Notification begins today for 219 senior enlisted sailors who will be forced out of the Navy byafter the end of fiscal 2016.

The fiscal 2016 Senior Enlisted Continuation Board reviewed the records of nearly 6,600 retirement-eligible active, rReserve and full-time support chiefs, senior chiefs and master chiefs and selected roughly 3.2 percent of them for mandatory retirement,

Navy officials released the board's results of the fiscal 2016 Senior Enlisted Continuation Board to command leaders at 11 a.m. today, and notification of those selected to retire began immediately. 

The notification window is expected to continue for one week. Traditionally the notification window for this board is longer than for normal selection boards as officials must also notify selected reservists, too.

"Results of the fiscal 2016 Senior Enlisted Continuation Board were posted to command leadership's [BUPERS online] — triad-access-only accounts Wednesday," said Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Christensen, spokesman for the chief of naval personnel.

"Command leadership teams will personally notify their sailors who were not selected to continue their service in the Navy."

Christiansen said that, more than any other board results, "this is an issue that needs to be handled with care." That's because everyone selected not to continue has served honorably and will leave the service under those terms, he noted. "We believe it's important for leadership to notify their sailors in person ahead of the results being posted to individuals' BOL accounts next week."

Once the notification window has closed at 11 a.m. EST on Feb. 10, officials will update the continuation status in the service records of those considered by the board. Also expected is a release of a naval administrative message releasing the overall statistics from the board. But because this board sends people home, officials do not publicly release the names of those selected by the board, only statistics.

The board has met every year except for fiscal year 2014, when a scheduling conflict caused officials to cancel the panel for the year.

This year, the board was originally set to start deliberations on Aug. 3, but an "inadvertent email release" of the board's planned membership, which typically isn't made public until the board is in session, delayed the proceedings..

The rescheduled board convened Dec. 7 and adjourned on Dec. 16.

The continuation board was devised in 2009, when overmanning in the E-7 and above ranks among sailors with 20 or more years of service was causing a significant slowdown in advancement opportunity.

At the time, the Navy's senior leadership strongly considered mandatory quotas for the board, but then-Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (SS/SW) Rick West opposed quotas and argued that the panel should make a pure "quality cut" of the senior enlisted ranks instead.

Last year's board examined the records of 7,017 active, rReserve and FTS chiefs, E-7 through E-9, and sent home 161 of them —  2.9 percent of the total. That was the lowest percentage — and number — of chiefs forced into retirement since 2010.

This year, the board looked at roughly 400 fewer records, but sent home 49 more CPOs, resulting in a slightly higher percentage of those selected for mandatory retirement. 

Just 2 percent of those screened last year were tabbed to retire last year, the lowest percentage — and number — of chiefs forced into retirement since 2010.

Mark D. Faram is a former reporter for Navy Times. He was a senior writer covering personnel, cultural and historical issues. A nine-year active duty Navy veteran, Faram served from 1978 to 1987 as a Navy Diver and photographer.

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