MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Staff Sgt. Henry J. Bankard III will soon be a gunnery sergeant. But Bankard, a conscientious student with all his professional military education complete, says he wouldn't have minded if a nonschooled war veteran had squeezed him out for promotion.
Accordingly, he says he thinks the PME waiver for war on terrorism veterans, announced June 29 by the Commandant of the Marine Corps, makes sense.
"I wouldn't be happy if I was selected over another staff sergeant who has been deployed to combat without the opportunity to attend the PME courses," said Bankard, 33, of Baltimore, who serves as a legal services specialist for Headquarters and Support Battalion, Marine Corps Base.
Cognizant that many Marines serving in OIF wouldn't have a chance to knock out curriculum they might need for promotion, the commandant earlier this year extended the PME waiver through fiscal year 2005.
The waiver is outlined in All-Marine Message 035/04.
The message states that while selection boards will still consider PME to determine the best qualified for promotion, completion of PME will not be a requirement for selection.
Marines selected for promotion who are not PME complete at the time of selection will still be expected to complete the required PME for both their prior grade and their new select grade. Failure to do so may adversely impact future promotion opportunities, the message states. The exception is when a gunnery sergeant is selected for first sergeant. Selectees who haven't attended the staff academy will not be required to enroll, the order states.
"The PME waiver is a good thing for Marines. It doesn't penalize those who haven't had the chance to go to school," said Sgt. Maj. Melvin Roundtree, 5th Marine Regiment's sergeant major.
"The Marine Corps provides every opportunity to further education, but when Marines are deployed two out of three years, when will they have time to attend PME courses?" Roundtree, a Chicago native, asked rhetorically, pinpointing the reasoning behind the waiver.
Roundtree says PME has value - but no more so than combat experience.
"For the most part, the Marine Corps experience has an inherent learning process," Roundtree said.
Bankard agreed PME has leadership value. He says such courses "re-green" Marines, or reinforce Marine Corps concepts and values.
But battlefield experience is just as important.
"Leadership you learn on the battlefield is just as invaluable as traits learned in a schoolhouse," he said.
Marines eligible for promotion consideration may submit a letter to the president of their respective boards to clarify any portions of their military records - including the effect of war service on their ability to meet PME requirements.
According to the ALMAR, officials will decide in the first quarter of fiscal year 2005 whether to extend the order through fiscal year 2006.
The linkage of staff NCO promotions to professional schooling has been in place since 1970, when the Staff Noncommissioned Officers Academy - the forum for much of the required schooling - was created.