Promotions for staff sergeant to sergeant major, with pay grades E-6 through E-9, typically happen once a year. This would then have a ripple effect down through the ranks, affecting ranks from sergeant to lance corporal. Marine Corps, and the same goes for all the levels above corporal.įor example, if a gunnery sergeant retires, it clears a spot for a staff sergeant to move up. A Marine lance corporal cannot get promoted to corporal unless there is an opening within the U.S. Marines goes strictly by the numbers needed in the higher ranks. For the first three ranks, promotions happen automatically once you meet the standard requirements.Īfter that, promotions happen based on need and suitability. Each time you are promoted, you move up a pay grade, from E-1 to E-2, etc., up to E-9, or a sergeant major. Pay grades may be the same for several ranks based on time in service.

The designation after the title denotes the rank’s pay grade. When you join the Marines, you begin as a private at the E-1 pay grade. Marine promotions work, the criteria for promotions and what you need to do to get one. This precise structure determines exactly what you need to do to move up through the ranks as an enlisted U.S. While similar to the concept of private sector promotions, advancement in the USMC is more specific than most.

Based upon certain criteria–which include time in service and value of work–you can move up through the ranks to better-paying, higher-responsibility positions. Marine Corps (USMC) promotion structure is a highly organized multi-rank system for enlisted U.S.

Marine corps evaluation form