Seaman Kevon Grayson steers the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan in the Philippine Sea on May 28, 2024. (Eric Stanton/U.S. Navy)

WASHINGTON — The Navy has implemented a new policy that will allow commanding officers to recommend certain sailors for advancement to help fill empty assignments, but the sailors must reenlist, the service announced Monday.

The policy, which took effect Saturday, allows eligible sailors to advance to the paygrades of E-5 or E-6 to fill vacant billets or ones that will become open in the next 18 months. Sailors must agree to reenlist and fulfill the tour requirements for the billet.

The effort, known as Command Advance to Position, or CA2P, is different from the service’s Meritorious Advancement Program, or MAP, which allows sailors to be promoted without agreeing to additional time in service. CA2P will replace MAP in the next two years, according to the Navy announcement.

Under the new policy, commanding officers can recommend a sailor by submitting a Manning Realignment Request, or MRR, on the career website, MyNavy Assignment, for those more than 12 months out from their projected rotation date.

If a sailor is less than 12 months away from the projected rotation date, commands can recommend the sailor for the new billet through an email request to the appropriate placement management coordinator.

To be eligible to be promoted to an E-5, one must have passed the most recent advancement exam and must have two years of cumulative sea duty. Those who have previously undergone the CA2P process to advance to E-5 must agree to an additional two years of service on top of the current tour length to become an E-6.

“Sailors who are assigned to overseas tours will need to meet [Defense Department] requirements to be eligible for either the overseas tour extension incentives program or the consecutive overseas tour program,” the service memo said.

Nuclear-trained sailors are not eligible for the new program, according to the announcement.