Finally made cut off.

2014-03-27T02:13:43-04:00

SO this month I finally met the cut off score. But the thing that bugs me the most is points where 798 for two months then went down to 451 then 344. I worked so hard to get up to 520 points. I feel like I was undercut and they picked up all those people with fewer points who weren't even trying to get more. But none the less we got like 11 people getting promoted in my old company and probably close to 20 in the BN. That's a lot considered some months we see noone getting promoted to just maybe 1-4 Soldiers. Also I know congress selects how many NCOs the Army can have but how does that and the point system work?

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 27 at 2014 2:44 AM

2014-03-27T02:44:11-04:00

Congress/Army says "We can have xx # of NCOs of each type of rank." Army then looks across the board and first asks "Do we have that many of each rank and MOS?" If the answer is "no" then they say "We need xx more NCOs of this rank and this MOS." Once that # is determined then they go to the list of the next lower rank and pick that many NCOs off the list.

For example, the Army says "We only have 10 11B20s and we need 12." So they go to the list of E-4s and pick the top 2 11B10s. At least this is the way it is supposed to work. How it actually is getting executed may be different or even wrong, but that's where Officers and Sr NCOs should be monitoring and improving the system.

Response by SFC Steven Harvey made Mar 27 at 2014 3:31 AM

2014-03-27T03:31:12-04:00

When the points drop that's the Army saying "we know how many people this will promote". It's just like Senior NCO boards and Officer boards. The Army knows how many people they need each month and drop the cutoff just enough to promote the people needed.

If it's 798 for years and suddenly drops to 400 or something they might have stood up a new unit, or had an MOS realignment. When 25N came into play they told all of the 25Fs to reclass. 4 month later the points dropped drastically and everyone who reclassed got upset.

Response by CSM Michael J. Uhlig made Mar 27 at 2014 6:44 AM

2014-03-27T06:44:41-04:00

Congratulations Sergeant. I ask that you do not worry about those with lesser points being brought into the Corps of the Non Commissioned Officer with you. Your hard work and dedication will help you when it is time for consideration for promotion to Staff Sergeant, you have already demonstrated the desire for continued service by earning the points you've earned. Now you are about to embark on a different journey for the remainder of your career.

You are now looked at harder to be the standard bearer, the example setter and the professional. The Creed of the NCO is your rule and guide for how you conduct business. You will be given the NCO Charge, understand it, live it. You have to have the professionalism to separate yourself from peers as a Specialist, you have to be able to lead and guide them, and counsel them! I encourage you to ensure you are involved in the lives of your Soldiers and their families, do not take for granted that they are ok, make sure you always inspect what you expect. Talk with your Soldiers, not to them, continue to challenge and build your team and you enjoy your leadership time.

Once again, congratulations Sergeant. Hooah!

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 27 at 2014 7:25 AM

2014-03-27T07:25:11-04:00

Like CSM Uhlig said don’t worry about the newly promoted
Sergeants with less points then you. It's not about the points a soldier has,
its about what the new Sergeant is going to bring to strengthen the Corp of
Noncommissioned Officers and better lead today’s Army. As long as you lead off
with your left front and by example you will progress ahead of your peers and
one day they will be your subordinate. Always remember "Know one is more
professional then I"

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 27 at 2014 7:42 AM

2014-03-27T07:42:40-04:00

SPC Smith, <div><br></div><div>CSM Uhlig had the perfect response.<div><br></div><div>I would add this:  Think of the soldiers who had over 700 points who got picked up when you did.  Would you want them saying that they were undercut because you got promoted with only 520 points and were obviously "not even trying to get more?"  Sometimes the system doesn't seem fair, but there's always someone getting screwed harder than you are.</div></div>

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 27 at 2014 8:18 AM

2014-03-27T08:18:59-04:00

<p>To answer your question about how many NCOs are allowed as opposed to how many they promote monthly. When a number is decided on (based on numerous factors, not just what someone feels like in a month) then basically they look at the reports to see how low they will have to drop the points in order to fill those slots. It is nothing more than that. If you are worried that you may have "worked too hard" when others didn't then you may want to re think that mode of reasoning. Look on the bright side...... It is less that you will have to do later when you are a SGT Promotable.</p><p> </p><p> Do you know any thing about trend reports? You should take a look at those to see trends for promotion in certain MOS's. here is a link http://www.ncosupport.com/armypromotions/promotion-trend-report.html </p><div class="pta-link-card"><div class="pta-link-card-picture"><img src="http://www.google.com/images/poweredby_transparent/poweredby_000000.gif"></div><div class="pta-link-card-content"><div class="pta-link-card-title"><a href="http://www.ncosupport.com/armypromotions/promotion-trend-report.html" target="_blank">army enlisted promotions trend report</a></div><div class="pta-link-card-description">The Enlisted Promotions Trend Report is a by-military occupational specialty (MOS) report of sergeant (SGT) and staff sergeant (SSG) promotion eligible that will allow Soldiers to quickly determine th...</div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="pta-box-hide"><i class="icon-remove"></i></div></div>

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 27 at 2014 9:34 AM

2014-03-27T09:34:50-04:00

Be proud of your accomplishment, and instead of focusing your attention on the cutoff scores, focus on your senior NCOs, and work towards getting to the next level.

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 27 at 2014 11:25 AM

2014-03-27T11:25:38-04:00

I think there is a general misunderstanding of points. The cutoff points don't determine who gets promoted - the opposite is true. If the army needs ten soldiers in an MOS, they promote the 10 soldiers with the most points. The tenth soldier, who has the lowest points of all the promotees becomes the 'cutoff' score, and thus that becomes points for the month.

798 doesn't mean its hard to get promoted in an MOS, it simply means nobody was promoted that month.

So long as you have more points then your peers, its irrelevant what the cutoff is or has been, as you're going to be in the front of the line. Food for thought.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 27 at 2014 7:43 PM

2014-03-27T19:43:01-04:00

Didn't mean to offend anyone with my last statements and I appologize if I did. I was just curious and thought they only picked the soldiers with the most points. Lets say they want 20 NCOs and currently have 30 soldiers but they want to wait for those soldiers to have over 500 points and each time a soldier hits over 500 they would promote them. I got soldiers here in my S1 that are promotable but 42A points stay really high and I kind of feel bad picking up bepfor they did, they've been promotable longer than me. Every MOS has different in and out calls. I now have a pretty good understanding of the whole system.

Response by SFC Eric Williams made Nov 16 at 2015 6:23 PM

2015-11-16T18:23:06-05:00

Take your eye off the underachiever and keep your immulating eye on the over achiever. Eventually you will look in the mirror and realize who you are.
The time you take focusing on the underachiever is time you rob yourself of your accomplishments. It's never what rank a person has it is what that person has racked I. Their head......hang with those who are smarter than you...it's not that hard to do.....lol. Congratulations on your upcoming promotion.smitty

Response by SGM Gregory Tarancon IV made Jan 17 at 2019 2:38 PM

2019-01-17T14:38:21-05:00

Nice job