CTN E4- E5 advancement
 

Hello all,

I'm currently in DEP scheduled to ship April 13th, contract as CTN. I go in as an E3 because of a degree. I understand the rate is auto E4 upon completing jcac school. I think I read you can test for E5 as soon as you put E4 with this rate. Can anyone verify or clarify if that is true?

Thanks!

Not true... push-button E-4 still needs 12 months Time in Rate (TIR) to advance to E-5. Because there are only two TIR dates though (Jan 1st and Jul 1st), and you don't really start getting paid until at least 6 months after taking the exam, it's possibly to graduate and put on E-4 in April-June, and then test in September during the next cycle.

To provide an example... my graduating class from VP-30 was the first week of July... admin being admin, got about half the class' advancement paperwork done at the end of June, and the rest done right before graduation in July. So some of us had a Jan 1st TIR date and got to take the test that following September... while the others had a July 1st TIR date and had to wait until the following March. One of my buddies with the July 1st TIR was able to take the test anyway, but it came back invalid from BUPERS due to insufficient TIR.

Huh, this was not my experience. Admin took months to complete the ATF paperwork, but they backdated all of the advancements to the 16th of the first month we were eligible.

That's not accurate.

Plus, why would you want to be in such a rush to put on CTN2 if you just finished A-school? You would be put into a leadership role when you have exactly zero idea about anything and it sets you up to fail immediately. Learn your job and the Navy first before you start worrying about rank.

/r
CTT1

Two words - civilian contractors...

Weird because I put on E4 in May '09 and took the fall advancement test that year. I didn't have to wait to take it nor advance as I advanced on the spring 2010 exam. I've always seen push button ET's/FC's take tests immediately after putting on E4.

You took the fall exam because your TIR date was 01JAN2009. Statistically, there's more of a chance a graduating push-button will fall in the window where they can take the next exam vs. those who can't. You'd basically have to graduate and get advanced Jan-Mar or Jul-Sep in order to not take the next exam... and the guys graduating in Jan or Jul even have some wiggle-room depending on when Admin dates the advancement paperwork. The guys in my FRS class got boned mainly because VP-30's Admin are civilians and just absolutely horrible at life.

It all depends where you fall in the cycle. It's not a written rule that it happens like that.

/r
CTT1

Is E-4 automatic after "A" School?