The Navy began its latest billet-based advancement policy Saturday, this time opening it fleet-wide.
The Command to Advancement Policy is a new option for sailors and commands to allow a sailor to advance to the next rank while taking on a billet that fits the new rank.
Under the Meritorious Advancement Policy, a sailor can be promoted to the next rank, such as going from E-4 to E-5, but due to the way the policy works, they will remain in the billet, meaning they are doing a job below their rank while a billet meant for their rank might be gapped, Lt. Megan Morrison, spokesperson with the Office of the Chief of Naval Personnel, told USNI News. Sailors who use MAP do not incur additional service time.
Instead, Command to Advancement allows sailors to choose to rank up and move into an appropriate billet. They would then serve the number of years that the billet requires, Morrison said. So if an E-4 sailor is approved through the Command to Advancement Policy, they would receive an E-5 rank and a billet within their command that fits the rank. They would then begin the length of service required anew. This means that sailors who might be a year into their current billet would not count that year toward their new role.
The policy also gives options to the command, as the command leaders can offer the advancement to sailors they would like to keep in the command. It is also easier to find a new sailor in a lower rank than an E-6 sailor, as an example Morrison said.
The sailor does have a choice as well due to the program. They can decide not to go through Command to Advancement and instead wait for other advancement boards if they would like to move to a different command, she said.
Unlike the Detailing Marketplace Assignment Policy, one of the Navy’s first attempts to change assignments to be billet-based advancement, the Command to Advancement Policy is open fleet-wide. DMAP is focused on specific billets, USNI News previously reported.
Those who are already using DMAP would not use CA2P. Any sailor wishing to use the new policy will need to be advancement eligible and have passed the Navy-wide Advancement Exam or Rating Knowledge Exam (RKE), according to a fact sheet accompanying the Navy administrative message.
