Effective immediately, getting bumped up a rank for taking orders to hard-to-fill jobs is here to stay.
Called “Advancement-to-Position” or A2P, a first of its kind way to advance was first announced as a pilot program for junior sailors in April. It will now nestle in with Exam-based and meritorious advancements as a ways to move up in the enlisted ranks.
In July a test offering up 30 tough to fill shore billets to E-5’s looking to put on E-6 as an enticement. Twenty of those were for training recruits as Recruit Division Commanders Great Lakes. The other 10 were for hitting the streets as a Navy recruiter.
That pilot was green-lighted after a successful test run in senior enlisted ranks.
In 2018, 19 senior chief petty officers were picked by a special board to fill priority fleet master chief billets in the program’s first test. This year’s version of the board met last month in Millington and picked 37 senior enlisted to move up a notch for accepting tough to fill billets, too.
This year, 26 chief petty officers were advanced to senior chief and another 11 senior chief’s got picked up for master chief. Those results were published in a separate announcement today.
Both tests were based on long-standing policy in the Navy that offers “Spot Promotions” to officers who agree to fill hard to fill billets, too.
In announcing the permanent policy change for enlisted sailors, Vice Adm. John B. Nowell, the Navy’s top uniformed personnel officer, called the idea an “overwhelming success” in NavAdmin message 230/19 where he also said the idea is here to stay.
Officially the senior enlisted version is still considered a “pilot” program as officials mull its future, too.
“The permanent A2P program will fill priority E-6 billets via an advancement incentive and is another step towards a modernized personnel system and future detailing marketplace,” Nowell wrote. “Only a limited number of billets will be offered during each detailing cycle and not all rates will have billets advertised each cycle.”
Sailors will find those jobs in the a special “Advance to Position category in the current Career Management System – Interactive Detailing, known by sailors as CMS-ID. The Navy hopes to replace this current online detailing system with a more robust “Detailing Marketplace,” which officials have likened to a “LinkedIN” for the Navy. That program was initially slated to roll out this fall, but has been pushed back as the Navy upgrades its information management systems needed to make it all work.
Though personnel officials have been on the record saying they’d like to see this program expand to all enlisted ranks, right now it’s only for active duty E-5s who are already eligible for advancement to E-6 and currently in their detailing window.
Any sailor can apply for a billet provided they meet all the requirements to fill it. Those with doubts about their eligibility should contact their detailer to get a read on whether they’re qualified or not.
Any eligible sailors can apply for a A2P sea-duty billet, regardless of where they are in their sea/shore flow rotation. Only sailors eligible for shore duty, however, can apply for shore A2P billets.
Those applying must also have taken the most recent E-6 advancement exam where the Navy has already published the results. Right now, that means the Spring 2019 cycle and not the exams taken last month. However, once those Fall results are announced — usually just before Thanksgiving — that cycle will become the one of record.
The reason that’s necessary is how the service decides who gets these jobs and the advancement along with it.
The nod for the job is based competitive rack and stack of all the candidates for that job. Where a sailor ranks is based primarily on their most recent published Final Multiple Score.
In addition, the gaining command also gets a vote.
They can weigh in by adding comments to each candidates in the CMS-ID system, giving their take on who they want for the job.
Final selection, officials say, will be a combination of that exam cycle score while taking the command’s preferences into consideration, too.
Once selected, sailors must then complete any and all training or schools required along the way. Once they do, they can be frocked to E-6. Those who fail to pass will not be advanced.
The advancements be come permanent — meaning they get paid for it — once they check into their new command.
