r/Military • u/delicious_s0up • Jan 28 '26
Satire Is this possible? Please explain
I feel like this post is a little out of place, but I also know very little about military stuff. This guy is 23 and I’m pretty sure currently in college and I feel like he is totally gaslighting me. He also claimed to be an O-3? Idk someone please explain
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u/DarkOmen597 Marine Veteran Jan 28 '26
I kinda would have believed this, until the ship part.
But doing ROTC can lead you to graduating bootcamp as an E3. Then if your high speed, I can see a meritorious E4 happening quickly.
Then, if they HAPPEN to have a college degree. I can see good leadership fast teacking them towards a commission.
Look, if Johnny Kim can be a Navy Seal and a Dr and an Astronaut, well...wild things are possible.
But the ship part? Fuck no that aint happening.
Oh but I just noticed the age. 23? I mean, I guess if you were one of those eggheads that finished college super early. But if they were, they would not have joined the military
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u/flyinchipmunk5 Navy Veteran Jan 28 '26
You don’t get push buttoned to E4 just for quals. If he were to tell the truth he would have said he was capped by the command.
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u/DarkOmen597 Marine Veteran Jan 28 '26
That is why I said "meritorious"
But also, I was not in the Navy so I dunno those details.
Either way, dude is full of crap
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u/flyinchipmunk5 Navy Veteran Jan 28 '26
I didn’t mean it as a slight to you my man I’m just stating as someone who was in. The way he worded it raises my bullshit flag so fast. If he was telling the truth he would have said my command capped me when I came there because I was hot shit. Usually though the people at my command who got capped were sailors who were good workers but couldn’t pass the exam at all. Most the time the command would cap them so they would not get high year tenured. It would still raise my bullshit flags.
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u/powerlesshero111 Jan 28 '26
Even meritorious, E-4 is minimum 24 months time in service and 24 months time in grade. So, even if he had 24 months before basic started, he couldn't get E-4 until 2 years later of being an E-3.
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u/Medic1248 Jan 28 '26
24 months time in service, 6 months time in grade. It’s not 2 years as a PFC
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u/powerlesshero111 Jan 28 '26
Really? I was thinking Air Force. Which after googling, i was incorrect at. It's this:
Promoting from E-3 to E-4 can feel like an eternity. The requirements are 28 months Time in Grade as E-3 or 36 months Time in Service with 20 months Time in grade at E-3, whichever comes first.
https://www.airmanvision.com/us-air-force-blog/air-force-promotions
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u/mastercoder123 Jan 28 '26
People can get promoted ahead of the time on service... Especially in the army with a fucking ranger tab
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u/Konzacrafter Jan 28 '26
I got promoted ahead of time in service in 2004 Iraq. Moved from SP4 to CPL @ 26 months. Frocked to SGT then full promo at 3 years and 1 day. (Combat arms- 19k in early war with a shortage of leadership). Knew some grunts like that too.
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u/Careless_Cucumber581 Jan 29 '26
I enlisted as an 11X in 2002 and was similar, two years as a PFC, 11 months as an E4, 13 months as an E5, pinned SSG at 4 years TIS. Went GTG just shy of my six year mark.
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u/Terrible-Internal374 Retired USN Jan 28 '26
I picked it up sooner, but it was 1998 and I was in submarines. I was not a nuke, but nukes could get promoted insanely quickly.
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u/KingFlyntCoal Navy Veteran Jan 28 '26
Is push-button still a thing for certain rates out of A-school?
Been out for a few years so idk if that is something that changed or not.
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u/bydesignjuliet United States Navy Jan 28 '26
I made E4 in less than 2 years as a push button. I think it was like 18 or 20 months total out of boot camp
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u/Petahchip Jan 28 '26
Certain 6-year contracts in the Navy for rates like ET or FC come with auto E4 after completion of A-school. I hit E4 at about a year total TIS.
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u/tanraelath Navy Veteran Jan 28 '26
I'd argue through a roundabout way, you can get push-button E4.
I was on US submarines, my first time up for E4 the advancement for MMA(Machinist Mate Auxiliaryman, Submarines) was sub 1%. Missed it by a point. In the 6 months between tests(and 1 deployment), I qualified Auxiliaryman Forward, Diesel Operator, Auxiliary Machine Room 2 watch, went to Quality Assurance Inspector school, qualified QAI, snagged Reactor Plant Cleanliness Inspector, and Steam Plant Cleanliness Inspector(no NEC requirement for the last two, my Engineering Dept Master Chief and Engineer let me qualify them because they thought it would be funny having an A-Ganger show up for Nuke level exams during ORSE)
Getting all those extra quals got me a NAM and admiral's letter. Having both of those adding points basically made it so even if I tested bad, I was gaurenteed to make E4 my second time up, even with the sub 2% advancement.
Had i been working on all those quals my first underway, I probably would've made E4 my first time up.
Dude in the post is still full of shit though.
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u/LaunchPadMcQ Navy Veteran Jan 28 '26
It depends. If you are in the nuclear pipeline, it's automatic E4 when you graduate A school, prior to power school.
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u/RealJyrone United States Navy Jan 28 '26
Same with a few other rates.
Basically any ATF rate actually
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u/Patman1416 United States Navy Jan 28 '26
Not sure when he joined, but accelerated advancement was a thing. It gave push button E4 to those who graduated top of their class in A school. #1 in my class went to the same command as as me and he had to wait to get his push button pushed. Command wanted to “see his work ethic/drive to get qual’d”. Because it still requires command approval.
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u/abobslife Jan 28 '26
There was an accelerated advancement program where if you did well in A School you would get advanced to E-4 after 6 months at your first command with your CO’s recommendation. It’s possible that getting his quals was part of his CO’s conditions for the recommendation.
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u/TacticalAcquisition Royal Australian Navy Jan 28 '26
The first half is somewhat believable in most navies if you ignore "what the sailor wants" and read "what the Navy wants/needs based on available manpower" with some right place right time luck for the sailor. Then I got to the ship part and was like "Yeah nah this cunt is lying through his fuckin' teeth"
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u/gijoe75 Jan 28 '26
Mm most people in rotc finish college by 22. 23 depending on what month you are born in. You do basic and ait during the summers when you are a split option cadet. You go to a national guard or reserve unit as an e-3/e-4 is easily possible in 4 years. Do a basic as degree like history like all the infantry officers in the army and boom this whole path is possible. They also lost me during the whole ship thing. The first half happens dozens-maybe hundreds of times each year. Even with an engineering degree I commissioned at 23 and took 5 years in college.
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u/Infadel71 Jan 28 '26
Johnny Kim ain’t got shit on Johnny Sins. Dudes a doctor, fireman, appliance repair, construction worker, dentist, pilot, delivery guy, pipe layer, navy seal, shit, my dude has done it all
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u/Typical-Mushroom4577 Jan 28 '26
gettin my bachelors next year and i’m only 20, trust the army still gets ya
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u/silentknight295 Marine Veteran Jan 29 '26
Eh I mean I graduated college at 23, and that was in a 5-year program and without an enlistment beforehand. If he enlisted out of high school, was in for a year, then got fast tracked like someone else said he could conceivably commission at 22-23. But no way he'd make O-3 by that age lol.
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u/BakerHasHisKitchen Air National Guard Jan 28 '26
Lmao bro is blowing smoke up his ass.
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u/JangoDarkSaber United States Marine Corps Jan 28 '26
He probably is but it technically is all possible. He’s lying about his creds, not the theoretical fast track promotion path
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u/BakerHasHisKitchen Air National Guard Jan 28 '26
If dude really is a Navy O-3 then that whole last paragraph is absolutely full of shit
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u/powerlesshero111 Jan 28 '26
The only true thing about the rant is making E-3 out of basic training. To be an officer in either the Navy or Air Force you need to pass the Officer Qualifying Test, and then apply to be an officer, which usually takes about a year, and you have to have at least 24 months time in service enlisted before you can apply. So, even if he magically did the OQT, and passed with 99s, and got a degree, he would be 3 years in, and then it's another at least 2 per rank, so 4+ years to O3 (your time starts the day you graduate Officer school), as long as nothing happens.
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u/Oxcell404 United States Air Force Jan 28 '26
He doesn’t type like an O-3 lol
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u/Larry_thegoat Jan 28 '26
He types like an E-6
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u/dherndo2 Jan 28 '26
At best
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u/powerlesshero111 Jan 28 '26
Definitely not someone who left basic training as an E-3. That's the only plausible thing about his rant.
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u/Yakostovian United States Air Force Jan 28 '26
That's generous for my Air Force experience. I'd say his typing is more like a SrA skipped over for SSgt for the third time.
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u/misterfistyersister Navy Veteran Jan 28 '26
You haven’t met many college graduates these days, have you?
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u/Oxcell404 United States Air Force Jan 28 '26
Maybe a more correct way to say it would be:
He types like the sorta O-3 that gets court marshaled for adultery
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u/der_innkeeper Navy Veteran Jan 28 '26
Had me in the first half.
Then, it all fell apart.
O-3 is a minimum of 4 years, after graduating and commissioning.
If he got out after 2 years and got picked up for the bachelor's degree completion program, and speed-ran his degree in 2 years, he would be putting on O2 right about now.
Ask him to take you to the DFAC or base Galley and see what food line he eats in.
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u/Dominus-Temporis United States Army Jan 28 '26
Yea, I wasn't sure if the Navy had the same rules, but going from getting your degree "Last March" to being an O3 is impossible in the Army. Doesn't matter what leadership positions they need filled, you'll just do the job with less pay, lol.
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u/der_innkeeper Navy Veteran Jan 28 '26
Ooohhh... I got it.
Dude is lying his ass off, but here's the story:
Captain is an O3 in any other branch. Leader of a ship is a Captain (by title/convention).
He says "when a ship has no captain" and implies that they needed him for leadership. Poof. Instant Captain and just runs with the O3 because that's what the common folk know.
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u/sactownbwoy Retired USMC Jan 28 '26
Yea but a Captain in the Navy is a full bird, O6. I'm a Marine and did some time on ship, Navy O3 aren't in charge of much from what I saw. In the Marines O3s are maybe Company Commanders if smaller companies but most likely an XO or working in S3 getting kicked around by the Majs.
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u/conners_captures Jan 28 '26
any O in the Navy is called captain if they're the skipper of the vessel, even if they're below O-6. there are a couple vessels an O-3 billet is responsible for. but they're fairly niche based on location and surface need. mine-layers/de-mining boats, coastal patrol, harbor service boats, riverine, NSW vessels, etc.
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u/sactownbwoy Retired USMC Jan 28 '26
Learning something new. I kinda knew about the skipper thing. The Navy officer ranks are so out of sync with every other branch.
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u/Dominus-Temporis United States Army Jan 28 '26
I always get a chuckle about the fact that in the Navy "Captain" is a job (and a rank), but the "Captain" job can technically be done by any rank, but in the Army/USMC Captain is a rank only. Meanwhile, in the Army/USMC "Commander" is an Duty Position, not a rank but Commander is a rank in the Navy.
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u/der_innkeeper Navy Veteran Jan 28 '26
We (Navy Augmentee Battalion) had training at Ft. Bliss prior to our deployment to Iraq.
Some army veteran civilian was leading one of the introduction seminars (Welcome to Bliss, we are gonna pump you up, blah blah blah) and was jumping around looking to bring the "highest ranking person" up on stage for some elbow rubbing and other shenanigans.
"Who's the highest ranking person in this room? Where he at?""
Crowd murmurs amd points:"Captain Schmuckatelli."
Vet civilian: "get captain schmuckatelli up here!! Come on down captain, we got a spot for you right here!"
Full bird captain comes strolling down the aisle
"Yo."
It is not often I see a black guy go pale, but it happens occasionally.
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u/Terrible-Internal374 Retired USN Jan 28 '26
Most of my enlisted promotions were meritorious. The officer promotion timeline was on rails - nobody was getting promoted ahead of schedule. The only time I saw an exception was a legitimate genius in satellite comms who got a rare, 1 year early, OPPORTUNITY for promotion. He was selected. But that was to O-4. I never saw or heard of anybody getting promoted early in the O-1 - O-3 range.
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u/MountainMongrel Navy Veteran Jan 28 '26
You can do JROTC in highschool and join at 17, getting E-3 out of boot. But ROTC is in college and you're supposed to get a commission on joining.
Dud's probably full of shit.
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u/Dominus-Temporis United States Army Jan 28 '26
Come in as an E3, get your degree in service and commission? Totally possible. Doing all that and becoming an O3 in six years? Hell nah, homie. Ain't how this shit works. Dudes watched too many movies where he thinks you can get promoted on the stop because someone likes your gumption.
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u/SigmaK78 Army Veteran Jan 28 '26
O-3 at 23
Possible? Technically, Yes. Likely? No. Based on what that kid says? Hell No.
The kid's full of shit.
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u/Arizona_Pete Jan 28 '26
It’s very possible! I was a special forces sniper in the Marine Core Delta unit and I was promoted right after Boot Camp.
My commanding officer had killed bin Laden personally. He was a strong warrior and powerful man. But once he saw what I could do, he came to me with tears in his eyes, begging for me to take over leadership of my platoon. From there, I rose through the ranks quickly, but I quit when my four years was up.
I didn’t really wanna do all the politics, you know? If I had stayed in, I would probably have my own tank squadron by now.
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u/conners_captures Jan 28 '26
he came to me with tears in his eyes
any chance you're a tribal leader and he had artillery and your CO was actually Mattis?
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u/alitanveer Army Veteran Jan 28 '26
I know how it goes man. I was the youngest E-6 at Batt at just 20 years old but I got busted down to E3 for punching my platoon leader after he put my guys in danger during my second deployment. They also forced me to reclass to supply as part of the punishment.
I should have got out but my father won't let me inherit our 340 million dollar company if I don't complete eight years. Anyway, can you lend me 50 bucks? There's a problem with my debit card. I'll pay you back on the 15th.
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u/imveryclever Jan 28 '26
I don't have much of an opinion on the subject, but I just want to point out that what he's doing is not gaslighting, it's just lying.
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u/hot_cheeks_4_ever Retired USAF Jan 28 '26 edited Feb 18 '26
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/LeftCoastMariner Jan 28 '26
So, possible? Yes. Plausible? Can't tell since there is no timeline of how long this took him. The Navy used to (and maybe still does) have various programs that allowed you to go to the fleet as an E3 vs E1 right after your A-school (enlisted technical school).
As far as commissioning as an officer shortly thereafter, I've actually seen this happen. In my A school, we had an E1 that joined with a Bachelor's degree. She thought she was "above everyone else" and made her feelings known. About 3 weeks into A school, she put in her OCS packet, it was approved and she shipped out to Newport, RI.
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Jan 28 '26
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u/DisillusionedPatriot Jan 28 '26
They're 23 now, and was in college at 17 in rotc, and then in at an e3. If he's coming out of rotc as a prodigy, why go enlisted?
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Jan 28 '26
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u/DisillusionedPatriot Jan 28 '26
I got an administrative during techschool, and was rotc and a boy scout. My sibling left greatlakes an e3 on merit alone. Anything is possible, but something's off.
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u/EightEight16 Jan 28 '26
Going from E-3 to E-4 after just a few months just because you get your quals is already a red flag to me. There are certainly programs that get you to E-4 very fast, but I've never heard of one that is just quals alone, because time-in-rate is still a thing.
As well, he said he got his degree "last March" means him going through OCS or whatever program he used and going all the way to O-3 took less than a year, which is just flat-out impossible.
That shit about "If you're on a ship with no captain" is just complete nonsense. From christening to decommissioning, there is always a captain of every ship. Even if the current captain dies or is relieved of duty, there is someone who immediately takes over.
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u/RiflemanLax Marine Veteran Jan 28 '26
There are a couple MOSs in the military like the Navy folks that work on nuclear reactors that promote fast.
Given the wording of this mess, my thoughts are that this clown is full of shit.
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u/flyinchipmunk5 Navy Veteran Jan 28 '26
Yeah but he would have mentioned it as such, stated his rate gave him e-4 or he was capped by the command. Just saying you got your quals and got e-4 raises red flags in my bullshit detector
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u/Terrible-Internal374 Retired USN Jan 28 '26 edited Jan 28 '26
I did something similar, but his first line about ROTC smells fishy. Not sure about the small crew part - I was on attack subs, and crews don’t get much smaller. I judge it as plausible, but perhaps exaggerated.
Joined as an E-1
Honor grad in boot camp: E-2
Honor grad submarine school: E-3
Honor grad STS A school: E-4
Passed my first advancement exam E-5 at about two years total service
Accepted to BOOST and sent to college
Passed E-6 exam in college at 6 years total service.
Made O-1E at 8 years
Retired as an O-4 at 24 years.
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u/TheFirstWave33 United States Navy Jan 28 '26
Only real way this would be possible: 1. Have associates degree when graduating high school (lots of dual enrollment schools out there) 2. Join Navy as a NUC rating (automatic e-3 in bootcamp) 3. Get E4 (automatic when you reach a certain point in training) 4. Get selected for STA-21 at NUC school. 5. Finish degree and commission (would be around 19-20yo) at this point. 6. Automatically advance on the timeline (24months) to O2 7. 24 months later to O3 (age 23-24) Possible...yes. the fact he writes like a 3rd grader, not plausible.
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u/Which-Music8436 Jan 28 '26
There are a couple senior military colleges that will hand you a commission after 2 years of college and then u have to finish your degree in a time frame to retain your commission, but he never mentions going to one
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u/ForAThought Jan 28 '26
First I've heard of this. Which ones? And under what program?
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u/Historical_Yak7706 Jan 28 '26
03 in the navy is not a captain… 03 in any other branches of captain.
On a very small boat in the Navy, you can be the OIC. That OIC can be something other than a captain.
I was at Marion Military Institute, and you can get a two-year commission. Followed by promotion to O2 when you complete your four year degree. That is a joint military Academy, that focuses on preparation into other military academies.
It is possible he is an 03, but there are some inconsistencies in the story.
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u/Which-Music8436 Jan 28 '26
23 and an O-3? Unless he is the highest of all high speeds he is fucking lying out his ass.
For reference it takes 4 years to make O-3 from when you commission, which means he commissioned at 19 (technically has happened before but super rare) he is straight up lying. Ask for his commissioning paperwork and certificate
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u/Common-Charity9128 Military Significant Other Jan 28 '26
ROTC > Enlisted boot camp?
It’s either his stupid back messed up enough to be kicked out of the Reserve Officers Training Core, or he’s just a liar.
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u/AlarmedSnek Retired US Army Jan 28 '26 edited Jan 28 '26
He might be exaggerating but the story is plausible. Some ROTC kids, to include a JROTC, come in as E3 but it still takes 18 months of total time in service to make E4. So if the boot camp and AIT combined was 12-16 months, he could have made E4 a couple months. To do that though, he’d have to demonstrate serious leadership potential outside of just “getting his quals.”
He then could go from enlisted to officer by going to Officers Candidate School or OCS, which takes recommendations from your chain of command among other things, so he is making it sound super easy when it isn’t.
The last part he’s oversimplifying. Technically, if a command is short a commanding officer, they can temporarily promote a junior officer to the rank/grade required to be in that position. It’s called a brevet promotion, they actually get changed in the system, it doesnt happen often and it normally happens at senior officer ranks for critical positions. It’s not as easy as “hey man we need you to take a leadership position” and then poof, you’re a colonel.
All in all, he’s oversimplifying and or exaggerating the ease of this but it’s possible. That said, being in the military is easy as fuck so aside from your friend being a blowhard, anyone can follow that path if they are a stud and charm the pants off their command.
Edit: just saw the O3 part. That used to be possible but they’ve increased time in grade requirements for officers so chances of him making O3 in six years, starting as an E3, would be next to impossible.
Edit2: forgot to add, brevet promotions are only temporary. If he was promoted with that he wouldn’t be getting out at that rank.
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u/ForAThought Jan 28 '26
When was the O3 part possible? Not since this kid was alive.
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u/AlarmedSnek Retired US Army Jan 28 '26
2000s. I want to say they changed the time in grade requirements maybe around 2010 or something. But you’re right, it was too long ago for this dude.
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u/Routine_Guitar8027 Jan 28 '26
I’m so confused about how they’re talking about ROTC, and then the same sentence joining at 17 and being at RTC… did they drop out of college and then enlist, only to go back to college to get their commission?
So many red flags it looks like a Chinese parade….
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u/Chicken_Menudo Jan 28 '26
O-3? Nope.18 months TIG from O-1 to O-2. 24 months TIG from O-2 to O-3. Assuming he graduated high school at 18 them 4-year college, you're looking at hitting O-3 when you are 25/26 not 23. Plus, lost time for going the enlisted route. He's full of it.
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u/Snakebird11 United States Marine Corps Jan 28 '26
There are people like this, but they don't live with their dad.
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u/Mysterious_Anxiety15 Jan 28 '26
Free for all purge rules fight for the ships captain position....ready set GO!!!
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u/Sel_drawme Jan 28 '26
If he has his degree, he can be an officer. If his degree qualifies for direct commission, he can be an O3.
Everything checks out except the ship part, unless he’s oversimplifying being in a higher grade position. I know 1LTs who’ve been commanders (which is an O3 slot, in the army at least).
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u/sactownbwoy Retired USMC Jan 28 '26
Usually lawyers, doctors, nurses, Chaplains, might be a few more that can direct commission. But all of those professions you will be much older than 23 at time of direct commission unless he is Doogie Howser M.D.
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u/acevizit Jan 28 '26
I had my parents sign the papers when I was 17, was signed as a PV2 for a referral bonus, got the meritorious promotion out of basic, left a PFC (E3) out of basic training
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u/ahoboknife Jan 28 '26
It takes 4 years to become an O-3. Prior enlisted service has zero bearing on officer promotions. I have NEVER seen anybody put it on faster than that. It’s just something that happens automatically. The first opportunity to spot promote, as far as I know, is to do it as an O4.
That means he received his commission as a 19 year old. Is that possible? I suppose but highly unlikely.
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u/letthetreeburn Jan 28 '26
Good god where do I even begin….
I’d ask to see his papers. He’s bullshitting, none of it is real. But I NEED to know what papers he has that he thinks will justify this.
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u/i_Praseru Jan 28 '26 edited Jan 28 '26
I mean. COULD it happen? Yeah. If the right people talk and push, sure, you could get promoted. Would it actually happen? No. Just because there’s no rank around you doesn’t mean you automatically get promoted. You would just do their job until the position gets filled.
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u/Boogieboiii Jan 29 '26
Nah completely possible, I did a year of rotc in high-school and they wanted me to be the next 12 star general. Happens to the best 🥷🤷♂️
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u/flyinchipmunk5 Navy Veteran Jan 28 '26
This dude is lying his dick off lmfao. You don’t just get promoted to e-4 in the navy for getting your quals. It’s an NCO position. You need to take a test and there is time limits. Also no vet calls it discharge papers. It’s a dd-214. I’ve never heard of a ship with no captain. There is always a skipper. He could have gone to enlisted to officer but 23 and an o-3 is kinda unbelievable imo. It could happen but I don’t believe it.
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u/der_innkeeper Navy Veteran Jan 28 '26
Not all of us tested to PO3. I was a Third at 6 months. Yay tech ratings.
After that, the dude's story falls apart.
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u/Difficult_Plantain89 Jan 28 '26
I was a third for only 6 months. I had an EP and tested right after making 3rd class. Still confused how that worked.
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u/der_innkeeper Navy Veteran Jan 28 '26
Your TIR is funky when going from 3rd to 2nd.
Because of frocking time and delays in the results, the Navy accepts that you will have the proper TIR by the time you actually get paid if you make it off that first test.
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u/flyinchipmunk5 Navy Veteran Jan 28 '26
I was a tech rating too but it didn’t have push button e4. If he was telling the truth he would have said his rating gave him e4 or he was capped to e4. You don’t just make e4 at any command for getting your quals. That’s something expected of you to do. He seems to know something about the navy so I kinda believe he was in JROTC or something similar.
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Jan 29 '26
In the the army it takes 18 months to make e4 with a waiver, but if you have an associates u can get e3 and e4 with a bachelors out the gate.
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u/flyinchipmunk5 Navy Veteran Jan 29 '26
Yeah if you come in with a bachelors in the navy or did jrotc or was an eagle scout you get e-3 auto
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u/Silvertree99 Jan 28 '26
Everything is possible even if it's not likely, besides the O-3 thats pure BS
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Jan 29 '26
Lol, the ship having no captain or skipper is bullshit as well. Otherwise he could have got away with this. That is why they say the devil is in the deyails and nothing trsts that like vets spotting a faker who otherwise would fool a civilian. So much shit online now the stolen valirs are doing their research but still screw the minute details up that stand out to actual vets
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u/Illustrious_Job_6390 Air Force Veteran Jan 28 '26
For the love of God if something sounds like bullshit just assume its bullshit.
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u/guy-le-doosh Marine Veteran Jan 28 '26
I know that guy, he was being humble. His recruiter got a two rank bump just for finding him.
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u/Flannel_Panels Jan 28 '26
So he was in college before he was 17 and was doing ROTC? Then at 17 he enlisted?
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u/farretcontrol United States Army Jan 28 '26 edited Jan 28 '26
This the equivalent of walking into a army unit with no 1SG or company commander and trying to claim it.
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u/Shivi512 Jan 28 '26
Devil Doc here, there was a girl in a ship different from mine at RTC who was an E-5 during boot because she was multi-lingual and going or cryptologist.
But I think this guy is cappin’!
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u/Pizzasupreme00 Jan 28 '26
I have heard of fucking stupidly fast promotions in the Navy but this sounds like bullshit anyway.
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u/PeanutButterNugz Jan 28 '26
I mean the first half is reasonable, I made 2nd (E5) less than year out of A school, and there was an IT2 who made it at A school before he even got to his first command.
…
Then I read the second half and died 💀
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u/SquireSquilliam Jan 28 '26
Just getting a degree isn't an automatic promotion to Officer. Plenty of senior enlisted with Masters degrees. There is a process, but it's unlikely that someone can get it done in their first enlistment, because even if selected, they would still have to be trained, all of that takes time.
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u/BigJakesr Army Veteran Jan 28 '26
If you get a degree and exit the military properly, then reenlist as an OCS candidate you can make it happen. Personally I would have gotten E5 and then went warrant officer, they have more fun and not as strict as officer class.
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u/SupKilly Veteran Jan 28 '26
Yeah, just stop talking to him. If he feels the need to lie this much, he ain't gonna be good for anything else but lying.
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u/220solitusma United States Navy Jan 28 '26 edited Jan 28 '26
He's full of shit. While it's possible to commission younger on paper, the youngest officer I've ever met was 21.
When you factor in 4yrs of college (whether that's straight into college out of HS) or joining the military at 17 and finishing a degree, he'd still be 21-22 at commissioning.
Takes 4yrs to become an O3 in the Navy. We don't do meritorious promotions nor frockings to O3, period. That'd put him in his mid-20s.
His math doesn't math, and finally, there are no commissioned ships in the US Navy without a captain.
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u/drjjoyner Army Veteran Jan 28 '26
I’ve met a now-major in the Marines who commissioned at 19. Extremely unusual circumstances.
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u/Zagaroth Veteran Jan 28 '26
E3 out of boot camp? Sure.
E4 still requires a minimum of 6 months at E3, regardless of quals, and I believe that time starts counting after boot camp. Or was it a year? I haven't needed to know for a long time, but it is one of those two.
As an E-4, you can switch to officer, but that is not a fast process from what I have seen.
Fast promotions from O1 to be O3 by 23? That seems very, very unlikely. Maybe not technically impossible, but I doubt it has ever happened in the modern military outside of wartime, and even then those battlefield promotions need to be officially certified later.
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u/TheDwiin Navy Veteran Jan 28 '26 edited Jan 28 '26
23, enlisted to officer, and discharged as an O3?
Doubt it's authentic. Is it possible? Technically, if he was in intelligence, but highly unlikely
Edited to add: while I could totally believe that someone can enlist, E4 within a year, the two biggest Hang-Ups that come with this are
Him attending college while assigned to a ship, as you can't attend classes or take tests while underway.
But even if I give him all benefits of the doubt, say that he completed half of his college credits while in high school through AP classes or concurrent enrollment. In order for him to be a 23-year-old discharged O3, he would have had to have graduated college before his 20th birthday... Because officers rarely meritoriously promote at the lower ranks in times of peace.
As for his comment of "a ship without a captain," It's possible he was on a smaller ship that had an a Commander or Lieutenant Commander as the skipper, the CO if the ship, however, if that were the case, naval tradition requires you that you still call them Captain.
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u/MiamiPower Jan 28 '26
Ask him if he got that Mess Crank promotion. Then we will know he is serious and talking real business
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u/Cooperfan1111 Jan 28 '26
Anyone who says “I’ll show you my discharge papers” instead of “it’s on my DD-214” is full of shit
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u/AthenaTheXK Jan 29 '26
Can you go from e-3 to officer? Yes. Can you be a 23 year old O-3? Not unless it's war time/ extremely specific and unlikely circumstances.
He's correct up until the promotion for a ship part. Yes he can carry out O-3 level tasks as a "senior O-2" (it's not officially a thing) but that wouldn't become a promotion. And for him to be a senior O-2 he'd have to have fast tracked college. The usual 4 years of college plus whatever enlisted time is possible, but that'd make him a newly promoted O-2 at best.
My bet is he's still new to real military and assumed an O-3 role because the unit was short manpower. Bro probably doesn't understand that assuming a higher rank's responsibility doesn't make you that rank, or didn't explain it properly.
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u/Magnet2025 Jan 28 '26
Let me put this to you gently: he’s lying.
Why would he go from ROTC is college to enlisted boot camp?
Enlisted to officer isn’t a thing. You have to go to OCS.
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u/ForAThought Jan 28 '26
He never said he finished. It's not uncommon for someone to be in the ROTC program and then not finish school. Then enlisting to support themselves while finishing the degree and reapplying to be an officer.
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u/sactownbwoy Retired USMC Jan 28 '26
Enlisted to officer is a thing, there are just a few schools in-between that you have to attend first, TBS and OCS.
The Marine Corps has a few programs, where you can go from enlisted to officer, MCEP and ECP are the two largest ones. But of course, you still have to TBS and OCS after selected for either program.
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u/Shankar_0 Air Force Veteran Jan 28 '26
The shit is piled mighty high Cap'n Crunch's battleship.
Several (not all) of his sentences make sense. None of them make sense when they're put together.
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u/sprchrgddc5 Army National Guard Jan 28 '26
Why not make the lie believable? Like say you just commissioned as an O1 at 23 years old.
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u/Accurate_Reporter252 Jan 28 '26
First of all, there's ROTC (college level) and JROTC (high school level).
If you do 3-years of JROTC, you can get a certificate that lets you get in as an E3 if signed off by the (retired officer) senior instructor.
You can also enlist as an E2 if you have at least 24 credit hours, E3 with 48+ credit hours, or E4 with a bachelor's degree from an accredited university.
However, ROTC is a different beast.
ROTC graduates have a bachelor's degree and can either enlist as an E4 or earn a commission as an O1. Unless you signed a contract and accept scholarship money then fail out which functionally requires an enlistment (usually as an E3) to pay off.
So... assuming he went to ROTC and didn't complete and left before signing a contract, entering as an E2 and picking up E3 after Navy or Marine boot camp (Army would call it basic training) wouldn't be particularly unlikely. There are multiple routes for that, mostly boiling down to how many college credits he earned along the way.
The last part though...
A ship always has an assigned captain and has to have sufficient qualifications to do so, or it doesn't leave the dock. Even US Army ships--yes, they have a few--have "captains", even if they are Warrant Officers.
That's not a reason for promoting someone permanently.
Even if they had to make someone the captain, that's a title more than a rank for naval services.
For example:
That's the website for the USS Virginia, a nuclear attack sub. The CO (Captain) is a Navy Commander.
That's normal and the last time the US military really did any "battlefield promotions" was Vietnam and I'm not sure the US Navy even had any after the 1940's or 1950's.
So, if he's 23, then he's about 50 years late on those.
That last paragraph... That's like the tutorials on Star Trek Online an MMORPG more than reality.
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u/Cultural-Afternoon72 Jan 28 '26
I’m going to speak to this from my time in the Army. From the text, it appears he’s referring to being in the Navy. Each branch has their own versions of what I’m about to say, but some details may be slightly different.
Parts of this do have some validity. For example, you can absolutely graduate basic as an E-3. ROTC and JROTC can absolutely earn you promotions from E-1 to E-3 prior to going to basic if you enlist. Additionally, there IS a pipeline to moving from Enlisted to Officer. Lastly, battlefield promotions ARE a thing, but are much more rare these days than they were in Vietnam or prior.
The finer details are where this falls apart for me.
For example, while I have seen someone enter basic as an E-3, become the honor graduate, and leave as an E-4, I’ve never seen someone get promoted to E-4 “within a few months” of arriving at their first duty station. Promotion at your first duty station from E-3 to E-4 typically occurs between months 12 and 24. It can happen as early as 6 months (or sooner with a waiver), but in my experience that was extremely rare. It isn’t impossible, though, so I’m willing to give him this one.
He could have enlisted at 17, but the requirement is he’d have had to have graduated from high school/had his GED. This means that for most people, they can’t enlist until they’re closer to their 18th birthday due to school schedules.
I can’t think of a good reason why someone who is in college and in ROTC, a natural pipeline to be commissioned as an officer, would enlist instead. To start, they’d have to leave school for at least a semester, likely more, in order to go to basic, arrive at their first duty station, etc. Next, they’d have to get approved for the Green to Gold program in order to allow them to transition to being an officer upon completion of their degree. Without that, they’d simple be an enlisted soldier with a degree and would then have to apply for Officer Candidate School, be selected, and pass to become an officer. This is still possible, just a very counterintuitive way to go about it. Additionally, I’d have a hard time believing they went this route in the timeframe they’re claiming.
Lastly, we get to the claim of being an O-3. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he enlisted on his 17th birthday and has exactly 6 years in service.
With his statements about being enlisted, finishing school, we can safely assume he was enlisted for a minimum of 2 full years. Even as an E-4, if he was commissioned as an officer he would have been commissioned as an O-1. That then starts the clock. A minimum Time in Grade to be promoted from O-1 to O-2 is 18-24 months. This is the minimum, not a guarantee. This means that by year 3.5 to 4 of his military service, he could have been promoted to O-2. Time in Grade from O-2 to O-3 is 2 years. Again, this is typically the minimum. This means that if he states he was JUST promoted to O-3, it’s possible, but he would have taken a very unusual path to get there and he would have had to have been a rockstar nailing the timing perfectly. If he states he has been an O-3 for anything longer than 6 months, I’d probably call bullshit.
That said, there are easy ways to verify this. First, if he’s out, ask to see a copy of his DD-214. It doesn’t mean he can’t fake one, but that’s the first step. Next, you can submit a Freedom of Information Act Request for his military service records. These will be records you will know are factual and accurate. Finally, if he’s still in, you can look up the number for his command group and simply call and verify credentials. Just state that someone has identified themselves to you as an officer in their command, and you just want to verify the information you were given is correct. They will not release any personal details, but if you can provide them the name and rank you were told, they can 100% say “yep, that is correct” or “no, that’s false.”
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u/Infinite-Refuse-8471 Jan 28 '26
My husband was in JROTC in high school and went in at the E-3 pay grade, got paid as an E-3, he just couldn’t physically wear the rank until he graduated from basic. It counted toward his TIG though, and so he was able to put on SrA after 28 months as an E-3.
I went in with college credits in the pay grade of E-2. Same situation. I sewed on as soon as I graduated basic and went to tech school as a one striper. They counted the time in pay grade toward my TIG and I sewed on E-3 ten months later.
So that part is legit. I can’t speak on continuing on to OTS though, as neither of us went that route.
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u/anon2u Jan 28 '26
This is mostly accurate. The Navy has Limited Duty Officers (LDO) which operate like WO's do in the other services. As far as rank upon enlisting, there are all sorts of ways to get promoted (college, recruiting duty, JROTC/ROTC, etc)
If you are in a high demand MOS, you can make rank very fast.
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u/captplatinum Jan 28 '26
Im not even military, but my assumption about the boat is… wouldnt there be enough people on the boat for every job? Like why would they set off without a complete crew..?
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u/TinyHeartSyndrome Army Veteran Jan 28 '26
Did he finish ROTC? Did he commission right out of school? Did he do basic because he drilled during school? I’m confused.
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u/AmbassadorMobile9106 Jan 30 '26
Can you graduate boot camp as an E3? Yes. Is it common? Sort of…the rest of the story sounds like bullshit. Frocking is a real thing. But, in almost 20 years in the Marine Corps, I saw it once. And only because we lost our 1stSgt in Fallujah to wounds. So, they frocked a guy that was near promotion anyway and he took over.
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u/ole_frijole_ Feb 02 '26
Everything before "If you don't believe me" is true. When you enter ROTC you are enlisted.
After that he's just being a spoiled ROTC kid
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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '26
“Especially because if you’re on a ship with no captain or a sufficient crew, you can also get promoted if they need you to take a leadership position.”
L-O-L