[M1911A1]

You would think so. There is a push to retain Marines after the first cruise, but the administrative end of things is still what it is...time in grade, time in service and other requirements are what promote most Marines. There is an allowance for meritorious promotion ahead of schedule, but wartime does not always equal a faster ladder up.

There is an element of the career minded being eager to "get the ticket punched" with a tour in SWA, but for most of the young guys with the newly colorful chests they are competing against a group of peers that have the same record as they do.

I'm still active in the Reserve. A lot of reservists are getting plenty of active duty time.

[oh8eleven]

There is an allowance for meritorious promotion ahead of schedule, but wartime does not always equal a faster ladder up.

I hate to say this - "back in the day" (or gee, how did I get this old?) almost every Marine I knew was getting meritorious promos, one after another. In fact all four of mine were meritorious and I made Sgt in about 26 months.

Now I was an 0811 (as in my screenname) and maybe it was more prevalent within the three combat MOSs. Nonetheless, I'm still shocked to see all that fruit salad and no stripes.