Personnel bosses shook up the enlisted advancement system this year by revamping the spot advancement rules. And they're set to greatly expand these in 2016.

Moran and Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus shook up the Navy's enlisted advancement system in 2015 by saving the old Command Advancement Program from the scrap heap and turned it around. They want to expand it to offer more of these spot advancements during 2016.

Navy studies showed that the system was often underused and thousands of advancements were left on the table each year. Those who were advanced were often sailors who were in danger from discharge at high-year tenure and were being "saved" through the program. Others were in overmanned ratings with poor opportunity with further exacerbated the issue.

As a result, officials say studies showed the quality of sailors being advanced wasn't top notch, either. Many in the Navy were calling for the program to be cut — that it caused more problems than it's worth.

Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Bill Moran unveiled the Meritorious Advancement Program and told commands to promote their best sailors — not just those closest to high-year tenure limits. Commands, he said, should went the other way. Seeking to give commanding officers greater sway over their sailors, he  spent most of the year making the fleet rounds setting his expectations for a new Meritorious Advancement Program. His message was to stop saving sailors who couldn’t advance. Instead, he said, commands should scour their deckplates for the most deserving sailors and advance them ahead of the exam cycle.

When the dust settled in October, all but eight of the 2,282 your of 2,290 available quotas had been filled — much higher than previous years.  In part, that's because skippers are required to report their MAP selections and return back in unused quotas to accomodate other skippers looking to tack on more petty officer crows.t for their MAP quotas and mandated unused advancements be "turned in" to accommodate other skippers wanting to tack on more new petty officer crows.

Until now, spot advancements had been limited to those on sea duty or recruiting. No longer.

In 2016, Moran says he’ll expand the program to shore duty commands. He’s also said he’s open to upping the fleet's quotas if they're being used, as no-test advancements play a bigger role in making rate. Moran says he'll up these quotas gradually to insure against that overmanning doesn't happen. 

About Mark D. Faram

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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