"victims of the rate". Just not enough billets to promote them all. All I
could tell them was "hang in there, keep up the great job and your time will
come".


Larry
AECS (AW/SW/MTS)
Disabled Combat Veteran
USN Retired


"Victims of rate", this is or was the case with AT's, I encountered this going
from E-3 to E-4, then again from E-4 to E-5. As a four year guy, I started out
life as an AR, graduated from A school as a ATAA, mean while the 6 year guys
were graduating as AT3's.
Then after doing my TIR, and finally making AT3, I once again encountered the
"victim of rate" the AT3's (rent-a-crows) were graduating from AFTA (advanced
first term avionics school) or AFTA-births as we called them, getting ready to
take AT2, while I was installing tracking gear on rotor blades, paralleling
generators, changing the "greenhouse" window after the Q/A chief stepped
through it, etc, etc.
But I really can't complain, I did my 4, and got out, and thanks to my
"nothing but a black box puller" "O" level career, spent the past 16 years
doing it on the civilian side for a much better pay and no sea duty.
So being a "victim of rate" work out great for me.
So I can see how in some rates it would not be uncommon for a hard charg'in,
4.0 sailor to retire an E-6.

J

BTW, as for those who say, the numbers are figured out before hand, and the
Navy takes only so many AFTA guys and regular guys its BS. I like many others
who make there required time to graduate, we were ask if we were to extend for
2 years, you can walk out of school as a E-4 instead of an E-2. Fortunitly for
me 1989 sounded like forever in 1983, I passed, many other did'nt.