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The reason I asked is it seems many/most? young men enlisting envision themselves making a career out of it.
It would seem to be the branch of service that has the highest percent of its enlisted men serving 20+ would be the one that most likely would work out to fulfill his goal.
Hard to say. It may be a toss up between the Air Force and the USMC in terms of what percentage wants to, but the Army may win in what percentage actually does.
I do think the percentage of persons making 20 years is less than 17% of the Air Force.
That's probably because most people are pushed out by the asinine "up or out" policy.
That only applies to officers O-5 and above. If they don't make O-6 after a certain amount of TIG (time in grade) they are placed into forced retirement. Of course if you are an O-5 you have probably served 18 years at a minimum, so by the time you are forced to retire you should be well passed 20. When I was in the Army the career track for officers was usually to make O-3 by about only 3-4 years in service, but then spend the next 10 years as an O-3 so that by the time they made Major they had a minimum of 13-14 years experience. Yes, at O6 people start becoming political animals, and to go beyond that and become a flag officer takes some political savvy.
With enlisted ranks, sure there were plenty of people at the E7 level hoping to make E8 and E8s hoping to finally make E9, but in many MOS' had to wait years for a vacancy. Enlisted personnel aren't forced to retire if they don't move up. Of course during the high turnover years that I served people were promoted very quickly. I was an E5 after only 2¾ years, and it was not uncommon to see guys make "7 after 7" (E7 right at 7 years of service which was the earliest someone could attain that rank, but because of which rule I do not know).
That only applies to officers O-5 and above. If they don't make O-6 after a certain amount of TIG (time in grade) they are placed into forced retirement. Of course if you are an O-5 you have probably served 18 years at a minimum, so by the time you are forced to retire you should be well passed 20. When I was in the Army the career track for officers was usually to make O-3 by about only 3-4 years in service, but then spend the next 10 years as an O-3 so that by the time they made Major they had a minimum of 13-14 years experience. Yes, at O6 people start becoming political animals, and to go beyond that and become a flag officer takes some political savvy.
With enlisted ranks, sure there were plenty of people at the E7 level hoping to make E8 and E8s hoping to finally make E9, but in many MOS' had to wait years for a vacancy. Enlisted personnel aren't forced to retire if they don't move up. Of course during the high turnover years that I served people were promoted very quickly. I was an E5 after only 2¾ years, and it was not uncommon to see guys make "7 after 7" (E7 right at 7 years of service which was the earliest someone could attain that rank, but because of which rule I do not know).
Enlisted men are forced out if they don't advance.
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