Not sure what's your exact context here. You're talking about
active time or reservist? Or are you saying CQs, MT line, Signal
Stores & Medical Centers, etc. cannot have a ranking NCO over
their men?
If you dislike rear echelon personnel, hey, join the club. But
those departments are also run militarily, & taking charge as a
(formal) IC is the foremost job of a 3SG, regardless of
vocation.
CPLs don't make 3SGs per se. Lemme bring up some historical
perspective here. Back in the mid-80s, apocryphally, some
higher-ups disliked the trend of Air-Level enlistees making CPL,
thereby becoming of equal rank with the SAFINCO-trained ones. A new
rank, Corporal First Class (CFC), was introduced to supposedly
redress this -- except it never took off on the ground. I believe
one of the original intentions was to make every "proper" NCO a
CFC, but it turned out to be rear-echelon people who got promoted
most instead. Complicating matters, the latter new CFCs were often
Departmental 2ICs or equivalent, a subordinated role which became
associated with the rank. The design of the rank itself, which is
similar to today's CPL one, proved to be controversial too after it
became popularly coined as "two-&-a-half-stripe ", insinuating
a cursory contrivance (despite its good intentions). The feedback
must've been conspiciously negative, cuz not soon after the SAF
announced a complete revamp of the NCO rank hierarchy (which I'm
sure might've been tied up with other, larger policy
changes).
If you're advocating to bar non-combat troops from making 3SG, then
it won't work cuz the next-lowest rank (CFC) isn't a NCO rank. Yet
your QM or your MO needs someone principally-trained to help him
run & manage his people. Acting-IC appointments do happen
fairly regularly in reservist, but they tend to be temporary &
in any case don't fit into any acceptable military chain of
command.
As for "indiscriminate " NCO promotions in reservist, what you're
discovering is what I (& others) did earlier: it's a different
system from active time. Only the KAHs climb up in rank now. For
what it's worth, in our local reservist context, your CQ or Chief
Clark or MT Sergeant has a more vital role in the unit's overall
functioning than your usual Platoon Commander. Hence they get
promoted, while the company-line LTAs don't. Hence they get called
back earlier & more often than the main body, where the
PFCs/CPLs/LTAs/3SGs report for ICT together &, as a group,
don't get promoted throughout their entire cycle.
But I reckon even disappointed reservists will take these quirks in
stride. By all means, cosy up to your commander if there's an
opening. Even if you're willing to use up the maximum 40 days
recallable each year, do you really want to risk getting recycled
to a newly-ORDed unit when you hit your mid-30s? That's what KAHs
are open at risk to, esp. officers since they're legally obliged to
serve until they're 50! (If you're that chao siao on, why didn't
you sign on as a regular in the first place?)
Here's a bet: You'll laugh back someday at this initial
disillusionment. I remember doing two men's work during one ROC (my
buddy deferred that ICT) &, afterwards during the debrief,
jokingly asked my commander about putting me up for 3SG. We laughed
it off, he then reminded me about the KAH thing, & predicted I
won't be as enthusasistic after a few years. Turned out to be true
cuz after the 6th ICT or so, when everyone is nearing their late
20s & have heavier job, spousal & familial responsibilities
outside. My unit visibly declined as a result, which was
coincidentally when a number of our KAHs were identified for
re-coursing for future redeployments (i.e. recycling). The rest of
us were mightily relieved, & looked forward to standing down
instead. No more callups or IPPTs once posted to the MINDEF
reserves, regardless of age & legal obligations.
