Posted on Apr 13, 2015
We are not promoted by past performance, we are promoted by future potential?
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Over the past few days, I had the opportunity to hear a commander address the troops. During the comments, the commander said, we are not promoted based on past performance, we are promoted based upon our potential.
While that is nice to say, and could actually be true, it doesnt match my experience. So, I am giving this some thought and assessing if I need of a change of perspective. What are your thoughts?
While that is nice to say, and could actually be true, it doesnt match my experience. So, I am giving this some thought and assessing if I need of a change of perspective. What are your thoughts?
Posted in these groups: 
Promotions
Promotions
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 21
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I think you need an "other" category sir. We are promoted by both.
Our NCOERs/OERs are written by our raters on our past performance, we are then "rated" by our senior raters on our potential for greater responsibility or rank.
The centralized promotion board puts more weight on a senior raters comments as opposed to the raters.
Our NCOERs/OERs are written by our raters on our past performance, we are then "rated" by our senior raters on our potential for greater responsibility or rank.
The centralized promotion board puts more weight on a senior raters comments as opposed to the raters.
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LTC (Join to see)
I agree that it should be both, but I am interested in the SM feedback as to their perceptions. I have withheld my opinion (and I have one), so I dont influence the feedback.
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Because nobody has a crystal ball to look into the future and see what a service member is capable of, we have to promote on past achievements. We make the assumption that past achievements will translate to future achievements. Sometimes that's true, and sometimes it's not, but it's the best we've got. Potential is a very hard attribute to judge.
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TSgt David Holman
You can use past actions as future indicators. For example, if a person has failed when given increased responsibilities within their rank, it might not be a good idea to give them even more responsibility. However, if you have a junior member who has shwon the ability to adapt to every challenge given to them, there is a good chance they will be able to adapt to the increased responsibility of a promotion.
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SSgt (Join to see)
TSgt David Holman Absolutely, and that's the only metric we have to go on, as we can't look into the future and see definitively what is going to happen. However, there are times where we misjudge service member's character. There are those who get promoted to the next rank, and don't do well. Just because a soldier is an awesome specialist, doesn't mean he's going to be an excellent NCO. It's an assumption we make, and one that's usually true, just not always. The system is imperfect, but it's the best that we can possibly do. That's all I'm saying.
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