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How did you get promoted?

Lance Jack on finishing RMPTC, Full screw after passing Corporal's course just over 18 months later, was local Sergeant (unpaid) 18 months after that in Northern Ireland as there wasn't a Corporal's mess in Armagh on WIS. On my return to the mainland I was acting orderly sergeant/section commander as we didn't have a substantive sergeant (which pissed the class 1 corporals off as I was only a class 2!) :D
Drumadd Bks?
 
My bold. Memory jog:- A few days before i was due to fly back to the UK for my resettlement course at Aldershot I made a courtesy call on my old OC, whose driver i was for over a year, he pushed some paper work across his desk and said" Sign these and you will be promoted to full corporal tomorrow" I declined, it was a nice offer, but as my family were now all in the UK, and our goods and chattels were in a container somewhere at sea, it wasn't an option.
No point in PERSEC for this one. Do you remember Bob Delve the E/D? Proper miserable twat whose whole life was just whinging and moaning. Anyway, Bob, who unsurprisingly was a long time siggie, went to sign off. The OC (The one you drove around) asked him what would make him stay in. "Promotion!" was the obvious answer, so our boss fixed it and a few weeks later he got his first. I should add that in those days the first was in the CO's gift. About six months down the line Bob got bust for something probably quite trivial and was back where he started. By now though Bob knows how the system works so a few weeks later goes to sign off. They let him do the paperwork and he gets called into the OC's office. The good major tells Bob how sad it is that he has handed in his notice and it would be nice if he stayed. "If you promote me I'll stay," says Bob. "Ah well, it's been nice knowing you Sig Delve. Good luck!"
 
I just went on every course I was offered or could apply for.
Then once qualified it seemed it was a case of promote or be acting rank until promoted.

I was never going to be a WO1 as i peed off to many seniors, often being more qualified than them.
CO on my last day said I would be a loss to the regiment, if he had promoted me I would have stayed.
That...Is the absolute truth. It always amazed me how few people were qualified for their next promotion and just how many would put off that career course until 'next year'.

There was a thread a few months ago about what advice you would give a sprog and I suggested 'Do every course at the first opportunity'. All other things being equal, it is the key to success.
 
Iwasn't what you would call a high flyer but..
I started out as a junior and after being at my first unit for 18 months pt2 told me I was catapulted to local unpaid lcpl,(I hasten to add NOT rmp)after a further 12months I was posted out and tape taken down,
and on arrival at my new unit the ssm said "best bib and tucker OCs interview 0900" there I was told manning and records at haifax promoted me substansive ...which was nice, I was at 19and half, ace2 b2 junior drills but as I was ony a 6 yr man that was as far as it went.
 
By maintaining eye contact and delivering a crisp but accessible PowerPoint presentation.
5 slides ain’t enough, and 6 is too many.
Needless to say, etc. etc.
 
Iwasn't what you would call a high flyer but..
I started out as a junior and after being at my first unit for 18 months pt2 told me I was catapulted to local unpaid lcpl,(I hasten to add NOT rmp)after a further 12months I was posted out and tape taken down,
and on arrival at my new unit the ssm said "best bib and tucker OCs interview 0900" there I was told manning and records at haifax promoted me substansive ...which was nice, I was at 19and half, ace2 b2 junior drills but as I was ony a 6 yr man that was as far as it went.
RMP LCpl was substantive paid. ;)
 
Local Unpaid seems to be a trick that the Artillery played a lot

TBF, I think every Unit used Local Unpaid and for a variety of different reasons, not just trickery.

1. Establishment numbers were a factor.

2. How would someone handle the added responsibility of the next rank up was another

3. Fastball, short term posting / attachments.

4. Course requirements.

I'm sure that the above list could be expanded on.
 
Not sure when you were there, but in 90-91, they had a screws mess, I was in it most of the time despite being a private (even more so when you consider I was on a 6 month tour).
There wasn't a RMP company there at the time, I was there in 1990. The 2 RMP investigators with WIS lived in the Sgts mess. We were getting full screw wages but paying Sgts mess bills!
 
That...Is the absolute truth. It always amazed me how few people were qualified for their next promotion and just how many would put off that career course until 'next year'.
For Sergeant RAPC, EPC was a must. My boss argued that the moment I got my second, there was a (theoretical) risk of Acting Sergeant at any time.

There was much tutting when I rocked up for EPC as a Lance Jack. As it happened I was promoted halfway through the course.

Also as it happened, of the four subjects (thinks) Military Calculations (sums), Army in the Contemporary World, Military Writing (or something, basic English) and one other, lost after 37 years), I was completely exempt ACW "because I had Linguist German" (me neither) and because I had A Level Maths I basically turned up for the exam. I'd done the 3 hour exam, checked my answers, rewritten without crossings out and walked out after ½ hour. There may have been wistful looks from ¾ of the course.
 
For Sergeant RAPC, EPC was a must. My boss argued that the moment I got my second, there was a (theoretical) risk of Acting Sergeant at any time.

There was much tutting when I rocked up for EPC as a Lance Jack. As it happened I was promoted halfway through the course.

Also as it happened, of the four subjects (thinks) Military Calculations (sums), Army in the Contemporary World, Military Writing (or something, basic English) and one other, lost after 37 years), I was completely exempt ACW "because I had Linguist German" (me neither) and because I had A Level Maths I basically turned up for the exam. I'd done the 3 hour exam, checked my answers, rewritten without crossings out and walked out after ½ hour. There may have been wistful looks from ¾ of the course.

I mentioned earlier that on completion of flying training (Jul ‘78 )my local Sgt rank became acting. Next step career-wise was transfer to AAC which was a year at so down the line.

May ‘79 saw me half way through my first flying tour in NI, based in Omagh and getting about ten times the amount of flying that I was getting it BAOR. Having a great time.

One afternoon I get a call from the OC in Aldergrove. “Right Sgt Beefer, next week you’re off to Lisburn for a couple of weeks to do your EPC” Surprised doesn’t come close, my previous experience of being in NI was that you couldn’t even go dental sick without three weeks notice. I pointed out that we were working our nuts off and the lads would be pushed to keep up but he just said that he’d bring the Sqn 2i/c over from Germany to cover for me. He also pointed out that without EPC I couldn’t transfer to AAC because they’d want me to be fully qualified for sub Sgt.

So off I pop to Lisburn only to be told on arrival that they wouldn’t be covering the whole syllabus but only two of the four subjects! Luckily I had a word with the AEC boss and he made the material for the other two subjects available for self study and I was able to sit the exams.

As you say @AlienFTM it pretty basic anyway. Reading, writing, sums and a lot of waffling about man-management etc.
 
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No point in PERSEC for this one. Do you remember Bob Delve the E/D? Proper miserable twat whose whole life was just whinging and moaning. Anyway, Bob, who unsurprisingly was a long time siggie, went to sign off. The OC (The one you drove around) asked him what would make him stay in. "Promotion!" was the obvious answer, so our boss fixed it and a few weeks later he got his first. I should add that in those days the first was in the CO's gift. About six months down the line Bob got bust for something probably quite trivial and was back where he started. By now though Bob knows how the system works so a few weeks later goes to sign off. They let him do the paperwork and he gets called into the OC's office. The good major tells Bob how sad it is that he has handed in his notice and it would be nice if he stayed. "If you promote me I'll stay," says Bob. "Ah well, it's been nice knowing you Sig Delve. Good luck!"


BD was one of my lads in the squadron Genny bay, hes the one that married a local lass, it lasted five minutes. I bought a framed painting when he sold off all his worldly goods and moved back into the men's block. He did speak fluent German, had a interpreters flash on his sleeve, i assume he got paid for that.
 
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