'Up or out' rules eased - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

'Up or out' rules eased

The Army has increased the maximum service limit for sergeants major from 30 to 32 years, while relaxing "up or out" restrictions for most other enlisted ranks.

Changes to the tenure ceilings, called retention control points, took effect Nov. 1 for 483,000 members of the Regular Army and Active Guard and Reserve.

Retention control points are the maximum years of active service authorized for soldiers at the different enlisted ranks.

A related "up or out" policy generally requires that soldiers separate or retire if they are not promoted before reaching their RCP.

The new policies do not apply to National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers who have been mobilized, or to soldiers assigned to reserve troop program units or the Individual Ready Reserve.

The new rules that allow enlisted soldiers to have longer careers are the direct result of ongoing changes in promotion and schooling policies ordered by Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey in late 2007.

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston said the service wants to develop a deep bench of trained and experienced NCOs to serve in senior leadership positions that, in some cases, have gone vacant because of a lack of qualified soldiers.

Highlights include:

• An increase in the RCP for most sergeants major from 30 to 32 years of service.

Soldiers who serve as command sergeants major in general officer commands, called nominative positions, can serve up to 35 years, as can command sergeants major and sergeants major assigned to the Army Band, Army Field Band, Drum and Fife Corps and West Point Band.

• First sergeants and master sergeants selected for promotion to sergeant major or attendance at the Sergeants Major Course can remain for 32 years, a two-year increase. This means the average promotion point for sergeant major will increase from three to five years time-in-grade.

The increase in the time-in-grade requirement for promotion to sergeant major gives master sergeants more time to develop leadership skills in such positions as first sergeant.

• First sergeants, master sergeants and promotable sergeants first class can stay in service for 29 years, a three-year increase.

• The RCP for sergeants first class and promotable staff sergeants is increased from 24 to 26 years of service, while the ceiling for staff sergeant moves from 22 years to 23.

• The RCP for private and private first class jumps from thee years to eight years.

Because most soldiers are promoted to private first class upon completing six to 12 months of service, and to specialist on reaching 12 to 24 months service, very few junior enlisted soldiers are expected to reach the eight-year service limit.

However, the change does allow the Army to take advantage of a new law, the 2009 Defense Authorization Act, that increases the maximum term for re-enlistment contracts from six to eight years.

Should the Army exercise that authority, it will allow career counselors to negotiate lengthier re-up contracts that were restricted by the three-year RCP in the past.

• In addition to the RCP changes, the Army also has set the maximum age limit for active-duty enlisted soldiers at 62.

This is a direct reflection of the 2007 policy that extended the enlistment age to 42. The new tenure policy allows soldiers to complete 20 years of service, and qualify for retirement pay, before reaching the mandatory retirement age.

NCO professional development

Changes to retention control points and the mandatory retirement age are directly related to ongoing changes in the senior NCO ranks of the Army, said Lt. Col. Tom Erickson, chief of the enlisted professional development branch in the Office of the G-1 at the Pentagon.

At the heart of the new system is a select-train-promote development strategy that stands in sharp contrast to the train-select-promote system of the past.

Transition to the new system began in June with the sergeant major promotion and training selection board, and is expected to take about three years to implement, Erickson said.

"When we analyzed this, we determined that we had to extend the RCP by two years, which will allow us to get at least two three-year tours out of a sergeant major," he said.

Pentagon analysts also determined that the 32-year RCP will give sergeants major in battalions and brigades greater opportunity to compete for high-level assignments, such as nominative command sergeant major.

"Our expectation is that the new RCP probably will increase the time-in-service requirement for promotion to sergeant major, which in turn will cause a rippling effect down through the ranks to staff sergeant," Erickson said.

The new RCPs at promotable staff sergeant, sergeant first class and master sergeant anticipate those probable changes.

"The flip side of the select-train-promote strategy is how we keep soldiers longer on active duty," said Master Sgt. Patrick Johnson, a policy integrator in the G-1 professional development branch.

The Army was given an assist in 2007, when Congress made changes to the basic military pay table that stretch longevity pay raises past 26 years of service out to 40, with 2.5 percent increases occurring at different points depending on grade.

Under the 2009 pay rates that take effect Jan. 1, the monthly pay for a sergeant major with 26 years of service will be $5,928, but it increases to $6,224 at 30 years of service, and $6,536 at 34 years.

Sources note that along with the opportunity to serve longer under a new pay table, soldiers also have the opportunity to increase their retirement pay, which is calculated using base pay rates.

Pentagon officials also believe the RCP changes will help the personnel community support the wartime manning requirements of operational units.

That is because the changes give assignment managers greater flexibility in manning brigades and other units because soldiers can stay in the Army longer, Erickson said. However, Johnson said the system is flexible for individual soldiers.

"Soldiers don't have to stay in service until they hit the RCP, they can choose to leave earlier," he said.