A shortage of sergeants in some specialties has prompted a new Army policy in which corporals
and specialists could be automatically promoted without a board. Under the policy, all eligible
specialists and corporals (with 48 months in service and a year in grade) will be placed on a
promotion list. Then, if a military occupational specialty falls beneath 100-percent strength at
the E-5 level, some Soldiers on the list automatically will be promoted. The new policy could
affect about 19,000 corporals and specialists currently in the active component, according to G1
personnel officials. Commanders are authorized to remove a Soldier from the Sergeant Recommended
List if the Soldier is not trained or is otherwise unqualified. The new policy should eliminate
specialties that historically have a shortage of sergeants, known as Star MOS’s, said an
official. The Army is currently short 1,549 sergeants in Star MOS’s.
