The fall advancement exams from the guided-missile cruiser Antietam that were lost in the mail last week have been found, rushed by expedited shipping to Florida and are awaiting processing, officials told Navy Times.
“Once the exams are received and graded, those eligible will be selected for advancement just like those announced on Nov. 21,” said Naval Education and Training Command spokesman Cmdr. James D. Stockman in a Monday email to Navy Times. “No one from the announcement has been promoted yet. Actual promotions will be staggered based on a sailor’s final exam score.”
On Nov. 21, the warship’s commander, Capt. George A. Kessler Jr., took to the Antietam’s official Facebook page to tell crew members that the exams were received at the U.S. Army’s Camp Walker Post Office in Daegu, South Korea, and should have been shipped to the U.S. Air Force’s Osan Air Mobility Command on their way to the Florida-based Naval Education Training Professional Development Center.
In an update the next day, Kessler wrote that Fleet Mail Center Yokosuka sent a team of postal clerks to Yokota Air Base to retrieve the lost exams, which were slated for Express Mail service on Nov. 23 to Pensacola.
Officials anticipate that the exams will arrive there this Wednesday, Nov. 28.
“Once the exam sheets arrive, they will be processed, and sailors will advance if eligible,” Stockman said.
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Last Wednesday, Navy Times published the names of all 22,221 active-duty, reserve full-time support and drilling reserve sailors who got the word from their commands that they’ve advanced into or up in the petty officer ratings.
The newspaper plans to update the list with the Antietam’s results, once the command is provided the names of those who made rate.
The Navy recorded 94,895 sailors across the total force sitting for fall exams, with 90,270 cutting a passing score.
Crunching the number of total advancements, there was about a one in four chance to move up — the same opportunity during the spring advancement cycle.
Prine came to Navy Times after stints at the San Diego Union-Tribune and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He served in the Marine Corps and the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. His awards include the Joseph Galloway Award for Distinguished Reporting on the military, a first prize from Investigative Reporters & Editors and the Combat Infantryman Badge.
