fordmustanggt_350 Posted October 4, 2018 Share #1 Posted October 4, 2018 So I will be getting promoted, as an Army Officer, some time in November. In both my civilian job and Army job I am a historian and I am looking for any ideas or suggestions that may be out there for cool traditions that would still be acceptable. Have any of you seen any interesting historic touches to a promotion ceremony? Thank you for any thoughts or suggestions. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan H. Posted October 4, 2018 Share #2 Posted October 4, 2018 Most of the older promotion traditions have gone by the wayside as they tended to encourage the consumtion of alcohol. Traditionally, the officer getting promoted was expected to spend the difference in one month's pay on his promotion celebration. Other traditions are that the officer invited all of the officers in his unit to the officers' club and paid the bar tab which could be significantly more than the difference in one month's pay. I've seen photos of officers wearing huge rank insignia on their shoulders on their promotion day, but that probably isn't going to be practical for you. I remember both of my promotion days very well. I got my orders and changed my rank insignia on my uniforms and never said anything about it. My promotion from 1LT to Captain was screwed up in channels and my promotion was backdated a whole year. I went from having to call captains "sir" to having date of rank on a couple of them overnight. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted October 4, 2018 Share #3 Posted October 4, 2018 Can't help too much because most traditions involve(d) alcohol, and that's pretty much frowned on these days. Getting pinned with historic rank insignia - maybe belonging to someone famous - is about as "out of the box" as I can think of (I wear the rank insignia worn by a MOH recipient; if I ever promote again, I have a set of that insignia belonging to a former CJCS to be used for my pinning). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12A54 Posted October 4, 2018 Share #4 Posted October 4, 2018 I agree with Dave, an historic link to the rank insignia is always a nice touch. I got promoted to Captain by my friends and fellow officer on top of a glacier in Austria wearing winter overwhites. We had a toast and then skiied to the bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmustanggt_350 Posted October 11, 2018 Author Share #5 Posted October 11, 2018 Thank you for the suggestions. I am looking to get promoted in a historic site on Rock Island Arsenal and unfortunately my branch is not very old or I would definitely be looking for historic rank. Thanks for the suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12A54 Posted October 12, 2018 Share #6 Posted October 12, 2018 Rank insignia has not changed since WWII and in some cases WWI.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmustanggt_350 Posted October 12, 2018 Author Share #7 Posted October 12, 2018 12A54 you are correct about the rank. As an officer I have really two choices. Velcro rank for the OCP uniform or shoulder boards which are branch specific. While the rank did not change my branch did not exist in its current state until 1967. So the shoulder boards I have to wear are 1967 or newer. Unfortunately it narrows down any significant historic shoulder boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted October 12, 2018 Share #8 Posted October 12, 2018 When I was promoted to 1LT, we closed the shop doors and threw a beer party for the troops. I felt my promotion was due to a lot of their hard work. Nothing that got of hand, just a couple beers each. How they spent the rest of that Friday evening, I have no idea! Not so much a promotion tradition, but sometimes the NCO's or even your fellow officers would mess with you by turning the pin on rank insignia on your fatigue hat sideways, and then let you walk around all day without telling you. I finally got clued into it when my troops started giving me sideways salutes. The troops only mess with you if they like you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chap15 Posted October 16, 2018 Share #9 Posted October 16, 2018 One tradition is to give your old rank to someone junior to you. This will encourage them to pursue the rank and honor them and therefore future generations that serve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Z Posted October 16, 2018 Share #10 Posted October 16, 2018 What do you do at Rock Island? I was stationed there a few years back as a 51C. My promotion to 1LT was in a tank motorpool, and we rolled out to the field right afterward. My promotion to CPT was in Iraq so there was no drinking. Promotion to MAJ was at Fort Leavenworth, and we just had some refreshments before going back to work. All that being said, try to make the day yours. I say you dress up and be formal about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted October 17, 2018 Share #11 Posted October 17, 2018 One tradition is to give your old rank to someone junior to you. This will encourage them to pursue the rank and honor them and therefore future generations that serve. That's a good one. Sometimes it just shows that you believe enough in someone below you that they will eventually move up as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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