Navy gives pink slips to nearly 600 senior NCOs

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The Navy is forcing 593 senior enlisted members to retire or transfer to the fleet reserve after concluding its senior enlisted continuation board, according to a Navy press release Wednesday.

The number is more than the two previous years combined, and represents one of multiple efforts to pare down a force facing budgetary pressures from the Pentagon and Capitol Hill.

The 2013 White House budget released Monday funded 322,000 active duty sailors, 3,000 less than this year’s estimated end strength. The figures continue a downward trend in force strength over the past seven years, according to Navy data.

The board met Dec. 5 and evaluated 7,684 active-duty sailors in pay grades E-7 through E-9 with more than 19 years of service.

 

Unlike other recent boards that have cut thousands of junior enlisted sailors from the active-duty ranks, the senior enlisted board did not have a quota, according to the news release. The decisions to separate the senior sailors from active duty were based on their individual performance evaluations, according to the news release.

The 2010 senior enlisted continuation board chose 336 senior sailors to retire or transfer, while the 2009 board chose 158 sailors, according to Navy data.