Irish Promotions

[irishrgr]

A questions lads.......how do officer and enlisted promotions work in the Irish Army? (both active and reserve). Just looking for a general answer....here in the US the enlisted must have a minimum time in grade, then it becomes a points issues, with points awarded for military schools, evaluations, awards, civilian education, fitness, weapons score and so on. All this is added up, reviewed by a board and then points published.

Officer system is similar. They look at your education, military schools, evaluations (probably the heaviest weighted aspect) and assignments and you are either promoted or not. Passed over twice for any rank and you are seperated from the forces.

Let me know,

A

[hedgehog]

I take it seperated from the services is a polite way of saying

to be given your ticket

[irishrgr]

Yes, the people who write regulations probably didn't want to say something as indelicate as "get the fcuk out of the Army you worthless, fisheyed, pop-tart eating mothrefcuker....." so they came up with "involuntary seperation". If an officer is given the order of the boot, they can apply to re-enlist, but they have to come in as an E-5/SGT which would probably be a bit of a blow (to the ego and bank account) for a MAJ or higher. Enlisted soldiers/NCO's suffer no penalty for not promoting and can retire at almost any of the enlisted ranks.

A

[hedgehog]

does it happen though- that an Office would re enlist

I think its a gerat idea and may prune the DF of some of our dead wood gentlemen

[Bravo20]

In the Army Reserve it works as follows:

Enlisted

Pte to Cpl - Passing a Potential NCO's course. (In order to get on the course you have to be nominated by your sub-unit commander and there being enough places allocated to your unit. If there are more applicants than "possible places" then the decision is made at Bn Comdr level).

Cpl to Sgt - The old rules did not require the completion of a standard course to be promoted but I do remember there being a section on the form that had to be completed asking why this person should be considered for promotion if he had not completed such a course. Again the decision is made at sub-unit and unit level, some units are more fairer than others, however under the old system seniority counted for a lot.

Sgt to CS/CQMS - No course pre-requisite. Current trends are to advertise the appointment in routine orders and then a board interviews suitable candidates. I haven't seen any breakdown of points awarded but the board takes into consideration past experience, seniority and capacity to do the job.

CS/CQMS - BSM/BQMS - as above.

Officer

NCO to 2/Lt
Must be a cpl for at least 1 year. Nominated by unit commander. Pass an interview at Bde level. Complete the Potential Officers course. Pass medical, security clearance etc. How the Bde board makes its decision, I'm not sure. They require a military and civilian CV. They probably look at education (but it is not the be all and end all), I suspect there is horse trading between units (or at least the will look at a units future requirements). Other than that it is how you come across at the interview.

2/Lt to Lt
4 years in the rank, attended annual training for 3 out 4 years, have a satisfactory annual report for all of the 4 years. There was an intention to make the YOs course a mandetory requirement but that is not in place yet.

Lt to Capt
A minimum of 5 years in the rank to eligible for promotion. New rules will require interviews. If you were comissioned prior to 1 October 2005 you will automatically reach Captain after 15 years being comissioned (4 years 2/Lt and 11 years Lt).

Capt to Comdt
My memory of these requirements is a bit hazy. Again they are new and an interview board is set up at Bde level to select candidates. One of the requirements is that you have to be a certain distance from the post or be able to demonstrate capacity to attend.

Comdt to A/Lt Col
Interview. Pre-requisites: Your guess is as good as mine.

As you can see there is some structure to it but there is plenty of room for abuse should someone want to take that route

[DeV]

One of the requirements is that you have to be a certain distance from the post or be able to demonstrate capacity to attend.

Since the reorg it is the case for most positions.

[cooley]

You'd think that wouldn't you.

[irishrgr]

Our old system in the reserves was similar to the one mentioned above and was replaced by the points system (much to the chagrain of a lot of the old sweats) to get away from the "good old boy network" There are some sublties to the system, but for the most part it has a fairness to it. Over the years I've met a few NCO's who were officers once, they generally tended to be duds and should not have been allowed to re-enlist. It's very rare to find such a case on active duty, once out, they tend to stay out.

A

[strummer]

I have come across several Warrant Officers who were former Officers, mostly helicopter pilots, and one CID agent.