?  Fail the test on purpose?  I have never served at a command where someone who had no intentions of staying in, was not still expected to take advancement exams.

I think the Navy should have a process where if you accept advancement to E-7,8,9 you should have to agree to go to a follow-on tour of that pay-grade.  The selection boards would rank the candidates and have a line where they do not advance those below the line.  If somebody doesn't agree to accept the follow-on tour, then you go down the list.  

I disagree with you on this one.....

I had a guy I went to college with...took chief exam in January, selected, pinned it on in September, got commissioned in December.  When I asked him why he took the exam, he said ," Now I can tell everyone I used to be a chief."

So, to stroke his own ego, he took a billet away from someone.  That person who got passed over that year might have decided he was tired of trying to make chief, and subsequently got out.  

The process does need to be tweaked. At least for us o-gangers, you have to serve in your paygrade (O4 and higher) for three years before you can retire.

I've got to run out for now, but I do have more to sat on this.

[Gamecock]

GC,

I wholeheartedly disagree with you.  If someone busted their butt for the last year, they should be rewarded and ranked appropriately, regardless of what their future plans are.  As many have said they'd get out, putting those anchors on can make it a more difficult decision. 

The guy that bitches about not making E-7 is the same guy that comes on here and asks how he gets into SRO.  He doesn't put in the time or effort on his own to truly make it.  Is life always fair?  No; but for the most part you reap what you sow.  Obviously that was a huge generalization, but you get my point.  I agree with DDMurray that if you accept a senior enlisted promotion, you should be required to do another tour.  Also and not to minimize it...EOOW is a fantastic accomplishment and levels above EWS; never meant to disparage that.  Merely said that civilian employers seldom separate the two.  As a carrier guy, the enlisted EOOW's were ALWAYS the best with cross-rate knowledge and could take the average PPWS to town on IPO.  With the op's future plans, he'd be better off getting his degree done or MTS cert (which I have seen on job postings). 

Thanks for reading and I apologize if this was a run-on paragraph.  I seldom  get passionate on these threads but this one woke a sleeping nerve

Mell,

I don't think we disagree.  I never said rank ET1 LIFER higher then EM1 GETTINOUT.  I firmly believe that you rank your guys appropriately regardless of career intentions.  What I said was if EM1 GETTINOUT is sure he is getting out, then he should not take the E7 exam. 

I'll disagree right back atcha,...

The only sailor who can turn down chief is the one who absolutely knows that there is no alignment of the heavens possible which could influence him to reenlist.

Again, I don't think we really disagree.  If a guy thinks he might stay then he should try to advance.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
If I were CNO for a day....I'd tweak the system like this...

What I think should happen is that there should be another category of folks from a selection board.  You should have your selects, your non-selects, and some alternate selects.  If a selectee decides to get out, then one of the alternates gets his slot.  If by promotion time a slot does not open up for an alternate, then he becomes a non-select and has to try again next year.

[Gamecock]

Well one thing I know we agree on at this fleeting moment in time,.....

The Yankees ROCK!!!!!!! 

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh Yeahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

[MMM]

If I were CNO for a day....I'd tweak the system like this...

What I think should happen is that there should be another category of folks from a selection board.  You should have your selects, your non-selects, and some alternate selects.  If a selectee decides to get out, then one of the alternates gets his slot.  If by promotion time a slot does not open up for an alternate, then he becomes a non-select and has to try again next year.

GC,
I'd like to see that tweak. There's nothing more frustrating to me than seeing the boards results come out and know that 10% are getting out in the very near future or are already on terminal leave. Although it is fun to shoot them an email or call them on terminal to congratulate them.

[Already Gone]

Back when I was a new MM2, I had a friend who was an FT1 instructor at BEE School.  He got selected for FTC.  By this time he had been in for a lot of years, ans was close to retirement.  He wanted to retire as a CPO, so he took the promotion, bought the Khakis, carried that stupid book for weeks, and was promptly told that he would be transferred to a ship to finish his time.
His wife told him that it was time to start a family, which she would not do if he was going back to sea.  It was pretty much an ultimatum since she was in her mid thirties at the time.
He decided not to extend his enlistment, went back to being an FT1, and was harassed about it until he retired.
He was out of pocket for all the new uniforms that he could only sell for cents on the dollar.

When it was my turn to take the MMC exam, I simply declined.  With only 11 months left to EAOS, and only a marginal chance of being promoted anyway, I didn't feel that it would be right for me to compete for a promotion that I had no intention of taking, and that could cost me money and headaches like it did to my pal.

That was a turning point in my career.  I should have taken the test and booted it instead of not taking it.  The CO was close to having a stroke as he was yelling at me.  Nothing good happened to me for the rest of my time in the Navy.

My advice is to do what is best for you.  If somebody puts a test in front of you, take it.  If you happen to pass, you have an option open to you that would not otherwise be there.  If you don't piss off your CO, he probably won't frock you if you ask him not to.  If they do frock you anyway, (which they will do to give you incentive to re-enlist - figuring that you will change your mind once you get the feel of being a chief) you can always pick up some uniforms at the thrift shop or buy them from some poor sap like my friend above.

Yeah, you're taking a billet from somebody else, but it is someone who does not qualify for it as well as you do.  Basically, the billet is yours if they offer it to you, and being yours you can do with it as you wish.  It is the way the Navy wants it to be.  Otherwise, they would do it differently.

I used to think differently.  Because they CAN screw with you.  But they can screw with you either way.  They can only screw with you until they sign your discharge.

[Sun Dog]

The Yankees ROCK!!!!!!! 

go here,...http://www.nukeworker.com/forum/index.php/topic,23277.0/all.html

[Rod Puller]

To the OP;

Staying in the Navy? - EOOW, then degree, primarily because while on shore duty your EOOW is on Navy time, allowing you to maximize your family time such that it is,...

Getting out? - Degree, then get out,....or, enjoy your shore billet as much as you can and get an ops job once you're out, sometime after RO or SRO get your degree if you want one, it will open more doors for you eventually, many more than EOOW will,....

(sic),...

I appreciate the advice!  I've received a lot of it so far and it has helped tremendously in the decision making process.  As it turns out though, it seems that the decision won't me mine to make.  Once again, the powers that be have their own plans that don't involve my personal preference.  I suppose that it really doesn't make a tremendous difference though since I'm not sure what my personal preference is but I'm fortunate in that regardless of what decision is made, it will impact my life for the better in some manner.  I doubt that many people are so lucky.