# Who has the greatest influence on a Cpl's promotion to Mcpl?



## Infanteer90 (31 May 2011)

Would it be the Sergeants in a unit or the Warrant Officer?


----------



## Nfld Sapper (31 May 2011)

I think it would be their Troop Warrant/Sergeant, SSM/RSM and, CO....


----------



## Infanteer (31 May 2011)

Company Sergeants Major are usually the guys who assign personnel to leadership courses.  He will do so in consultation with the Pl 2IC.


----------



## Northern Ranger (31 May 2011)

Not trying to sound like a know it all, but it has been my experience that the cpl or any member at any rank for that matter that has the  biggest influence on their promotion.  Yes the current system my have its flaws but hard work, good work and good attitudes and respect from peers do alot more for you than anything I may have to say about you.  If you don't have those qualities, very little will get done for you by anyone. I know its not the case all of the time but I think it is in a majority of the cases.


----------



## MikeL (31 May 2011)

Aside from your CoC recommending you for leadership, a lot of it comes down to you.  Are you competant? Do you show leadership? Maturity? Job knowledge?, etc

Also, you don't need to be a Cpl to be recommended and course loaded for PLQ.  Buddy(031 Pte) of mine was  good at what he did, showed leadership, etc and got course loaded while some Cpls didn't.  On completion of PLQ he was promoted to Cpl then a few days or a week later he was promoted to MCpl.


----------



## Fishbone Jones (31 May 2011)

Northern Ranger said:
			
		

> Not trying to sound like a know it all, but it has been my experience that the cpl or any member at any rank for that matter that has the  biggest influence on their promotion.  Yes the current system my have its flaws but hard work, good work and good attitudes and respect from peers do alot more for you than anything I may have to say about you.  If you don't have those qualities, very little will get done for you by anyone. I know its not the case all of the time but I think it is in a majority of the cases.



I'll echo what NR stated. The person with the biggest influence is the person to be promoted (you). Set forth a positive, mature, knowledgable, can do attitude and you'll be noticed by the people that make the picks.


----------



## dangerboy (31 May 2011)

-Skeletor- said:
			
		

> Aside from your CoC recommending you for leadership, a lot of it comes down to you.  Are you competant? Do you show leadership? Maturity? Job knowledge?, etc
> 
> Also, you don't need to be a Cpl to be recommended and course loaded for PLQ.  Buddy(031 Pte) of mine was  good at what he did, showed leadership, etc and got course loaded while some Cpls didn't.  On completion of PLQ he was promoted to Cpl then a few days or a week later he was promoted to MCpl.



Just be advised to go on Mod 6 you have to be minimum rank Cpl or have a waiver done to be course loaded.


----------



## Infanteer90 (31 May 2011)

All good input guys, but specifically between the Sergeants and the Warrant Officer who do you think it would be? In my experience it's the Sergeants who rank the corporals from #1 down and who tell the Warrant who is performing and who has potential. I realize that the Warrant is required for promotion administration but I don't believe that a Warrant should ever unilaterally decide which of the corporals in his unit will be promoted without consideration of the input of the Sergeants. At least not if the Sergeants are competent and doing their jobs. Am I wrong?


----------



## Drag (31 May 2011)

In my experience the person writing your PER has the most influence unless you have sufficiently impressed a very senior person who then becomes your "godfather."


----------



## dangerboy (31 May 2011)

To get promoted to MCpl will depend on how you ranked on the merit board, and as D3 said will depend on your PERs.  Also other things will influence your standing on the merit list such as second language profile, education, and OPME's.  It is really hard to say which rank level has the greatest influence as all your supervisors will have some say along with the other higher ups in the company outside your Pl.


----------



## Infanteer (31 May 2011)

Infanteer90 said:
			
		

> All good input guys, but specifically between the Sergeants and the Warrant Officer who do you think it would be? In my experience it's the Sergeants who rank the corporals from #1 down and who tell the Warrant who is performing and who has potential. I realize that the Warrant is required for promotion administration but I don't believe that a Warrant should ever unilaterally decide which of the corporals in his unit will be promoted without consideration of the input of the Sergeants. At least not if the Sergeants are competent and doing their jobs. Am I wrong?



What you are discussing is more an issue of personalities - perhaps the Sgt is a stronger personality and his input is hoisted aboard by the Warrant.

Don't discount the Officer; I took great interest in the potential of my soldiers and actively pushed the best ones on leadership training ahead of their peers.

Why you are talking about is a decision that comes about within a company's leadership; specifically the CSM, the Pl WOs with input from Sect Comds and the Officers overseeing the whole thing.  I can't give you an affirmative on who has the most "say" in it because that is dependant on personalities in all those leadership positions.


----------



## aesop081 (31 May 2011)

Infanteer90 said:
			
		

> I don't believe that a Warrant should ever unilaterally decide which of the corporals in his unit will be promoted without consideration of the input of the Sergeants.



Not a single person gets to decide, even at the national merit board level.


----------



## aesop081 (31 May 2011)

I'm going to guess that you have an issue with your WO ?


----------



## PMedMoe (31 May 2011)

Best advice I ever heard:  You are your own career manger.


----------



## Infanteer90 (31 May 2011)

CDN Aviator said:
			
		

> I'm going to guess that you have an issue with your WO ?



Nope, just a discussion we were having at work. My thought was that it's the Sergeants who see the corporal at work on a daily basis and that's who the corporal needs to impress more than the Warrant who relies on the input of the Sergeants. That's how it worked in my old army unit but now that I'm in the air force (after an OT) it seems that more weight is given to the Warrant's opinion. This is a flawed process in my opinion as the Warrants don't interact with the corporals on a daily basis or see them at work as often as the Sergeants do. Anyway, I was hoping that the process might have been a bit more cut and dry but obviously that's not the case. Thanks for the input everyone.


----------



## aesop081 (31 May 2011)

Infanteer90 said:
			
		

> . That's how it worked in my old army unit but now that I'm in the air force (after an OT) it seems that more weight is given to the Warrant's opinion. This is a flawed process in my opinion as the Warrants don't interact with the corporals on a daily basis or see them at work as often as the Sergeants do.



I am about 2 weeks away from promotion to WO but will still see my troops every day, will still fly with them and will still be more than able to form my own opinion about their performance and potential. I am currently relied on as a Sgt to determine those things but the WO gets to act as a sanity check because he sees everyone, not just the few guys i supervises. You cannot do objective evaluations without the immediate supervisor but you cannot do it either without the "big picture" that the next higher supervisor has.


----------



## Halifax Tar (1 Jun 2011)

PMedMoe said:
			
		

> Best advice I ever heard:  You are your own career manger.



Very true! 

And if you ever wonder why you may have been passed over a few times, take a deep, big look inside yourself I bet you find out why!


----------



## Infanteer90 (1 Jun 2011)

CDN Aviator said:
			
		

> I am about 2 weeks away from promotion to WO but will still see my troops every day, will still fly with them and will still be more than able to form my own opinion about their performance and potential. I am currently relied on as a Sgt to determine those things but the WO gets to act as a sanity check because he sees everyone, not just the few guys i supervises. You cannot do objective evaluations without the immediate supervisor but you cannot do it either without the "big picture" that the next higher supervisor has.



So I guess it really depends on the organization. My WO is much more of a manager and does not come down on the floor to watch us work. In fact the Sgt's tell him to stay in his office and leave us alone. This is normal where I work. Anyway, I can see now that my past experiences are not the norm throughout the forces. Each unit will undoubtedly function a little bit different from the next depending on the dynamics of those involved. Thanks everyone. 

Oh, and I was a Sergeant in the infantry before I made the mistake of remustering which is where my opinions come from. Guess if I'd made it to WO I might have a different point of view.


----------



## justmyalias (23 Jul 2011)

D3 said:
			
		

> In my experience the person writing your PER has the most influence unless you have sufficiently impressed a very senior person who then becomes your "godfather."



LOL @ godfather.,  _sufficiently impressed_ (from a cynic) can be as easy as being able to hold your liquor at the Mess (thereby gaining some notoriety)., or smoke like a chimney., so as to *coincidentally* be asked 'if it's time for a smoke' by your Sgts & Wo's.  It seems quite the water-tank-conversation parallel., those smoking pits.  Too bad we don't have water-coolers in the military.  I wonder the juicy kinda tidbits people would share there...


----------

