Said the same thing to me in '72 at Ft. Lewis. I said the same thing in 73 in Ft. Bliss. Same outfit, good outfit.
When I arrived at Fort Bliss in 76, I was told.."The best way to make E-6 is to come here as an E-7". ditto when I arrived at the other 2 units.
In reality those three units were the best units that I was assigned to in my army career. Go figure!