The biggest obstacle Marines face in promotion is lack of knowledge in how the promotion system works. Marines who understand cutting scores and composite score will have a better chance of getting promoted faster than their peers. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Kuande Hall)
“I talk to Marines all the time who wait until they lose a promotion spot the first time around before they start doing what they need to do to get promoted,” said Sgt. Omar A. Caraballo Pietri, career planner at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va.
In the Marine Corps, the junior enlisted ranks from private to lance corporal are based solely on time in grade, meritorious promotion or previous college credit hours. Once a Marine is promoted to lance corporal, though, his subsequent promotions to corporal and sergeant are based upon his performance as a Marine, evaluated by a composite score.
The biggest obstacle these Marines face to promotion is inexperience.
“Most Marines don’t understand how the entire system of promotion works,” said Cpl. Corey D. Reynolds, career planner at Headquarters and Service Battalion, Washington. “If you don’t understand something, how are you going to get promoted?”
The key to getting to the top is knowing what it takes to excel beyond the peer group.
Once a Marine has been a lance corporal for eight months and served for 12 months, he is eligible for promotion. A Marine can be promoted to sergeant once he has been a corporal for 12 months and served for a total of 24 months. The preparation for promotion, however, should begin long before time in grade and service requirements are met.
“Always look to pick up the next rank,” Caraballo Pietri said. “Think of how you can prove that you are able, willing and ready to pick up the next rank.”
Marines can work toward promotion by building up their composite scores. Composite scores are made up of several components and are calculated every three months. This means that all scores need to be put into the system before the calculation date in order for a Marine to be considered for promotion, said Reynolds. If a Marine doesn’t complete his training by the 20th day of the second month of the quarter, then it won’t be calculated for the next promotion quarter.
The first parts of the composite score are a Marine’s rifle qualification score, his Physical Fitness Test score and his Combat Fitness Test score. These scores are translated into a point system with perfect scores earning a maximum of 5.0 points. These points are then added together, divided by three and multiplied by 100 to determine the complete General Military Performance Score.
Boosting these scores can help raise a composite score significantly.
“The key to improving your PFT and CFT scores is not waiting until just before the test,” Caraballo Pietri said. “You need to keep up with your physical fitness all year so you can get the best score.”
A Marine’s day-to-day conduct at work is also crucial in his promotion opportunities.
“One major thing Marines should be improving is their work performance,” Caraballo Pietri said. “What a lot of them don’t understand is that their staff NCOs are looking at what they’re doing and how they’re performing.”
A Marine’s Average Duty Proficiency Marks and Average Conduct Marks are given to a Marine periodically by his superiors to rate his performance. These marks are averaged and then multiplied by 100 to be compiled for the composite score.
While a Marine must have specific time in grade and service to be considered for promotion, this time will also contribute to his overall composite score. A Marine’s time in service, in months, is multiplied by two and his time in grade is multiplied by five before being added to the composite score.
Besides work and physical training, a Marine can boost his score during off-duty hours as well. This can be done through Marine Corps Institute courses as well as college and vocational classes, which give a Marine Self-Education Bonus Points.
MCIs are one of the easiest and most important ways to boost your score, said Reynolds. Just seven MCIs will give a Marine his maximum 100 education points.
Time in grade, time in service, PFT score, CFT score, and rifle score are some of the components that make up a Marine's composite score. Marines should focus on improving weak areas in order to boost their composite score and increase their chance of promotion. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Kuande Hall)
MCIs earn 15 points and each college course is worth ten points.
Seeking education also shows initiative on the part of the Marine, a trait leaders should possess.
“Doing MCIs and continuing education with college courses shows that you want to improve yourself,” Carabello Pietri said. “Staying on top of all the different composite score components can be challenging.” Caraballo Pietri suggests that Marines employ the buddy system when improving their composite scores.
“It’s easy for a Marine to get overwhelmed by everything he needs to do. Bring a buddy along with you when you volunteer or sign up for college courses or go work out. It’s a lot easier to have multiple people reminding you to do them,” Carabello Pietri said
Marines can earn 100 bonus points for special assignments like recruiting duty, drill instructor duty and security guard duty. Even Marines who aren’t recruiters can earn 20 points for every person they refer to join the Corps with a maximum of 100 extra points possible.
The last thing to keep in mind when building your composite score is ensuring proper documentation is taken, said Caraballo Pietri.
“Anything you do, document it,” he said. “People do training and then never check MOL. When it comes time to get promoted, the training is not in MOL and the Marine doesn’t get promoted.”
This can be avoided by ensuring Marine Online is updated with every completion and score change. Caraballo Pietri also recommends keeping a personal copy of all records in case something happens to the government copy.
A Marine who understands his composite score and what it takes to get promoted will be able to attack his weak areas and maintain his strong ones, putting himself one step closer to promotion the next time cutting scores are calculated.
“If you reach the cutting score with your composite score, you rate to get promoted,” said Reynolds.
Promotion is just that simple.
Marines can calculate their composite score on MOL under the tools bar or online at http://thesupermarine.com/Calculator.aspx.