Senior NCOs of the Regular Army who want to compete for brigade- and battalion-level command sergeant major and sergeant major key billet positions that open in fiscal 2017 have until Sept. 22 to submit opt-in requests for the annual selection board.

Under a change in policy just approved by Army leaders, NCOs selected for these duties will serve 30-month tours, rather than 24 months, in these senior leadership assignments.

Positions that required 12-month or 36-month tour lengths are not subject to change.

The change in tour lengths was driven by feedback from sergeants major and commanders, according to Sergeant Major of the Army Dan Dailey.

"When we started this program, we were limiting tours to 24 months, which was causing a lot of turbulence. We were moving sergeants major very rapidly," said the Army's top-ranking enlisted soldier.

"We like to stabilize families for 36 months or more if we can … but 24 months is sometimes very taxing on the families and the (soldier). Typically, when you're a sergeant major, with that amount of time in service, you have children who are in high school, and things like that," Dailey said.

The sergeant major said the 30-month tour standard also supports the overall talent management goals he is trying to achieve in regard to experience and time in position.

The new rules will apply to positions that are filled in fiscal 2017, which begins Oct. 1, 2016.

However, Dailey said that for soldiers who already are serving in these positions, "we have allowed commanders and command sergeants major to extend (their tours) in limited quantities … to 30 months if it makes sense in regard to deployments and things like that."

Noting that he already has gotten questions from the field regarding the new policy, Dailey said commanding officers will continue to do 24-month tours because their talent management and life cycle is managed differently.

Dailey said there "was never a guarantee" that command teams would come in and leave a unit together.

NCOs who want to compete for selection by the Oct.21-Nov. 6 board must use the Command Preference Designation web application to opt in and rank-order their preferences for assignment.

The CPD will open Aug. 24 and close Sept. 22.

The available unit types to be filled by the board, and the MOS and career management field requirements, are displayed in the accompanying chart. Soldiers who do not opt in will not be considered by the board.

Soldiers who do opt in will be eligible for selection in all categories for which they are eligible. Positions to be filled by the October board will be organized under one of the following major categories:

Operations: Brigade- and battalion-size tactical units available for worldwide deployment with missions to provide combat power to combatant and joint task force commanders.

Generating: Non-tactical units focused on providing support to theater, generating soldiers for conventional and special mission units of the Army and sister services, or dedicated to protecting soldiers and their families in designated locations. Includes organizing, directing, coordinating and controlling installation support and service activities.

Training:– Units directly involved in training at the National Training Center, Joint Readiness Training Center, Joint Multinational Readiness Center and First Army. Included in this category are NCO academies hat teach NCO Education System courses. Battalion-level positions require soldiers with professional development proficiency code 6C and brigade positions NCOs with PDPC 7C.

Key billet:– Staff sergeant major positions that require highly developed skills and experience, and that are considered critical for a unit’s mission. Key billet sergeant major typically manage resources and oversee processes that operate in a leadership environment.

The zones of consideration are:

Brigade CSM: Command sergeants major and sergeants major who have code 6C or 7C with a basic active service date not earlier than March 31, 1988, and a date of birth not earlier than March 31, 1958. Eligibility top compete for a second brigade-level CSM assignment are limited to training positions requiring a former brigade CSM.

Brigade key billet: All CSMs with code 7C are eligible to compete, as are sergeants major with code 7S, and SGMs with code 6S currently assigned to a key billet.

Battalion CSM: Sergeants major with code 6S and a basic date of March 31, 1988, and later, and a date of birth not earlier than March 31, 1958 are eligible to compete. Also eligible are promotable master sergeants who meet these time requirements and who graduated from Class 66 of the Sergeants Major Course, or who are enrolled in the non-resident course of the SMC.

Battalion Key Billet: Sergeants major with code 6S as well as CSM with code 6C and a basic date of March 31, 1988, or later, and a birth date not earlier than Mmarch 31, 1958, are eligible to compete for a battalion-level key billet.

For additional information, NCOs should consult MilPer Message 15-244, dated Aug. 7, 2015.

Download available unit types, and the MOS and career management field requirements.

About Michelle Tan

Michelle Tan is the editor of Army Times and Air Force Times. She has covered the military for Military Times since 2005, and has embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Haiti, Gabon and the Horn of Africa.

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