Promotion to Command Sergeant Major
and Sergeant Major (E-9)
The Command Sergeant Major's Roles and Responsibilities
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Army
Enlisted
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Enlisted soldiers who attain the distinction of being selected by
the Department of the Army for participation in the command sergeants
major program are the epitome of success in their chosen field, in
this profession of arms. There is no higher grade of rank, except
Sergeant Major of the Army, for enlisted soldiers, and no greater
honor.
As the command sergeant major you will enforce the policies and standards
of performance, training, appearance, and conduct of enlisted personnel.
You will also advise and initiate recommendations to the commander
and staff in matters pertaining to the local NCO support channel.
Additionally you will be expected to function completely without supervision.
Like the old sage of times past, your counsel will be expected to
be calm, settled and unequivocally accurate, but with an energy and
enthusiasm that never wanes, even in the worst of times.
 The
Sergeant Major's Roles and responsibilities
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As the command sergeant major you will enforce the policies
and conduct of enlisted personnel. |
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Essentially the sergeant major’s experience and ability are equal
to that of the command sergeant major, but the sphere of influence
regarding leadership is generally limited to those directly under
his charge.
Information courtesy of U.S. Army
The Command Sgt. Major / Sgt. Major Promotion Process
Unlike the promotion processes for Private through Staff Sergeant, your unit commander has little to do with the promotion process to E-7, E-8, and E-9. These promotions are completely centralized at Head Quarters of the Department of the Army (HQDA).
Enlisted Centralized Selection Boards are convened Army-wide, at the U.S. Army Enlisted Records and Evaluations Center (USAEREC) in Indianapolis, Indiana. USAEREC is a subordinate command of U.S. Army's Personnel Command (PERSCOM).
The Centralized Selection Board (CSB)
Each year HQDA determines how many soldiers within each MOS it plans to promote to the ranks of E-7, E-8, and E-9. About four months prior to convening the board HQDA also establishes and announces the zones for each board to consider. These zones define the date of rank (DOR) requirements for consideration by the CSB for both primary zone (PZ) or the secondary zone (SZ) selection.
The PZ consists of all soldiers of a specific grade whose DOR falls within the announced zone for consideration. The SZ provides outstanding soldiers, with a later DOR, an opportunity to compete ahead of their contemporaries.
There is no minimum time-in-grade (TIG) requirements for promotion
to E-9, but you must meet the minimum 9 years time-in-service (TIS)
requirements to be eligible for promotion.
Note: These are minimum TIS requirements -- it is extremely
difficult to make the rank of Sergeant Major in 9 years.
The Centralized Selection Board consists of officers and NCOs with
a general officer serving as the board president. The boards are divided
into nine to eleven separate panels, which in turn, review and score
the candidates records.
Although you do not personally meet the Centralized Selection Board,
you may write to the president of the promotion board to provide documents
and information. Although this written communication is authorized,
it should only address information that is not provided in your records
that you feel will have an impact on the board’s deliberations.
The promotion records consist of your Microfiche Record Review, Official
Photograph, Personnel Qualification Record, and Personnel Data Sheet
-- essentially everything that is in your military records, including
decorations (medals), dates of service, dates of assignments, duty
positions (past and present), performance reports, educational accomplishments,
military training, Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) score, and records
of disciplinary.
The members of the board are required to consider your entire career.
This ensures that no single event, good or bad, will determine your
standing in relationship to your peers.
The board members vote independently on each record, scoring them
on a scale of 1+/ - to 6 +/- . A score of 3 or better indicates that
you are fully qualified, but a score of 2 or less means that you will
be retained in grade or referred to the Qualitative Management Program
(QMP).
All the candidate's records are then rank ordered based on the score
given by the board members. The Army then takes all the selectees
(without regard to MOS), and assigns them a promotion sequence number,
which is assigned according to seniority.
Example: The Army will give the lowest sequence
number (0001) to the selectee with the most time-in-grade. Each month,
for the next 12 months, the Army will then release the sequence numbers
of those to be promoted during that month. This ensures a smooth promotion
flow for the following 12 months.
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