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View Full Version : Favorable gunny promotions could be good news for junior Marines



Rocky C
03-12-16, 09:33 AM
For the second year in a row, enlisted Marines have a good shot at making sergeant, staff sergeant and gunny as the Corps approaches the end of its post-war drawdown.

The Corps plans to promote 1,696 Marines to gunnery sergeant in 2016. While the number could increase slightly, manpower officials do not expect gunny promotions to exceed the pre-drawdown average of 1,750.

While it's a 17-percent drop from the 2,047 Marines who made gunny last year, it is far better than the 1,129 promoted in 2014. During the drawdown, gunny promotions averaged around 1,400.

Those roughly 1,700 promotions will have a trickle-down effect.

The Marine Corps plans to promote 3,600 sergeants to staff sergeant this year, said Lane Beindorf, who heads up enlisted promotions for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.

Another 9,600 corporals will likely be able to make sergeant, Beindorf added. Beginning April 1, though, corporals and lance corporals must meet a new 12-month time-in-grade requirement before they can add another stripe.

“The [promotion] numbers for 2016 will be somewhat lower than 2015, especially since last year’s allocations of 4,274 staff sergeants were the second highest in a decade,” Beindorf said. “There were a number of [Temporary Early Retirement Authorization] takers, which opened several allocations.”

The promotion season kicks off with the gunnery sergeant selection board, which will convene April 20 and is expected to last about eight weeks.

The infantry’s quota of 143 promotions is by far the most of any military occupational specialty. It is followed by administrative specialist, which has 107 slots, and motor transport operations chief, which has 83.


Light armored vehicle crewmen will see the biggest increase over last year’s quotas — 17 will be promoted, as compared to just four last year. Supply administration and operations specialists are at the other end of the spectrum. Their 47 promotion slots dropped from 70 in 2015.

Six MOSs that had no gunny promotions in 2015 have quotas this year. They include:


•Middle East cryptologic linguist
•Asia-Pacific cryptologic linguist
•Helicopter power plants mechanic, T-64
•Fixed-wing aircraft mechanic, F/A-18
•Fixed-wing aircraft power plants mechanic, J-52
•Aviation electronic micro/miniature component and cable repair technician, IMA

Five aviation MOSs will have no gunny promotions for a second year, including several in the F-35B joint strike fighter community and one for KC-130s.

Two MOSs will have no gunny promotions for a third straight year: Central Asian cryptologic linguist and tactical systems operator/mission specialist.

Making the grade

Manpower officials emphasized that all Marines need to make sure the information in their military personnel file and master brief sheet are up to date before promotion boards convene.

Marines can perform an audit of their records by following instructions at the Manpower Management Division home page. Click the “MMRP-50 Officer/Enlisted Career Counseling” link on the left, then click the “OMPF and MBS Self Audit Document” link at the bottom of the page.


If Marines find errors or omissions, they should visit their career counselor.

There are two areas that can quickly derail a Marine's shot at a promotion: photographs and professional military education requirements. The latter will play a larger role in promotions beginning this year. All lance corporals must complete an online course and a command-sponsored leadership and ethics seminar to be eligible for promotion to corporal. Corporals must complete a command-sponsored corporals course to be eligible for promotion to sergeant.

On Oct. 1, sergeants will be required to complete an online version of sergeants course, followed by the resident version of the course at a staff NCO academy.

Staff sergeants have a little more leeway. In order to make gunny, they must complete the MarineNet career course, followed by a resident or distance education program. The completion of resident PME courses will not fulfill nonresident PME requirements.

Marines up for promotion are also required to submit an official photograph taken within 12 months of the board’s convening date. The lack of a photo is not a reason for non-selection in and of itself, but an updated photograph or letter explaining the absence of photograph will go a long way when the selection board decides who is the best qualified for selection, officials said.

Digital photographs are preferred, as they can be electronically filed in the OMPF, where they can be submitted by an authorized combat camera department. If a Marine does not have access to combat camera, Marine administrative message 90/16 provides details on other options.