The Navy set dates and details for Fall’s Navy-Wide Advancement Exam (NWAE) Cycle 256 in NAVADMIN 135/22 released June 17.
All E-6 and E-5 candidates in the active and Training and Administration of the Reserves (TAR) components will return to pre-COVID-19 norms of testing on specific dates, though Navy officials have built flexibility into that schedule through Sept. 30.
“Should the necessity of an expanded window of NWAE administration be required due to a resurgence in the coronavirus pandemic, commands may request a deviation of NWAE administration from Navy Personnel Command,” wrote Vice Adm. Richard J. Cheeseman Jr. in the message.
“Deviation from single-day testing will not be authorized for convenience, rather as a result of heightened regional health protection measures or other valid reason.”
For clarity, the Navy renamed the reserve Full-Time Support (FTS) community to the Training and Administration of the Reserves (TAR) at the start of fiscal year 2022.
E-6 and E-5 candidates will test on Sept. 1 and Sept. 8, respectively. However, all active and TAR E-4 advancement exams are again canceled. Qualified E-3’s will be selected for advancement using the alternate rank order final multiple process to determine who advances without the exam score.
This E-4 advancement procedure has been in effect since COVID-19 precautions began in early 2020. Navy personnel officials say that Fleet feedback from previous rank-order E-4 advancements has been positive.
Leading up to the exams, Sailors must complete their Professional Military Knowledge Eligibility Exams (PMK-EE) by July 31.
The PMK-EE deadline applies to all Sailors regardless of whether they are sitting for an exam or not. Sailors who have already met this military knowledge testing requirement on previous cycles do not have to retake this exam. It is only required once at each paygrade level.
Terminal eligibility for computing time-in-rate (TIR) is Jan. 1, 2023.
TIR date for E-6's must be on or before Jan. 1, 2020; Jan. 1, 2022 for E-5; and July 1, 2022 for E-4.
CO's and OIC's can waive one year of time-in-rate for E6 candidates with Early Promote on their latest evaluation. However, enlisted advancement worksheets (EAWs) for those Sailors must be manually created and submitted.
High-year tenure dates for all candidates must be Jan. 1, 2023 or later. Those requiring waivers must be approved before Sept. 1 to participate in the exam cycle.
Because the Naval Education Training and Professional Development Center (NETPDC) will not receive E-4 exam answer sheets, commands must scrub the records of their advancement eligible E-3 Sailors to ensure all E-4 EAW in the Navy Standard Integrated Personnel System are accurate and up to date.
The EAW deadline for Cycle 256 active and TAR Sailors deadline is one week after their respective testing dates for E-6 and E-5. Though no E-4 exams will be given, EAW’s must be completed by Sept. 15.
Once exams are given, ESO’s are encouraged to expeditiously mail in answer sheet packages to NETPDC and not hold any taken exams until the end of the testing window, ensuring prompt processing of exams.
No dates have yet been set for the release any advancement results as this will depend heavily on accurate worksheets being submitted upfront and the prompt return of answer sheets once exams are taken.
Additional eligibility and administrative details and deadlines are available in NAVADMIN 135/22 along with key points of contact.
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