CPO SELECTION BOARD ELIGIBILITY

Approximately 18,000 Active Duty First Class Petty Officers will be selection board eligible (SBE) for Chief Petty Officer this year. The NAC staff is currently scanning and scoring thousands of exam answer sheets as they come in from the Fleet. Each candidate's performance mark average and exam standard score will be calculated to determine the Final Multiple Score (FMS). NAC will publish the SBE list for each rating once 95% of the rating exam answer sheets have been received. Candidates who have a rank-ordered FMS that falls within the top 60% in their rating will be SBE. NAC anticipates publishing the SBE results in March. Good luck to all candidates! (N32)

RESERVE ADVANCEMENT EXAM ADMINISTRATION

On this first drill weekend in February, many E3-E6 Reservists will take the Navy-wide advancement exam. Reserve exams are administered twice a year in February and August. Good luck to all candidates! (N32)

Congrats to our Newly Selected FY-16 Command Master and Senior Chiefs!

• Command Senior Chief Results
• Command Master Chief Results

What’s in your Career Toolbox?

PROBLEMS WITH THE CHIEF’S EXAM – The failure rate among chief candidates has doubled in three years and MCPON Stevens says he knows why. http://ow.ly/JsRUj

The failure rate has doubled for the chief’s exam in the past three years, which some officials believe is a sign of a lack of preparation. First classes took the chief’s exam Jan. 15 in a gym on Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy.(Photo: MCC Travis Simmons/Navy)

MARCH ACTIVE DUTY E4-E6 NWAE DATES

Advancement Cycle NAVADMIN 248/14 provides guidance for the Active Duty E4-E6 Navy-wide Advancement Exam (NWAE) administration. Exam administration dates are:

E6 * 5 March 2015
E5 * 12 March 2015
E4 * 19 March 2015

Bibliographies are posted on NAC's NKO portal.

Good luck to all candidates!

ACTIVE DUTY E6 NAVY-WIDE ADVANCEMENT EXAM

Cycle 227 Active Duty exams for candidates eligible to advance to E6 was administered Navy-wide on Thursday, March 5. Navy advancement exams are comprised of 175 questions, of which 150 are rating/job specific. The Professional Military Knowledge portion of the exam is 25 questions. Candidates' exam Standard Score (rating knowledge standing among peers) is one element of the Final Multiple Score (FMS) which is used to rank order candidates for advancement. Best of luck to all those PO2s who have taken the exam!

ACTIVE DUTY, FULL-TIME SUPPORT AND CANVASSER RECRUITER FY16 CHIEF PETTY OFFICER SELECTION BOARD ELIGIBILITY LIST IS AVAILABLE.

Much thanks to the Fleet ESOs who did a great job returning answer sheets this cycle. NAC was able to quickly process all advancement-eligible PO1s based on two factors - performance and technical knowledge. Under the new Final Multiple Score (FMS) formula announced in NAVADMIN 114/14, performance (promotion recommendation block average) is 60% of the FMS and technical knowledge (rating exam standard score, which represents knowledge standing among peers) is 40%.

Candidates are rank ordered by their FMS for selection board eligibility. Only those with an FMS that falls in the top 60% in each rating are selection board eligible. Selection board results are now posted on NAC's NKO portal. Common Access Card (CAC) access from a .mil domain computer is required. Congratulations to all those candidates who are FY16 Chief Petty Officer Selection Board Eligible!
(N32)

E4 NAVY-WIDE ADVANCEMENT EXAM FOR
ACTIVE DUTY, FULL-TIME SUPPORT & CANVASSER RECRUITERS

On Thursday, March 19, candidates eligible to advance to Petty Officer Third Class have taken the Navy-wide advancement exam. Some of those Sailors for the first time. The exam score depends on how well they did on the exam compared to everyone else taking the same exam. Good Luck to them all!

Plan for CAP - 4 Things to Know...

FY16 MASTER CHIEF QUOTAS ANNOUNCED

CNO to Advance Four Sailors of the Year to Chief Petty Officer
Story Number: NNS150421-20Release Date: 4/21/2015 4:37:00 PM
From Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Four Sailors received career-altering and life-changing news recently. In four separate ceremonies, Steelworker 1st Class Brenton Heisserer, Logistics Specialist 1st Class Blanca Sanchez, Boatswain's Mate 1st Class Joe Mendoza, and Construction Mechanic 1st Class Jimie Bartholomew were notified they had been selected as Sailors of the Year (SOY) for Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) for Shore, U.S. Pacific Fleet Sea, U.S. Fleet Forces Sea, and U.S. Navy Reserve, respectively.

These selectees competed against recipients from other commands at the highest echelons of the Navy's SOY program.

"These four Sailors represent our Navy and are examples of the caliber of Sailors serving today," said Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) Mike Stevens. "I couldn't be more proud of them and I am thankful for their quiet, humble, servant leadership."

As selectees, they will spend one week in our nation's capital, and during their week-long visit the Sailors and their families will tour historic sites, enjoy special events held in their honor, and will be presented their chief petty officer appointment letters from the CNO during a capstone pinning ceremony hosted by the MCPON.

The SOY program was established in 1972 by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo Zumwalt and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John Whittet to recognize an individual Sailor who best represented the ever-growing group of dedicated professional Sailors at each command and ultimately the Navy.

When the program began, only the Atlantic and Pacific Fleet Sailors were recognized. Within ten years, the SOY program was expanded to include the shore establishment and Navy Reserve Sailors.

THE E4-E6 ADVANCEMENT PROCESS

During a Navy advancement cycle, eligible candidates are rank ordered by their Final Multiple Score. The rank order in each rating is used to apply quotas (vacancies), so only the candidates with the highest FMS are advanced each cycle. The Performance Mark Average, Awards and Individual Augmentee factor information is submitted with candidate's exam answer sheets. All other FMS factors are captured by the Navy Enlisted Advancement System (NEAS), then combined to calculate each candidate's FMS.

Their opportunity to advance is influenced mostly by vacancies in their rating. Their performance and rating knowledge are two factors that they can influence with hard work.

The Reserve (February exam), Active Duty, Full Time Support and Canvasser Recruiter (March exam) advancement results should be published around Memorial Day. Good luck to all candidates!

RESERVE ADVANCEMENT CYCLE 097

NAVADMIN 116/15 announced the upcoming August Reserve component E4-E6 exams and advancement Cycle 097. To compute your Performance Mark Average (PMA) for this cycle, use all evaluations in your current rank with an ending date that falls within the following time periods:

E4 exam - 1 January 2015 to 31 July 2015
E5 exam - 1 June 2014 to 31 July 2015
E6 exam - 1 August 2012 to 31 July 2015

Exam bibliographies listing the reference material used to build your exams is posted on NAC's NKO portal. Good luck to all Reserve advancement candidates!
(N32)

Spring Advancement Results Schedule Announced
Story Number: NNS150512-13Release Date: 5/12/2015 12:07:00 PM

From Chief of Naval Personnel Public Affairs Office

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Chief of Naval Personnel announced May 12 the schedule for the release of spring advancement results for active duty, full time support (FTS) and selective Reserve (SELRES) petty officers.

Schedule is:
May 18: Complete list of active, FTS and SELRES petty officer quotas posted on Navy.mil.
May 20: Advancement results posted to command triads' BUPERS online (BOL) accounts.
May 21: Individual results posted on Sailors' BOL and names of those advanced released on Navy.mil.

While complete quotas are still being worked, the key take-aways for Sailors are:
1) Active duty advancement opportunity across the Navy remains near our ten year average.
2) Due to high retention, active duty advancement will drop slightly from last cycle in all pay grades.
3) Individual ratings for active duty continue to stabilize and get "healthier"-there will be no ratings with "zero" advancement and the number of ratings with "100 percent" advancement will drop this cycle.

Spring 2015 petty officer list released

E4-E5-E6

http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/careers/navy/enlisted/2015/...

Congrats to everyone who advanced HOOYAH!!

The new eval and fitrep rules: What you need to know

Nothing has more impact on sailors' careers than their evaluations. Good marks and they move up, bad marks and they go home.

Navy officials are tweaking the rules for how the evaluation (enlisted) and fitness report (officer) system works, and everyone will now be graded for fostering a healthy command climate and fighting sexual assault. Skippers and admirals will also be accountable for the conduct and climate of their organization.

What you need to know:

1. Surveys and skippers. The fitness reports have new standards by which commanding officers will be evaluated, such as command climate surveys. COs are required to conduct one within two months of taking charge, and then at the one year mark and each year after that — and they'll be knocked if they don't get them done.

"Failure to conduct required command assessments is considered a leadership deficiency for grading purposes," said the new instruction, dated May 1.

The new rules also grade them on classified material handling and their sailors' security clearances.

2. Healthy command climate.Everyone from the lowest E-1 to the top admiral will now be graded on helping to foster healthy command climates and fighting sexual harassment.

"For commanding officers, indicate the extent to which they have or have not established a command climate where allegations of sexual assault are properly managed and fairly evaluated," the instruction says.

It also calls for marks on whether victims of any criminal activities feel they "can report the criminal activity without fear of retaliation, including ostracism and group pressure."

To get high marks in military bearing, even the most junior sailors must "demonstrate how they have cultivated or maintained command climates where improper discrimination of any kind, sexual harassment, sexual assault, hazing and other inappropriate conduct is not tolerated."

3. New rules for admirals. It's lonely at the top. Admirals are going to start being evaluated for the attitudes they foster at their commands, including integrity, accepting responsibility for subordinates' actions and "undertaking necessary action," though the instruction doesn't give examples of this.

4. The same language.Because more reservists are pulling duty, from drills to orders that can cover years, it's important that reserves and active-duty speak the same language in evaluations and fitness reports. Reservists on any type of active-duty must now receive concurrent reports from the active duty command with which they're serving. .

5. Be honest. The evaluation system depends on evaluators, from Work Center Supervisors (WCS) to COs, accurately depicting their subordinate's performance.

"If you don't think someone is measuring up, you need to be brutally honest and upfront with those people, because one poor evaluation is not going to make or break someone's career," said Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Bill Moran.

"It's only with a pattern of less than adequate performance that they shouldn't be advanced or promoted in the Navy. But the only way you're going [to document poor performance] is by commands and command triads being a bit more upfront with how they write those — truly calling it how they see it."

5 things to know about the Meritorious Advancement Program
18 June 2015 From Chief of Naval Personnel

As part of the Navy's on-going talent management initiatives and to empower the command triad to advance their top performing Sailors, the Command Advancement Program (CAP) is being changed in name and scope to the expanded Meritorious Advancement Program (MAP) as announced in NAVADMIN 141/15.


Here are 5 things to know about MAP:

1. At the foundation of this change is the idea that no one knows their Sailors better than our commanding officers (CO), CMCs and the chief's mess. MAP gives them the tool to recognize their best Sailors, advancing them when they are ready for the next level of responsibility.

2. MAP provides COs flexibility and allows commands to petition for additional meritorious advancements or surrender those not needed for a given period.

3. Further expansion of MAP for next year, including the number of quotas, shore duty command eligibility and number of "MAP seasons," is under review by Chief of Naval Personnel (CNP) and Fleet leadership. Additional guidance will be published early in fiscal year 2016 outlining future changes.

4. This fiscal year MAP Open Season runs from July 1 through Aug. 31 and the redistribution season runs from Sept. 1 through 30.

5. Commanders continue to have the authority to set MAP performance standards and select their best Sailors for advancement.

For complete information on MAP see NAVADMIN 141/15 at www.npc.navy.mil

YOUR FINAL MULTIPLE - PASS NOT ADVANCE POINTS

Sailors who do not advance during an advancement Cycle have an opportunity to earn Pass Not Advance Points (PNA) for participation in future Cycles. PNA points reward you for “Sustained Superior Performance” if you do well on the exam or evaluations but are not advanced due to quota limitations. Points awarded each exam cycle are based on a combination of Performance Mark Average (PMA) and Standard Score (SS) standing. Up to 3.0 PNA points are awarded per exam cycle for up to 5 cycles - 1.5 points each for PMA and SS based on ranking relative to peers - for a max total possible of 15 PNA points. Only candidates who have a PMA or SS in the top 25% get PNA points during an advancement Cycle.

The chart below shows that the PNA Final Multiple Score element is 9% of the overall formula for E4 and E5 candidates.
(N32)

AUGUST 2015 (CYCLE 097) RESERVE EXAMS

Reserve component advancement exams for all E4-E6 candidates will be administered in August 2015. That's right around the corner! Are you ready?

All time-in-rate (TIR) eligible candidates serving on voluntary recall or mobilization will compete for advancement as a Reservist. The terminal eligibility date used to compute time-in-rate (TIR) is
January 1, 2016. The minimum TIR date must be on or before:

E6 - 1 January 2013
E5 - 1 January 2015
E4 - 1 July 2015

For more information, refer to NAVADMIN 116/15.

FY16 CHIEF PETTY OFFICER SELECTEES ANNOUNCED

Earlier this year, 28,429 First Class Petty Officers took the Cycle 226 Active Duty E7 advancement exam. Of that group, 17,467 were rank ordered in the top 60% of their rating and were approved for selection board eligibility. There were 491 PO1s who were waived from taking the exam, with most of those candidates serving boots on the ground in a designated combat zone. Today, 4,086 candidates were listed as SELECTEE following the very competitive enlisted selection board process. Congratulations to all those selected to advance to the E7 paygrade, and put on the anchors and uniform of a Navy Chief Petty Officer!

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER ADVANCEMENT RESULTS SCHEDULE

Sailors who took the August Reserve Cycle 097 or September Active Duty Cycle 228 advancement exam can expect to see results around Thanksgiving. Why does it take so long? The Navy Advancement Center has to receive and process at least 95% of the Fleet answer sheets before pressing forward with exam scoring. At this time, answer sheet returns are on schedule, and we expect to provide Navy manning planners with test passer information over the next two weeks. Good luck to all candidates!

CYCLE 230 PERFORMANCE MARK AVERAGE

E6s eligible to advance to Chief Petty Officer should review NAVADMIN 190/15, which outlines all the requirements for the upcoming E7 advancement Cycle 230. Candidates will be ranked ordered by their Final Multiple Score (FMS) in each rating, with only those who have an FMS that falls in the top 60% moving on to be selection board eligible. The exam is a prerequisite for the board process, where rating knowledge and performance are the only factors considered. To calculate your Performance Mark Average (PMA), use all evaluations that fall within the dates January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2015. CPO candidates must have an Early Promote advancement recommendation on their most-recent observed periodic E6 evaluation to garner an early promote 1-year time-in-rate waiver.

MARCH E4-E6 ADVANCEMENT EXAMS ANNOUNCED

The Chief of Naval Personnel released guidance for Active Duty, Full Time Support and Canvasser Recruiter E4 through E6 advancement Cycle 231. The Navy-wide advancement exams for this cycle will be administered in March 2016. For cycle eligibility, minimum time-in-rate (TIR) dates must be on or before:

E6 - 1 July 2013
E5 - 1 July 2015
E4 - 1 January 2016

Candidates must also meet other advancement eligibility requirements that include fitness, warfare program and leadership training requirements, as well as rating security clearances and citizenship. Contact your command Educational Services Officer if you have any advancement questions

INDIVIDUAL AUGMENTEE

Two points are awarded to advancement candidates (E4/5/6 only) who serve for greater than 90 consecutive days in Congressionally Designated Combat Zones that include Iraq, Afghanistan or the Horn of Africa, (Kuwait, Guantanamo (GTMO), Joint Task Force, 515 (USPACOM) or the Joint Force Special Task Force-Philippines (USPACOM) (for service after 24 October 2001)). Individual Augmentee (IA) points can only be earned once, even though may have deployed more than once to a Congressional Designated Combat Zone.

IA points are part of the Final Multiple Score formula. Contact your command Educational Services Officer if your IA points were not captured on the recent advancement cycle worksheet.

OFFICIAL NAVY FMS APP is here!
http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=91893


Be sure you download the Navy sponsored application. To find the free Navy FMS app, search "Final Multiple Score Calculator" or "FMS" in app stores or in your Web browser...

E4-E6 ADVANCEMENT QUOTAS

The Chief of Naval Personnel released the quotas for Active Duty, Full Time Support and Canvasser Recruiter (Cycle 228) advancement candidates, as well as the quotas for the Reserve component (Cycle 097). Quotas are based on vacancies in each rating. Advancement results will be released to command Triads on Tuesday and general release listing all advanced Sailors will be on Wednesday, November 25. Good luck to all candidates!

Fall Petty Officer Advancement Results Announced...

RESERVE EXAM CYCLE 098 SET FOR FEBRUARY

Guidance for administration of the Cycle 098 Navy-Wide Advancement Examinations (NWAE) for advancement in rate of selected reserve (SELRES) personnel is available in NAVADMIN 228/15. The terminal eligibility date used to compute time-in-rate (TIR) for E4-E6 is 1 July 2016 and for E7 is 1 January 2017. The minimum TIR date must be on or before:

E7 - 1 January 2014
E6 - 1 July 2013
E5 - 1 July 2015
E4 - 1 January 2016
E6 and E7 candidate TIR requirements for early promote Sailors can be waived for one year with commanding officer/officer in charge approval.

Information pertaining to selection board criteria will be promulgated via a future NAVADMIN.

E6 EXAM ADMINISTRATION SET FOR MARCH 3

This Thursday, approximately 26,000 Active Duty, Full Time Support and Cavasser Recruiter E5s will take the Petty Officer First Class Navy-wide advancement exam. The 175-question rating-specific exams will be administered ashore and at sea, giving advancement candidates three hours to complete the exam. Exam scores are based on how many questions are answered correctly compared to peers taking the same exam. Good luck to all candidates!

E5 NAVY-WIDE ADVANCEMENT EXAM ON MARCH 10

This Thursday, more than 37,000 Active Duty, Full Time Support and Canvasser Recruiter E4s will take the Petty Officer Second Class advancement exam. The exam has 175 questions and is administered in a three-hour peirod. Answer sheets will be returned to the Navy Advancement Center for processing, and from that process each candidate will get an exam standard score (SS) which is a numerical representation of rating knowledge compared to peers taking the same exam. The SS is one element of the Final Multiple Score (FMS). The FMS is used to rank order candidates in each rating. Advancement opportunity is based on vacancies in each rating. Results will be released around Memorial Day. Good luck to all candidates!

Legend for FMS Chart:

PMA = Performance Mark Average
SS = Standard Score
ED = Education
SIPG = Service in Paygrade
PNA = Pass Not Advance
AWD = Awards
IA = Individual Augmentee

CYCLE 230 E7 SBE STATUS AVAILABLE FRIDAY

The Navy Advancement Center (NAC) is on track to publish individual profile sheets for Cycle 230's Selection Board Eligibility (SBE) status on Friday, March 11 at 0900 EST. Active Duty and Full Time Support Chief Petty Officer candidates must access their profile sheets on Friday from a .mil domain computer by going to NKO>Career Management>NAC>My Advancement>My Profiles. Good luck to all candidates!

Thousands of Sailors now Board-Eligible for Chief

PENSACOLA, Fla. (NNS) -- From the pool of approximately 33,000 first class petty officers who took the chief's test, 19,170 Sailors are now selection-board eligible for the fiscal year 2017 active duty and full time support Chief Petty Officer Selection Boards, officials announced March 11.

Sailors who took the cycle 230 E7 exam can find out if they made the board by checking their profile sheets via the Navy Advancement Center (NAC) portal on Navy Knowledge Online (NKO). Reserve component answer sheets for cycle 098 are currently being processed by NAC and those selection board eligibility results should be out in early April.

"The process to identify which Sailors are selection board eligible starts with the Final Multiple Score (FMS), which consists of only two factors for chief candidates -- eval performance mark average and exam standard score," said Master Chief Electronics Technician Nuclear Power (SS) James Berhalter, command master chief for the Naval Education and Training Professional Development and Technology Center. "Once the FMS is calculated for each candidate, the Advancement Center rank orders Sailors in each rating."

The FMS performance factor is calculated using the Sailor's advancement recommendations within the time period specified for that cycle. The FMS exam standard score is a numerical representation of rating knowledge compared to peers taking the same exam. Only the advancement candidates that fall in the top 60 percent of each rating, plus selection board waivers, are considered by the chief selection board.

There are 461 selection board waivers for cycle 230, which include candidates who serve in a Congressionally-designated combat zone.

According to Navy Personnel Command (NPC) Force Master Chief (SW/AW) Tuck Williams, making board is a significant accomplishment, but there are additional steps to the process to earn those anchors.

"These board-eligible Sailors now have an opportunity to ensure their Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) is correct and up to date with their latest evaluations, awards and other appropriate information," said Williams. "The selection board reviews this information so it benefits the Sailor for it to be correct."

Sailors can review their OMPF online by selecting the "OMPF - My Record" link under the BUPERS Online (BOL) Application Menu Log available at www.bol.navy.mil.

The selection board will also review each candidate's personnel summary record (PSR) parts I, II and III. Sailors can view their PSR by logging into BOL using the link above.

Sailors may provide new information to the board that is not currently in the OMPF. Instructions on how to submit a letter to the board can be found on www.npc.navy.mil under boards/active duty enlisted/general information.

Letters to the board must be received at NPC by April 25 for the Reserve component board and May 31 for the active-component board. Specific details, including mailing addresses for letters to the board, timelines and additional information can be found in NAVADMIN 014/16 and under the selection board tab available at www.npc.navy.mil.

The FTS and Reserve component Selection Boards are scheduled to convene May 16 and the active-component selection board is scheduled to convene June 20.

The active-component Chief Petty Officer Board is the largest selection board conducted in the Navy and typically lasts four weeks. After the selection board reviews the records of all eligible candidates and selects the best and fully-qualified Sailors based on the precept, the results are forwarded to the Chief of Naval Personnel for final approval.

E4 EXAMS ADMINISTERED AROUND THE FLEET

Many Sailors took the Navy-wide advancement exam for the first time on March 17th. Here, Information Systems Technician Seaman Gabrielle Lindsay, assigned to the USS Frank Cable (AS 40), takes the Petty Officer Third Class exam in Camp Covington's Seabee Gymnasium on U.S. Naval Base Guam. Answer sheets from that exam administration will be mailed via the fastest traceable means to the Navy Advancement Center (NAC) in Pensacola, Fla. NAC will scan the answer sheets once received, but will not grade the exams until 95% of the advancement Cycle 231 answer sheets are processed. Results are scheduled to be released around Memorial Day. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Brian T. Glunt)

Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Bill Moran and Fleet Master Chief April Beldo talk about the changes to the Meritorious Advancement Program policy detailed in an NAVADMIN release. CNP and Fleet spoke about the reason behind the changes, what the changes mean for the fleet, and the future of MAP.

CYCLES 231 & 098 ADVANCEE
Congratulations to all candidates advanced to the next-higher paygrade!

DO YOU HAVE AN EXAM PREPARATION PLAN?

The Cycle 099 (Reserve) and Cycle 232 (Active Duty) E4-E6 advancement exams will be here before you know it. Will you be ready? Exams are competitive in that your score will depend on how well you do in comparison to peers taking the same exam. Exams are based on Navy occupational standards and are written by rating subject matter experts who are Chief Petty Officers from their representative ratings. Be prepared and have a good study plan. Exam bibliographies for the August Reserve and September Active Duty advancement exams are available for download on NAC's NKO portal and on the Navy COOL website...

PAY INCREMENTS BEGIN FOR CYCLES 229, 231 and 098

July is the first pay increment for some Senior Chief and Master Chief selectees, as well as E4-E6 candidates who made the cut in the recent Reserve and Active Duty Spring advancement cycles. Pay bumps will be seen in the August 1st paychecks. Incrementation is based on seniority for E7 and above, and by Final Multiple Score (FMS) rank order for E4-E6. Increments are fair-shared across all ratings.

Congratulations to the newly selected FTS and Reserve Chief Petty Officers!

CYCLE 232 ACTIVE DUTY ADVANCEMENT EXAMS

The Fall advancement cycle Active Duty E6 exam always falls on the first Thursday in September. This year, that first Thursday comes early on September 1. Candidates should be familiar with Cycle 232 NAVADMIN

Congratulations to the Navy's newest Chief Petty Officers!

ESTABLISHING THE RANK ORDER

The Navy Advancement Center received the first batch of Cycle 099 Reserve candidate answer sheets this week, and will continue to receive answer sheets through mid-October after the Active Duty E4-E6 Cycle 232 administration. A total of 115,000 answer sheets will be scanned and processed over the next few months. The answer sheets enable NEAS - the Navy Enlisted Advancement System - to set a Standard Score for each candidate. NEAS will also pull in Performance Mark Averages, Time in Rate, Awards, individual augmentee assignment information, and education data. Those elements are totaled to give each candidate a Final Multiple Score (FMS). In each rating, candidates are ranked by their FMS. Advancements are determined by vacancies (quotas) in each rating, where the Sailors with the highest FMS fill the open billets. Good luck to all candidates participating in the upcoming cycles!

THE ADVANCEMENT EXAM

The Navy advancement exam is 175 questions, of which 150 are occupational and 25 questions are professional military knowledge. The occupational questions are researched, verified and written by rating Chief Petty Officers during Advancement Exam Readiness Review (AERR) events. The Chiefs selected for the AERR decide what number of questions to ask under each topic and subtopic. Every question is tied to an Occupational Standard and a specific reference. Those references are combined after the questions are loaded on the exam to develop the exam bibliography. Each Sailor gets three hours to complete the exam, and scores are determined by comparing rating advancement candidates, where the highest score goes to the candidate who answers the most questions correctly. There is no penalty for answering a question incorrectly, so be sure to leave no question unanswered. Good luck on the exam!

5 Things You Need to Know about Sea Shore Flow

Story Number: NNS160825-09Release Date: 8/25/2016 3:25:00 PM
By Chief of Naval Personnel Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy updated Sea Shore Flow (SSF) Enlisted Career Paths with the release of NAVADMIN 190/16 Aug. 25.

Here are five things you need to know about SSF and tour length updates just announced:

1. 42 ratings will not be impacted, 13 ratings will require more sea time, and 15 ratings will require less sea time. Depending on how many sea tours you have completed additional sea duty may be required. Overall, 84,500 Sailors will be impacted. 25 ratings are classified as sea-intensive. Sailors in nuclear power trained ratings are not affected by this NAVADMIN.

2. No two ratings are alike. Each rating is assigned an enlisted career path based on the number of sea duty and shore duty billets the rating has, how long initial training takes, and expected retention within the rating. Why this matters to you: The more sea duty billets and/or the fewer shore duty billets in your rating, the longer sea tour lengths are in order to ensure the Fleet is properly manned.

3. Tour length changes as we modernize the Fleet. Platforms change and so does the work requirement and skill sets needed to man the Fleet. With these force structure changes come billet changes and therefore tour length changes.

4. Projected Rotation Dates (PRDs) within 12 months of the NAVADMIN's release will not automatically be changed. Sailors who have current PRDs within 12 months of the release of this NAVADMIN will not have their PRDs adjusted, unless requested by the Sailor (via 1306) or the unit's Commanding Officer (based on unit readiness needs). Sailors with PRDs outside that 12 month window can expect their PRD will be adjusted to match the new tour length shown in the NAVADMIN. A Sailor's actual rotation dates can vary from their projected rotation date by up to six months. Due to a higher than normal accession mission in 2013, rotation dates for Sailors may have to slide up to six months to ensure the Fleet is properly manned.

5. There are other changes impacting specific ratings.
- AW ratings tour lengths are broken out separately with decreased time on sea duty.
- IT rating now has Sea/Shore rotation. MA rating has additional dependent restricted tour requirements.
- Nuclear power ratings are not impacted by this NAVADMIN. Refer to NAVADMIN 284/15 for specific nuclear rating career path information.

PASS NOT ADVANCED
The pass standard for Navy exams is very low. For example, and E3 taking the E4 exam only has to answer 49 of 175 questions correctly to "pass" the exam. However, not everyone who passes the exam gets credit for the next advancement Cycle.
PNA (Pass Not Advanced) points are added to your FMS (E4/5/6 only) if you pass the test, demonstrate superior performance and/or superior rating knowledge, but are not advanced to the next-higher paygrade. PNA points come from two sources, your Exam Standard Score (SS) and your Performance Mark Average (PMA). You can receive 1.5 points each for PMA and SS per cycle for a maximum of 3.0 points per cycle. Only the PNA points from the most recent five of the last six consecutive examination cycles in the same paygrade are used, so the maximum PNA point total can only reach 15. PNA points for PMA are based on how you rank among your peers. Your PMA must fall within the top 25% of ranked performance mark averages to garner points. Similarly, PNA Points for SS is based on all exam standard scores where your SS must fall in the top 25% in your paygrade/rating to earn points when not advanced.

E7 selection board eligibility results are typically published in early March...

Good luck to our first class petty officers who took the Chief Petty Officer exam on January 19th! Sailors who scored in the top 60 percent of their rate across the Fleet will be selection board eligible. Results of the selection board are typically announced in August each year.