I held a variety of “regular" jobs before joining the Army Band. Everything from selling flowers on the corner to being the errand boy for an animation company. Some I liked (movie theater) some I didn't (food service). But they all had one thing in common:
I never advanced.
I spent an entire summer slaving away at Baskins-Robbins coated in ice cream and hot fudge on training wages—an evil tool used by some companies to keep them from paying minimum wage.
Training wages—groan. I mean, I'm sure I wasn't the first guy to leave the bananas out of the banana split.
To be fair, I had no interest in being promoted. I never intended to stay at any of these jobs. And most lasted no more than a summer.
Things changed when I joined the Army. I knew I was committed for at least 3 years, so I figured I'd try to move up the ladder a bit. I also had good supervisors that saw potential in me and helped steer me down the right path.
I started my career as a Specialist. This a standard for anybody joining the band these days—from “Ms. two P.H.D.s" to “Mr. barely got my G.E.D." if you join the band, you'll start as a specialist.
A specialist in the Army is not that bad. You're an E4. This means there are 3 levels of people below you. You get paid a little more and receive a little more respect.
Unfortunately in the band field, a specialist is the bottom of the food chain. If you're tired of being the guy cleaning toilets at the end of the day, you'll have to move up.
Promotion up to Sergeant and Staff Sergeant (E5 and E6) are very much under your control. It's based on a points system. The guy with the most points gets promoted. Period.
First you'll have to get dressed up and appear before a promotion board. They'll ask you questions about various Army topics. If you seem to know what you're talking about, they will recommend you for promotion. Confidence is key. Deep into my first promotion board, I was asked for the date of a significant event in Army history. After about 5 seconds of fruitless brain-straining I answered with conviction; “A long time ago, Sergeant Major."
Now all you need are points.
How does one get these points? A variety of ways. You will get points for your level of civilian education (those college degrees can help you here, no points for the G.E.D.... sorry). You will get points for your military education (truck driving school, combat life saver school, etc.). Deployments will earn you points, medals and awards earn points, being a great shot with a rifle on the range, scoring well on your Physical Fitness test all earn points. Your points are totalled up and the race is on.
The points for Sergeant are lower than for Staff Sergeant. After you make Sergeant your points do not reset. You just keep adding to them and working towards the next level. But you will have to attend another promotion board.
As each month rolls around the Army will decide they need so many new Sergeants in the Band. Let's say it's 5 for this month. They will then take the 5 promotable specialists with that have most points.
You may be saying this process doesn't seem particularly musical. You're right. It's not.
But you are only competing against other band folks. And you can get points for music in round about ways—I received my first medal for arranging Led Zeppelin's “Kashmir" for Concert Band. Which in turn gave me promotion points. And most importantly, if you can't play your way out of a paper bag, your supervisors will probably have absolutely no interest in sending you to the promotion board to begin with. So keep practicing!
As you move higher (E7—E9) the system changes. Promotions are now selected by a centralized board once a year. You submit your records, along with a current photo and cross your fingers. Of course, the more you've done the better you'll look.
It can be a very frustrating process. The list of chosen soldiers comes out once a year, and you're either on it or you're not. There's no information on how close or faraway you may have been from being selected. Sometimes a list of guidelines will come out saying what the board was looking for, but there is no guarantee that they will be interested in the same things next year.
Two months ago the list came out, and I was selected to be promoted to Sergeant First Class (E7). This was (and still is) very exciting news! As for why it happened this year and not previously, I cannot say.
Perhaps it was the way florescent lights of the photo studio danced across my head. Illuminating my short-cut hair like sparkly gray pixie dust. Giving me that seasoned “old soldier" look that's all the rage these days.
I never advanced.
I spent an entire summer slaving away at Baskins-Robbins coated in ice cream and hot fudge on training wages—an evil tool used by some companies to keep them from paying minimum wage.
Training wages—groan. I mean, I'm sure I wasn't the first guy to leave the bananas out of the banana split.
To be fair, I had no interest in being promoted. I never intended to stay at any of these jobs. And most lasted no more than a summer.
Things changed when I joined the Army. I knew I was committed for at least 3 years, so I figured I'd try to move up the ladder a bit. I also had good supervisors that saw potential in me and helped steer me down the right path.
I started my career as a Specialist. This a standard for anybody joining the band these days—from “Ms. two P.H.D.s" to “Mr. barely got my G.E.D." if you join the band, you'll start as a specialist.
A specialist in the Army is not that bad. You're an E4. This means there are 3 levels of people below you. You get paid a little more and receive a little more respect.
Unfortunately in the band field, a specialist is the bottom of the food chain. If you're tired of being the guy cleaning toilets at the end of the day, you'll have to move up.
Promotion up to Sergeant and Staff Sergeant (E5 and E6) are very much under your control. It's based on a points system. The guy with the most points gets promoted. Period.
First you'll have to get dressed up and appear before a promotion board. They'll ask you questions about various Army topics. If you seem to know what you're talking about, they will recommend you for promotion. Confidence is key. Deep into my first promotion board, I was asked for the date of a significant event in Army history. After about 5 seconds of fruitless brain-straining I answered with conviction; “A long time ago, Sergeant Major."
Now all you need are points.
How does one get these points? A variety of ways. You will get points for your level of civilian education (those college degrees can help you here, no points for the G.E.D.... sorry). You will get points for your military education (truck driving school, combat life saver school, etc.). Deployments will earn you points, medals and awards earn points, being a great shot with a rifle on the range, scoring well on your Physical Fitness test all earn points. Your points are totalled up and the race is on.
The points for Sergeant are lower than for Staff Sergeant. After you make Sergeant your points do not reset. You just keep adding to them and working towards the next level. But you will have to attend another promotion board.
As each month rolls around the Army will decide they need so many new Sergeants in the Band. Let's say it's 5 for this month. They will then take the 5 promotable specialists with that have most points.
You may be saying this process doesn't seem particularly musical. You're right. It's not.
But you are only competing against other band folks. And you can get points for music in round about ways—I received my first medal for arranging Led Zeppelin's “Kashmir" for Concert Band. Which in turn gave me promotion points. And most importantly, if you can't play your way out of a paper bag, your supervisors will probably have absolutely no interest in sending you to the promotion board to begin with. So keep practicing!
As you move higher (E7—E9) the system changes. Promotions are now selected by a centralized board once a year. You submit your records, along with a current photo and cross your fingers. Of course, the more you've done the better you'll look.
It can be a very frustrating process. The list of chosen soldiers comes out once a year, and you're either on it or you're not. There's no information on how close or faraway you may have been from being selected. Sometimes a list of guidelines will come out saying what the board was looking for, but there is no guarantee that they will be interested in the same things next year.
Two months ago the list came out, and I was selected to be promoted to Sergeant First Class (E7). This was (and still is) very exciting news! As for why it happened this year and not previously, I cannot say.
Perhaps it was the way florescent lights of the photo studio danced across my head. Illuminating my short-cut hair like sparkly gray pixie dust. Giving me that seasoned “old soldier" look that's all the rage these days.
