This is where I am getting confused blue. You are advocating for people not be held back by the promotion process but you are advocating for people to be rank locked when a squad leader for what im assuming is lore based approach?
As soon as you "rank lock" someone they are demotivated and may not see a point in playing as alot of people like the achievement side of ranking up.
By the time someone reaches E8 or 9 there should be someone willing and able to replace them and then they move up the structure also. On the SoF the structure is quite clear for everyone to move up and through the 45TH MB.
Regiment Leader
Battalion Leader
Company Leader
Platoon Leader
Squad Lead
Fireteam Leader
If by the time they are E7, E8 and E9 and they dont have replacements so they can move up i would be questioning them to why and see whats going on inside the platoon to why the cannot replace one person in a leadership position.
I mean the reason i didn't do it was solely based of your merit and attitude towards myself, the ship and clan overall but even still you became an ODST which you applied for and osman approved it. So you still managed to move through the ranks even with me disapproving you. But this is a long time ago that for you anyway seemed to be an issue. Now i cannot imagine it being an issue.
I mean what's the difference in being an E3 and then saying "hey i want to lead" they get the promotion to E4 and go from there. Fairly sure Rin used to be an E4 or E5 just sole based on the skill and activity she had with the clan. Again can you clarify why you want there to be an E4 rank people can push for to assume the NCO title but not have NCO responsibilities?
Sorry just to go back to this part. people have been promoted before based on Merit. Recently Ned has to E3 and previously again Junior Enlisted have done for various reasons mainly being recruitment or hosting activities/stepping up when times were tough. Fire 2the Flame is a great example although she hadnt been in the clan exactly 5 months i thought it was necessary to promote her to E6. But she is the only Senior enlisted to have this as again it was extraordinary circumstances. But the point is having someone promoted for merit tends to be because they went above and beyond their current rank and position.
The nice thing about the current structure it basically shows you where they should be at their ranks and what they have to achieve to become a squad leader in order to be a E6 (they need to lead a squad for a month). What I am getting at is they already are being promoted for doing what they are meant to do in they're position.
For me like I said a merit based promotion should really only happen if they have went above and beyond not when they are doing everyday responsibilities.