Videos make promotion process easy

9 Apr 2004 | Staff Sgt. Benjamin N. Haynes Marine Corps Training and Education Command

The Personnel Management Division, Manpower & Reserve Affairs, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, recently produced three new informational videos that explain important aspects of the promotion process for all Marines.

Two of the videos, The Officer Promotion Process and The Staff NCO Promotion Process, show officers and enlisted Marines how to prepare for a promotion selection board and explain the promotion selection board process.

"The Officer Promotion Process video is actually about three years old and has been passed out to board members so they can conduct PME sessions back at their commands," said Maj. Pete Gillis, Officer Section Head, Personnel Management Division. "We've put the video out on MarineNet now for all officers to view."

The Enlisted Promotion Process video, which is less than a year old, provides a great deal of information on the enlisted promotion board process, which will help Staff NCOs better understand the importance of their Fitness Reports when preparing for a board.

According to Gillis, understanding promotion boards is an educational process and the videos will help Marines   learn what a board is all about, and basically understand the process.

"The intent behind the videos is to de-mystify the promotion board process," he said. "We want Marines to know how it works, and show that it's not a big, smokey room. It's fair, and all Marines are getting an equal shot at promotion."

The third video, The Performance Evaluation System, gives a detailed review of how information is displayed on a Master Brief Sheet and provides great detail on Relative Value.

"This video is a verbatim production of the brief given by [the Personnel Management Support Branch] to all promotion boards," said Gillis. "This is probably the greatest utility for [reporting seniors] and [reviewing officers], as well as Marines. It helps understand how the marks on the FitReps affect those before a promotion board."

The videos are available on the Marine Corps University's College of Continuing Education's Web site at www.marinenet.usmc.mil/library/reference or through the promotion section homepage, www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/promo.

"This process is not a secret," said Gillis. "Be involved, know how the process works, ask questions."

Marine Corps Training and Education Command