Is the new army promotion all paper and no board?

SPC Bradford Bolden — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 09:35:25 -0400

When I left AD ARMY in Sep 16, in order to make E-5/E-6 you had to got in front of your BN Board. Now I'm in the reserves, I've been told that that all promotions Army Wide is now all paper work and no physical appearance. Is this true?

FYI I'm doing my own research.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 4 at 2017 10:21 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 10:21:32 -0400

Paper, to my knowledge.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 4 at 2017 12:54 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 12:54:53 -0400

SPC Bolden, The Army Reserve and Army National Guard do paper board. Every person that I know and based on my knowledge has done paperboard. So, it may be different for you coming from Active Duty. ,but it is what is it

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 4 at 2017 10:24 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 22:24:35 -0400

That is a negative. Promotion Boards on Active Duty are still in person. (I went to a board for E-6 last week)

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 4 at 2017 11:48 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 23:48:05 -0400

Depends on the unit, really. I know many a BN that do just paper, but I also know many a BN that do in person boards.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 5 at 2017 3:59 AM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 05 Aug 2017 03:59:10 -0400

News to me, I was just talking with a Specialist who is doing her board within the next 6 months.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 5 at 2017 7:04 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 05 Aug 2017 07:04:46 -0400

I boarded for E5 in February and picked up in April, yes active still does boards.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 5 at 2017 3:33 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 05 Aug 2017 15:33:39 -0400

Reserves does not require physical appearance boards for promotions.

Obviously, RA and USAR do things differently. Whoever told you it was Army wide was obviously very wrong, yes, RA still requires appearance boards.

Some USAR units do them, though not mandatory.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 6 at 2017 6:11 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 06 Aug 2017 18:11:00 -0400

No! ....... and any active duty Soldier is welcome to come to the reserves if they think it is easier to get promoted. You can enjoy full time responsibility for part time wages.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 6 at 2017 6:31 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 06 Aug 2017 18:31:14 -0400

Depends on the position and unit. The biggest issue with in person boards is units usually only see their Soldiers once a month. There's also the EPS system that usually autofills certian vacencies.

Response by Cpl Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 6 at 2017 7:11 PM

Cpl Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 06 Aug 2017 19:11:52 -0400

I don't know how it is in the Army Reserves, but I believe in the Marine Corps Reserves, you're competing in your MOS field instead of your specific MOS, i.e the 1300 field instead of just 1371 in my particular instance. I don't know if that's true or helpful in your case, but I thought I'd throw my two cents in. Also, if anyone could verify that for me, that'd be awesome.

Response by CSM Clifford Fargason made Aug 6 at 2017 7:48 PM

CSM Clifford Fargason — Sun, 06 Aug 2017 19:48:24 -0400

Active duty units are normally co-located with their higher headquarters so appearance boards are easy to do. In the Reserve Components that is rarely the case and their drill weekends may or may not be at the same time. When you combine that with the limited amount of time to train anyway, it makes sense to just do paper boards.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 6 at 2017 7:54 PM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 06 Aug 2017 19:54:27 -0400

That's how most reserve units and national guard units work. There are still promotion boards in big Army

Response by CPT Nick Bryan made Aug 7 at 2017 8:49 AM

CPT Nick Bryan — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 08:49:38 -0400

My unit does a Brigade Board once a quarter. However, not all eligible Soldiers get attend the board physically. We have BNs from Coast to Coast and even have a company in Puerto Rico. So getting Soldiers to a board can be very difficult.

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 7 at 2017 10:15 AM

CW3 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 10:15:49 -0400

Not sure how the Reserves do it, however, in the Guard, it seems to depend on the unit--at least when awarding the admin points, as anyone who is promotable will get a 4100 form asking if they want to be considered. Centralized promotions (E7 and above) are all non-physical boards, meaning a group of E9's get together and go over promotion packets to produce an OML. However semi-centralized (E5/E6) for the battalion level, and E2-E4 for the company level, I have seen guard units actually conduct physical boards. However, I have also seen people just get the standard admin points and promoted in units without ever going to a physical board... So I believe at that level in the Guard it depends on the unit. My information may be dated though.