European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 14, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday april 14, 1968 Thi stars and stripes Page 7 one goal proper pay for Job services study promotion potential for pm by Marc hurts a Washington Bureau Washington Isth defense department and the army air Force and Marine corps Are working on a series of studies All aimed at one goal improving the promotion poli cies for soldiers airmen an marines. There Are no major complaints about the Navy sys 6the defense study the first of its kind is designed to Lear what some 25,000 servicemen think of the system As it no stands. It is due to be completed in the next few army study on the other hand is computerized and will compare the duties of every sol Dier to determine if present positions Call for the right Grade. The army wants to measure for example the responsibilities of a squad Leader with a radio operator in terms of task and relative responsibility. The role of the 490,000 enlisted specialists and the specialist system is a sounder review. The air Force has just concluded an 11-Duy conference of representatives from com mands worldwide which looked into ways of improving Theair Force system which has been the subject of Many re cent complaints. The outcome of the meeting is not expected to be known for some time. Air Force officials said the increased authorization to the top six enlisted grades for fiscal year 1969 should increase the promotion opportunities starting july 1. The Marine corps is looking into a Way of better managing both the enlisted Force As whole and the career progression of the individual study is also considering the wide variance in promotion Opportunity Between occupation Al Fields and the advisability of forced attrition with Severance a. The study is expected to completed this year. While All this is going on the defense department has taken two actions to get the improve ments cleared at the top Levels of the Pentagon if when anywhere needed. Assistant defense Secretary for manpower Alfred b. Fitt set up a joint working group of army Navy air Force and Marine corps representative sin january to act As a forum on promotion systems. Another working group has also been set up to look into the inconsistencies of the sys tems that exist in each of the services the subject of insignia and in effect answer the ques we is thu re a problem what the army wants to find put is Why a squad Leader should be a staff sergeant e6, in the Aimy but Only a sergeant e5, in Anne corps an army official said. It. Jen. Albert o. Connor the army s Deputy chief of staff for personnel told a House armed services sub committee looking nto promotion policies recently the army not Only wants to i �111, Why it has a sergeant joing what he is doing but in of h Case whether he shouldst rat and sergeant or the Alny study the first of Khz would be completed tune this year. We is Roins on Nowom the subcommittee s recent study of enlisted promotion policy and procedures cover ing three million enlisted service men and women. In a detailed report of its find Ings issued last month the sub committee said that More than90 per cent of promotion com plaints come from men in Theair Force and the rest from sol Diers the complaints do not jus come As one might suspect from Junior men unable to recognize their own shortcomings the subcommittee said. Complaints Are regularly received from All grades of the enlisted ladder. Steady Stream is received for example from first sergeants inthe air1 Force who Are presumably the enlisted leaders an advisers for their units and who cannot understand the Way pro motions Are administered. The typical writer is neither the chronic com plainer nor the medi Ocre the subcommittee found that in the officer promotion sys tems while there Are consider Able differences in procedure from service to service and while the average time in Grade varies somewhat from service to service they Are not nearly so great As they Are for enlisted personnel. The subcommittee had frequently brought to its attention men who had spent More than10 years in Grade without promotion and has heard from it s not often a can Tell off the by Jack Kneece it. Meade my. A thes outspoken Soldier from Flat Woods ky., Lias been baiting officers for 14 years and there s not a thing they can do about it except maybe to go along with the fun. Take the other Day for exam ple. A general the kind with a Gruff imperious voice called from the Pentagon. When the Telephone was answered voice with a maddeningly pleas ant drawl said "1st army flight detach ment. Sgt. Sergent was a pause and then Don t stutter Soldier then for the umpteenth time sgt. Sergent explained the phonetics of his name to the general with All due deference of course. I had a lot of fun when i was pvt. Sergent top said Sergent whose full title is . Elwood Sergent. The army career Man re called with considerable glee the time the commanding offi cer was reviewing the troops and he stopped in front of he heard the words pvt. Sergent in response to a ques Tion he nodded walked one step to the next Man and then did Hollywood double take stepping Back again. What was that Soldier he asked. Sgt. Sergent patiently explained the phonetic again even going so far As to allow How Flatwoods ky., was full of ser never did know it was an unusual name until i joined the army said Sergent who is 35. Once when he was station Don the West coast his Job was in an area of High density air traffic. His radio voice was soon familiar to pilots up and Dow the coast he said because they remembered the soft drawl be longed to sgt. Sergent. Ill Tell you i really get tangled up on the Telephone some time said Sergent. The other a states be service i Sergent general night i had to Call the Westcoast and the operator broke up laughing and could hardly place the but As with All men sgt. Ser gent had to get his come up Pance. He walked into a building few years ago when he was stationed in Vietnam and introduced himself to a major with whom he was supposed to work in Lai Khe. Sgt. Sergent reporting for duty sir he said. I m maj. Major said the officer. You know said Sergent re lating the incident. That was actually his sgt Sergent is looking Forward to his next rank which he expects to make in about five years sergeant , should he Ever meet maj. Major again he can say maj. Major sgt. Maj. Ser it. Belvoir a. Special the army combat develop ments come is currently con ducting a study that could re sult in future military occupation specialities mos being More generalized than specialized. It. Col. Richard p. Koch Pasa s organization division chief says the mos study Cango two ways. First we can become More general in the sense that the mos now is too specific. What we Are winding up with is operators of Monkey wrenches that turn Only coun Ter clockwise. Time to time of men it Mohave spent More than 20 years in Grade without promotion it reported. In most cases the Long wait for promotion occurs in the air the following Chart shows the average years of service at the time of promotion to the top six grades in the services gradee9 e8e7 e6 e5e4 army 19.5 18.3 15.29.5 3.0 1.3 Navy 18.7 16.9 14.09.4 4.6 2.6 air Force 18.6 17.9 14.9 12.3 7.8 3.9 Marine Corpt 22.5 18.9 15.0 10.2 4.3 1.2 the subcommittee also found the promotion patterns varied so much from service to service that rank does not mean the same thing in the services. An example cited covers air Force and army men who Are graduated together from the defense language Institute at the Presidio of Mon Terey Calif. On arrival at the language school from Basic train ing the soldiers Are promoted to e3, but the airmen though their service was As Long As the sol die Shad to wait 22 weeks be fore becoming eligible for promo Tion to e3. Again on graduation the sol Diers were promoted to e4, but the airmen could not make e4until at least seven months after graduation. The army men expected to make e5 in about six months after leaving school while the airmen by contrast would be Lucky tomake e5 during their four year enlistment the subcommittee said. In other respects the advancement opportunities generally vary widely the report added. The army pointed out in the course of the hearings that begetting the maximum rapid pro motion opportunities under nor Mal conditions an outstanding Man in the army could reach the Grade of e6 after three years of service the minimum time in service requirement. In addition the army has instituted a policy that authorizes units in Vietnam to promote Small percentage of their out standing soldiers to Grade e4,e5 and e6 without regard to the Normal time in Grade and serv ice requirements. The army indicated that it is possible that a outstanding Soldier in Vietnam could be promoted to e6 with a Little As nine months total matter How outstanding a Man might be in the air Force it is impossible for him to go As High As e6 with nine months total service and in Point of fact it is nearly impossible for him tomake e6 in his first the subcommittee also note the differences in stripes for the same pay Grade and the fact than an e4 is a sergeant in the air Force but Only Corporal in the army. Con Gressmen wondered Why such insignia differences should exist. Changes in promotion systems Are Complex and involve Many factors that Are not easily under stood but ultimately it is of i petted improvements will Bei made if not for one reason reason being Pitt s com ment to the House subcommittee. Lie said we Are going to go into it and see what we can do to eliminate the discrepancies that Are bothering people. It bothersome for one thing. I have trouble determining the different grades of the men that appear before
