Posted on Oct 19, 2022
What are the chances getting pinned LTC with 6 months left before MRD?
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Looking at the latest Board MILPERs it's not looking like I'll make LTC before MRD. So I'm looking down the barrel of just coasting the next 10 years with CCC and Command time behind me.
Promotion Board
Military Career
LTC
Posted 2 y ago
Responses: 3
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CPT (Join to see)
Yes sir, I was very deliberate how I wrote that comment. I’m very much an effort/return driven individual.
What is coasting exactly? On my civilian side I have community leadership aspirations of elected office. That is going to consume an astronomical amount of time. Probably worse than the USAR has thrown at me, but at the very least, very local.
So as I come to grips with seeing more clearly where my USAR career is going to end up I can see I’ve strongly finished laying that foundation that will secure it, and little more effort is needed beyond participation, and continuing to meet the standard at this point.
That all makes more room for civilian ambitions with higher degrees of success possible.
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That all said………… I still need to step back from my arrogance and pouting and take pride in the fact of what the USAR gave me an opportunity to do. I shouldn’t be here at all. I shouldn’t have been able to enlist as a 38 y/o SPC, and I shouldn’t have been able to commission as 2LT past my 42 birthday.
So the fact I’ll get to go into my golden years (probably, I’m still not there yet) as a retired Major is huge given the alternative.
It’s essentially locked in now, and I can add to that many other things that are not USAR, but in a larger scope more productive time/effort wise toward my community.
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As a side note, I’ve also put myself out there as the local Marksmanship Guru, and put on local USAR Marksmanship Postal matches. It’s nothing much, but at the end of it, participants get a memorandum of record from me if they meet the course of fire standard. So, at the very least Jr Enlisted and NCO’s can use those memos as brownie points or bullet comments on NCOERs. This would be a better pet project better suited for an NCO, but there’s no takers, and l enjoy competitive shooting.
Regarding my USAR career path, up till recently I’ve been full speed ahead. I don’t need to do that anymore. The finish line has been set; it’s not going back any further. Time to participate in other races.
What is coasting exactly? On my civilian side I have community leadership aspirations of elected office. That is going to consume an astronomical amount of time. Probably worse than the USAR has thrown at me, but at the very least, very local.
So as I come to grips with seeing more clearly where my USAR career is going to end up I can see I’ve strongly finished laying that foundation that will secure it, and little more effort is needed beyond participation, and continuing to meet the standard at this point.
That all makes more room for civilian ambitions with higher degrees of success possible.
***********
That all said………… I still need to step back from my arrogance and pouting and take pride in the fact of what the USAR gave me an opportunity to do. I shouldn’t be here at all. I shouldn’t have been able to enlist as a 38 y/o SPC, and I shouldn’t have been able to commission as 2LT past my 42 birthday.
So the fact I’ll get to go into my golden years (probably, I’m still not there yet) as a retired Major is huge given the alternative.
It’s essentially locked in now, and I can add to that many other things that are not USAR, but in a larger scope more productive time/effort wise toward my community.
***********
As a side note, I’ve also put myself out there as the local Marksmanship Guru, and put on local USAR Marksmanship Postal matches. It’s nothing much, but at the end of it, participants get a memorandum of record from me if they meet the course of fire standard. So, at the very least Jr Enlisted and NCO’s can use those memos as brownie points or bullet comments on NCOERs. This would be a better pet project better suited for an NCO, but there’s no takers, and l enjoy competitive shooting.
Regarding my USAR career path, up till recently I’ve been full speed ahead. I don’t need to do that anymore. The finish line has been set; it’s not going back any further. Time to participate in other races.
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Answering my own questions. It looks like if MRD is 91+ days after the convene date I can at least submit a packet. My MRD puts me at 120+ days from an estimated LTC board.
But then.......... per the regulation............ there is a limit of BELOW the zone promotions. I don't think they would waste it on me, certainly not for LTC. So I'd need a below the zone MAJ and then hope a simple AT THE ZONE for LTC.
So I have under 3 years to buff up my CPT career to sneak in below the zone MAJ for a 2026 Board.
But then.......... per the regulation............ there is a limit of BELOW the zone promotions. I don't think they would waste it on me, certainly not for LTC. So I'd need a below the zone MAJ and then hope a simple AT THE ZONE for LTC.
So I have under 3 years to buff up my CPT career to sneak in below the zone MAJ for a 2026 Board.
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COL Randall C.
You can always set your eyes towards making a position vacancy promotion possible as soon as you reach your TIG (3 years as an O3 and 3 years as an O4).
Line up your ducks and it's POSSIBLE ... not likely for LTC, but possible (you won't be able to 'coast' into it ... you'll have to be a golden child of senior leadership for them to put you in that spot instead of someone else).
As for a PVP for MAJ - that's a lot more doable as long as you're willing to work for it. Since you're USAR, that means you'll have to be willing to go to where an applicable O4 vacancy is at. That may involve flying across the country or even to another country if that's the only one available (you could always luck out and have an applicable vacancy that is nearby as well).
I'd say start looking for a position when you're six months away from your TIG and putting the ducks in a row to apply for them as you get closer.
Line up your ducks and it's POSSIBLE ... not likely for LTC, but possible (you won't be able to 'coast' into it ... you'll have to be a golden child of senior leadership for them to put you in that spot instead of someone else).
As for a PVP for MAJ - that's a lot more doable as long as you're willing to work for it. Since you're USAR, that means you'll have to be willing to go to where an applicable O4 vacancy is at. That may involve flying across the country or even to another country if that's the only one available (you could always luck out and have an applicable vacancy that is nearby as well).
I'd say start looking for a position when you're six months away from your TIG and putting the ducks in a row to apply for them as you get closer.
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CPT (Join to see)
COL Randall C. - Rgr sir............. I was looking into that as soon as I got to my current unit. There were four MAJ vacancies above me in my AOC. They have all since been filled in the last few years with MAJ's. I'm also in one of those slots right now.
The down side I think as you are pointing out is the competitiveness of it. If a vacancy promotion was opened in my unit it would end up being advertised USAR wide, and I'd have to compete for it like anyone else.
I had been hoping the vacancies would remain open, and then I could have been moved on the UMR each year after my OER and put in another vacancy. Then, by time it came around to seeking to fill those slots with vacancy promotions at least my packet for consideration would have 4 OER's with me having already been rated in each of those vacancies :-)
I was lining up all my ducks to put together the vacancy packet my commanders could submit. Then all the vacancies filled :-(
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I currently have billing official responsibility, prior LIK OIC (can't be BO and LIK at the same time), I do funeral details as I can fit them in my schedule (four this month so far, 3 of them in a single week). Then I'm running my own USAR Marksmanship Postal Match pet project on the side.
I'm told I was put in for an ARCOM as well just for being a go to TPU as a result from prior mentioned (I probably just jinxed it), but I'm starting to ask myself, what is it all for. I still have civilian stuff I can't let fall apart.
The down side I think as you are pointing out is the competitiveness of it. If a vacancy promotion was opened in my unit it would end up being advertised USAR wide, and I'd have to compete for it like anyone else.
I had been hoping the vacancies would remain open, and then I could have been moved on the UMR each year after my OER and put in another vacancy. Then, by time it came around to seeking to fill those slots with vacancy promotions at least my packet for consideration would have 4 OER's with me having already been rated in each of those vacancies :-)
I was lining up all my ducks to put together the vacancy packet my commanders could submit. Then all the vacancies filled :-(
**********
I currently have billing official responsibility, prior LIK OIC (can't be BO and LIK at the same time), I do funeral details as I can fit them in my schedule (four this month so far, 3 of them in a single week). Then I'm running my own USAR Marksmanship Postal Match pet project on the side.
I'm told I was put in for an ARCOM as well just for being a go to TPU as a result from prior mentioned (I probably just jinxed it), but I'm starting to ask myself, what is it all for. I still have civilian stuff I can't let fall apart.
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COL Randall C.
CPT (Join to see), you said you are currently in an O4 slot of the appropriate AOC for you ("There were four MAJ vacancies above me in my AOC ... I'm also in one of those slots right now.")?
Then just make sure you hold onto that slot and make yourself the best possible whatever-you-are! As soon as you meet your TIG then drop the paperwork.
Either I misread what you stated or there isn't a problem (unless you were told the slot is only temporary and you will be moved out of it soon).
Rgr about the competitiveness. Making a PVP for MAJ is very doable, but you just have to be willing to jump through hoops. Making a PVP for LTC is very hard because there are a lot fewer jobs that are generally available and at that point the "golden child" really starts to apply. It's still possible, but usually there's a reason that position is vacant (nobody wants it).
Then just make sure you hold onto that slot and make yourself the best possible whatever-you-are! As soon as you meet your TIG then drop the paperwork.
Either I misread what you stated or there isn't a problem (unless you were told the slot is only temporary and you will be moved out of it soon).
Rgr about the competitiveness. Making a PVP for MAJ is very doable, but you just have to be willing to jump through hoops. Making a PVP for LTC is very hard because there are a lot fewer jobs that are generally available and at that point the "golden child" really starts to apply. It's still possible, but usually there's a reason that position is vacant (nobody wants it).
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CPT (Join to see)
COL Randall C. - Rgr sir. As well, I think my getting to LTC early is less beneficial to the USAR than getting to MAJ early. There is no progression for me after LTC if I get there early or not, and the time I would be a LTC is going to be cut short by MRD. However, I could fully time out as a MAJ doing MAJ duties.
Additionally, my UIC is on the Joint Duty List, and last FY getting that joint designator was lowered from LTC to MAJ slots. So if I continue to sit where I am, when I get MAJ my time starts accruing to earn that Joint Duty designator (I know I'm butchering the terminology or the exact process).
However, my understanding is that Joint designator really comes into play for COL+. There is already enough opportunity at MAJ/LTC in the logistics branch for such a designator to not be needed as a deciding factor.
Additionally, my UIC is on the Joint Duty List, and last FY getting that joint designator was lowered from LTC to MAJ slots. So if I continue to sit where I am, when I get MAJ my time starts accruing to earn that Joint Duty designator (I know I'm butchering the terminology or the exact process).
However, my understanding is that Joint designator really comes into play for COL+. There is already enough opportunity at MAJ/LTC in the logistics branch for such a designator to not be needed as a deciding factor.
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