Rank Information

Levels and what they mean:

ETE has a variety of levels that one can obtain. These "levels" make use of military rank insignia to identify where a person falls along the line of education, training and experience in their duty to personally and professionally devlop for the betterment of society.

A note: On membership... as you can see below, education and time set up automatic promotions. What you need is a starting date. While anyone can join ETE if they meet the minimum requirements, in order to progress, they need a starting date. We have established that a persons starting date will be either 1 January 2010 or their 21st birthday, whichever is later.

For example, if you had been 21 or older before 1 January 2010, then you use 1 January 2010 as your starting date for progression. If you turned 21 years of age after 1 January 2010, then your birthdate is your starting date! In this way, everyone truly has a level playing field for progression.

Officer Rank Update:

There is a special brand of people out there who may not have college degree's. Some may have entered into business without ever obtaining education beyond their high school days.

This sort of person provides opportunity for others to earn a decent living and have an enjoyable life.

As our very core is Personal and Professional Development for the Betterment of Society, it should be recognized that those who do provide opportunities for others to have decent incomes, and the potential for enjoyable lives, should be recognized for their efforts.

As such, those ETE members who own businesses and those in management positions that do provide opportunities for success to others, should be acknowledged with such opportunity to advance within our organization.

For those who own their own businesses and provide opportunity for others, using the "starting date" example above, these members shall have reached 21 years of age and had their business before 1 January 2010 to use the 1 January 2010 as their starting date. Those who are 21 years of age (or older) and started their business after 1 January 2010, will use the date that they began their business as their starting date.

The initial rank shall be Warrant Officer 1 (WO-1). Members in this system of progression shall advance through each of the five Warrant Officer Ranks (WO-1 through WO-5) over a period of five years. Beginning in their sixth year of service, they shall be Second Lieutenants and progress through the system from that point forward.

Example

Member owned a business with three employees as of 15 June 2009 and is 21 years of age at that time. As of 1 January 2010, when ETE opened our doors, this member would become a WO-1.

Dates of promotion would be on 1 January 2011 (WO-2), 1 January 2012 (WO-3), 1 January 2013 (WO-4), 1 January 2014 (WO-5) and 1 January 15 (2Lt).

Once they reach 2Lt, they progress as outlined below.

These ranks are retroactive in nature.

The first level of ranks in ETE, Private to Corporal (Level 1):

	1.1 Private: High School Diploma (HSD) or GED, both are equal!
	1.2 Private First Class: Automatic after six months as a Private.
	1.3 Corporal: Automatic after one year as a PFC.

Personal and Professional Development is expected of our members. As such, the only way past Corporal is to go back to school.

You do not need to go through the lower ranks. If you are already in, or graduated from, a technical or specialty training program, you begin your membership as a Sergeant.

This is the second level of ranks in ETE (Level 2):

	2.1 Sergeant: ENTER a post high school technical school or certificate program, this could be anything from fire rescue, law enforcement, chef, truck driving school, anything that requires a specialty training program in order to enter the field of employment in that career field. Once you enter that training, you are automatically promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
	2.2 Staff Sergeant: Graduation from that training program, and one year later, you automatically get promoted to Staff Sergeant.
	2.3 Sergeant First Class: Two years time in grade as a Staff Sergeant and you get an automatic promotion to Sergeant First Class.
	2.4 Master Sergeant: Three years time in grade as a Sergeant First Class and you earn the automatic promotion to Master Sergeant.
	2.5 Sergeant Major: Four years time in grade as a Master Sergeant and you earn the automatic promotion to Sergeant Major.

Now we move to the Warrant Officer Ranks, College (Level 3)!

	3.1 Warrant Officer (WO-1): ENTER into a college program specifically to accomplish an Associate's Degree. This degree program can be from any Regionally (one of the Regional Accrediting Associations) or Nationally Accredited school. Nationally Accredited schools must be from DETC.
	3.2 WO-2: Automatic upon meeting the requirements that define a Sophomore, typically once you have completed your 29th credit in a school that uses the semester system, or 44th credit in a school that uses the quarter system.
	3.3 WO-3: Automatic upon graduating with your Associates Degree! You are automatically promoted to WO-3, where you will remain until you enter your Junior year (official acceptance into a Bachelor's Degree Program).

A Note:

Some Associate's Degrees are the end of school training and the beginning of working in a career. Further education may be via technical training programs in the specific industry, but for the most part, continued advancement in ETE will take place by completing a Bachelor's Degree.

Until you go back into college and continue your work toward the Bachelors Degree, you remain a WO-3.

The Junior and Senior Years of Warrant Officer Ranks:

3.4 WO-4: Upon acceptance into a Bachelor's Degree Program, you are automatically promoted to WO-4, those "members" moving from Sophomore, directly to Junior status will actually "jump" over WO-3 and become WO-4. Anyone taking an educational break before becoming a Junior, for any reason (Ray Hayden's "break" was fifteen years!) will remain in the rank of WO-3 until such time that they return to their Junior year.

3.5 WO-5: Master Chief - (WO-5) is for those "members" who are College Seniors.

Of course, upon graduation, with that shiny new Bachelor's Degree, you are automatically promoted to Second Lieutenant. (Level 4):

	4.1 Second Lieutenant (2Lt): Graduate with a Bachelor's Degree. Members who have a degree, enter here.
	4.2 First Lieutenant (1Lt): Automatic after serving 2 years as a 2Lt.
	4.3 Captain (Capt): Automatic after serving 2 years as a 1Lt.

A Note:

Captain is the highest rank that a member can normally obtain without going back to school and completing a graduate or professional degree program. The ranks of General are reserved. See the ranks of General below for details.

Majors:

The rank of Major, 5.2 (permanent rank of Major) is the highest rank that a member may obtain in ETE without contributing to the succuss of the organization.

There are three levels of Major's, 5.1 is a student in their graduate or professional degree program. A 5.2 Major is the permanent rank of Major for those who do not seek, or do not qualify for higher rank or position within our organization. A 5.3 Major is a person who has graduated from their degree program and is seeking to earn higher rank in our organization. All Members who obtain the rank of Major, must retain the rank for a minimum of two years without exception.

5.1 Major: The rank of Major is reserved for those who are in a post graduate program that leads to either a Master's or Professional Degree. Upon completing the degree program, a member must maintain the rank of Major for a minimum of one year (as a 5.3, graduate from degree program) past the date of the degree before becoming eligible for the rank of Lt Colonel (6), which has additional requirements.

Some Points:

It is vital to note that members can rise to the rank of Major (5.2) without taking part in the continued success of the organization in any direct fashion. If a member cannot, or does not wish to participate in the requirements of a higher position, they may maintain Level 5.2, the permanent grade of Major without taking on additional responsibilities with the organization.

The double line below signifies that there is a "hard break" between the previous ranks and higher levels. Members who seek the rank of a 5.3 Major or higher must take active participation in the organization's continued success. Members may only achieve higher rank (above Major 5.2) by invitation only.

Those who desire to progress should actively seek that invitation.

Lt Colonel and Colonel:

For those who seek the ranks of Lt Colonel (6) or Colonel (7), there are additional requirements. Anyone who is promoted to the rank of Lt Colonel or Colonel has a fiduciary duty to the organization, it's members, and our continued evolution and success.

Lt Colonel's have, at a minimum, a semi-active role in the continued evolution, success and development of ETE. Anyone within ETE can earn up to the rank of Major, but Lt Colonel's and above have the fiduciary duty to take a minimum of a semi-active role in specifically working towards the continual success of the organization.

6 Lt Colonel: Graduate from your degree program, complete one additional year in the rank of Major beyond the date of your degree, decide that you could be of service to ETE, and you become a candidate for the rank of Lt Colonel! No one can become a candidate for Lt Colonel who has less than two years time as a Major.

Colonel's have more responsibility to the organization and it's members. In order to be considered for the rank of Colonel, a member has to meet more stringent requirements as well as provide added value to ETE.

No one will be eligible for the rank of Colonel until at least 1 January 2015.

7 Colonel: Welcome to the rank of Colonel! In order to obtain the rank of Colonel, (requirements still being discussed): A candidate for Colonel must be a member of ETE for a minimum of five years before being eligible for candidacy. A candidate for Colonel must hold the rank of Lt Colonel for a period not less than two years prior to becoming a candidate for the rank of Colonel. The candidate who successfully obtains the rank of Colonel shall actively contribute to the continued success and development of ETE.

Reserved Ranks of General:

The Ranks of General, Level 8.1, Brigadier General, Level 8.2, Major General, Level 8.3, Lieutenant General and Level 8.4, General are reserved.

In addition to the ranks being reserved, at this time, there may only be one person in each of the levels of 8.3 and 8.4. The current reserve for level 8.2 is five and the current maximum number of those in level 8.1 is ten. No person may hold the rank of General at this time, and the rank is not authorized for any member until at least 2015.

Another note:

An example, using Ray Hayden:

Ray, as owner of ETE, only qualified for the rank of 2Lt, which he was granted on 1 January 2010, when ETE opened our doors as an organization. This promotion to 2Lt is based on Ray having earned his Bachelor's Degree from Florida State University in 2003, he entered into the ranking system as a 2Lt.

In February of 2010, Ray was accepted into a Master's Degree program at Amberton University. This earned Ray a promotion to Major 5.1, as a graduate level student. While Ray entered into the ranking system as a 2Lt just under two months prior, becoming a graduate student automatically granted him the promotion to Major 5.1.

In February of 2011, Ray graduated from his Master's program and was awarded Major 5.3, a Major who is seeking higher rank. Ray must hold this rank until at least February of 2012 (one year past his date of graduation), when he would become eligible for promotion to Lt Colonel (level 6).

On 1 March 2012, to coincide with his elevation to advanced law studies, Ray Hayden was promoted to Lt Col. Hayden had already graduated from his Master's Degree program and served for one additional full year prior to this promotion.

While he will have his two years of time in rank as a Lt Colonel in March of 2014, no one can obtain the rank of Colonel prior to 1 January 2015, per ETE rules.

As you can see, a persons rank in this organization is different. Could a 2Lt order around a Captain or a Major? Could that 2Lt order around a Corporal or a WO-2?

The answer is clearly, no. The fact is that we are not a military style organization. Rank is demonstrative of your position in the organization, not with the organization!

Don't forget, the purpose of the organization is to promote personal and professional development of our members for the betterment of society.

As such, all members of society have intrinsic value. Our purpose is to assist our members to progress to the best of their ability, and to do so, at a sustainable rate which they can handle financially, professionally and emotionally (stress levels are important to control).

As such, ALL members are on a level playing field, everyone can progress. Rank, in our system, is primarily a self actualization, your rank is your rank. You may keep it, or move forward to the best of your ability, that choice is yours.

We fully support your efforts and our mission is to offer advice and insight to each other along the way. If a smart person learns from their mistakes, wouldn't a very smart person learn from the efforts and insights of others who had already been there?