The meteoric rise of the missing soldier

I've just read about Staff Sgt. Keith “Matt” Maupin, (the only US soldier listed as captured in Iraq) having been promoted in absentia three times since his capture in August 2004.

Obviously, if he is still alive, he's not in an enviable situation, and he deserves everything the Army can give him.

However, I can't help but wonder if this is standard practice in the US Army?

Would it be normal to go from Private to Staff Sergeant in two years?

Are the thousands of missing from the Vietnam War all Generals now?

Full story here:

http://www4.army.mil/news/article.php?story=9394

 

It's good that they are still paying him as well, until he is given a different status other than "unknown". I can't remember offhand what our promotion procedure is for MIAs, but I do know that we change the status from MIA to Dead quite quickly, even for those where the body is not recovered that quickly - and that is purely an admin routine designed to terminate records and pay status. I've got a nagging feeling that we promote in absentia as well, or we did for POWs during WW2.

 

I am not suggesting that this is relevant to this situation, but I remember reading about the outstanding MIAs from Vietnam, and it is believed in some cases that guys who were known to be dead were described as MIA by their oppos in a big-hearted, but possibly misguided attempt to help out the widows, who would carry on receiving pay and benefits.
I am not at all certain about this, and I am quite prepared for one of the cousins with experience of that era or somebody else well informed to shoot me down in flames on this one.