July 25, 2007: The U.S. Navy, responding to complaints from commanders, and junior NCOs, that the most qualified sailors were not being promoted, has changed the formula for deciding who advances. For over a century, the navy has used tests, as well as time-in-the-job and evaluations by supervisors, to determine who gets promoted to NCO (petty officer) ranks. The weight given to each of these three has changed over time, and the most recent complaints were about too much emphasis given to the test, and not enough to evaluation of the sailors actual performance. The basic complaint was that too many sailors, with better technical knowledge, were being promoted over those who actually got things done more often. The navy also noted that a lot of these un-promoted hotshots were not staying in the navy. Something had to be done, and it was. Naturally, the sailors who gave good test are not happy, and some may leave. Time will tell, as it usually does, if this latest change in promotions procedures was the right one.