COVID Precautions Stay in Place for Fall E-4 through E-6 Advancements

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The Navy will keep existing COVID-19 precautions in place for the upcoming fall E-4 through E-6 active and reserve advancement cycles. It’s the same method used successfully for the last few advancement cycles. This means E-4 advancement exams for active duty (AD), full-time support (FTS), and drilling reserve Sailors are cancelled. Instead, qualified E-3s will be identified for advancement using the alternate Final Multiple Score (FMS) process that has been in effect since COVID-19 precautions started in March 2020.

The cancellation was announced in NAVADMINs 104/21 for AD and FTS, and 105/21 for Selected Reserve (SELRES) Sailors, both released on May 25. These cancellations impact all E-4 exams scheduled as part of the AD and FTS Cycle 252, as well as the SELRES Cycle 109. The only exception will be those drilling reservists taking the exam through the E-4 Prior Service Reenlistment Eligibility – Reserve (PRISE-R) program.

All other eligible E-3 Sailors will instead be ranked for advancement using an alternative FMS rank-order method without inclusion of the exam score, from a proctored exam. Fleet feedback from previous rank-order E-4 advancements has been positive.
The message also outlined the Navy’s plans for administering September’s E-5 and E-6 exams on a staggered schedule throughout the month as a further precaution against the virus.

“With uncertainty as to where the COVID-19 situation will be this fall, the Navy’s advancement team continues to work to ensure the safety of our Sailors,” said Rear Adm. James P. Waters, Director, Military Personnel Plans and Policy. “We are sure this method of advancing Sailors continues to advance qualified Sailors, maintaining the standards and culture of learning that drive our fleet enlisted advancement system.” The Naval Education Training and Professional Development Center (NETPDC) will not receive E-4 exam answer sheets. It is essential commands scrub the records of their advancement eligible E-3 Sailors to ensure all their E-4 Enlisted Advancement Worksheets are uploaded to the Navy Standard Integrated Personnel System, and up to date.

For Active Duty and Full Time Support Cycle 252, exams will be executed in two-week windows in September. The E-6 window will run Sept. 1 through 16, while the E-5 exams will follow, Sept. 17 through 30.

The window for the Selected Reserve E-5 and E-6 and E-4 PRISE-R Cycle 109 exams will run from Aug. 1 through Sept. 12.

Every effort should be made to spread the administration of exams evenly throughout each window in order to minimize the number of exam takers at one time, as well as allowing for maximum physical distancing. Commands are strongly encouraged to test all candidates for a given rating and paygrade at the same time to maintain exam integrity. Once exams are given, Educational Services Officers are encouraged to quickly mail in answer sheet packages to NETPDC. Used exams should not be held until the end of the testing window. This will ensure exams are processed and results are released in a timely manner.

Currently, the anticipated release for the total force results is November 2021. However, release of the results are heavily dependent upon prompt submission of completed answer sheets.

Leadership at all levels should read NAVADMINs 104/21 and 105/21 in their entirety and direct questions to the listed points of contact.