Certain Army non-commissioned officers are eligible to receive temporary promotions, as of Jan. 1. The promotions would remain in effect until they expire or are made permanent. The change applies to soldiers who serve in combat, are starting a family or are attending the Sergeants Major Course, and are unable to finish their required professional military education. The promotions affect ranks from E-5 (sergeant) through E-9 (sergeant major). Soldiers selected for temporary promotion would receive the pay and benefits associated with the higher rank.
The change affects National Guard and reserve members differently. These soldiers also have to meet or exceed the cutoff score and sequence number for their ranks. Also, they must be next in line on an approved order of merit list during the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1 and extends until Sept. 30.
The change carries requirements that soldiers complete their education requirement within certain time limits. For active-duty and full-time reserve soldiers, the course work will have to be complete no later than one year after deployment. For traditional reservists, the education must be complete within 36 months of their redeployment date.
Pregnant and post-partum active-duty and full-time reservists have 24 months to complete their education, while traditional reservists have 36 months from the date their pregnancy-based profile ends.
The change makes the policy the standard rather than the exception. Some 300 soldiers were approved for temporary promotions in 2019. That number could rise, Army officials believe, should the operations tempo increase.
