The chances of getting a shiny new set of chief petty officer anchors is looking up this year for both the drilling reserve and the reserve full-time support components, according to the newly released official quotas.

The release of this year’s advancement numbers comes as the fiscal year 2019 Selected Reserve and Full-Time E-7 selection board got underway last week in Millington, Tennessee.

The board is reviewing the records of a combined 3,600 sailors whose test scores and evaluations were good enough to qualify this year.

For those in the drilling reserve, over 2,586 eligible candidates will compete for a total of 448 spots, giving those part-time sailors just over a 17 percent shot at moving into the chief’s mess this fall.

The combination of fewer eligible E-6′s coupled with more quotas available inched the opportunity up from last year’s 15 percent shot. Still, it’s nowhere near the bumper crop of quotas available to the fiscal 2017 board when 800 advanced into the chiefs mess in what amounted to an advancement rate of over 26 percent.

The bad news is that for 339 eligible E-6′s in 15 ratings, the Navy is not offering any quotas in those ratings this year. For 39 sailors in five of those ratings, it’s the second year in a row there’s been no chance to make chief.

In the full-time support community, the chance to put on chief increased to nearly 26 percent, up from a 21 percent shot from last year’s board. That rise was fueled by an increase of 57 quotas being offered while the numbers of eligible chief stayed roughly steady at at 1,023.

FTS E-7 opportunity has steadily risen over the past five years. Three years ago, the advancement rate was just over 15 percent. Those selected will be announced Navy-wide in early August, and the season will culminate in the September pinning of all the Navy’s new chief petty officers in all components in mid-September.

Full SELRES and FTS chief quotas are available here:

Fiscal Year 2019 Selected Reserve E-7 Quotas by rating.

Fiscal Year 2019 Full-Time Support E-7 Quotas by rating.

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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