You and everyone around might hate this one but do some bullshit that looks good on an eval like voulnteering, become an amazing paper sailor (as we called it in the navy, someone who does a lot of extra bullshit but isnt necessarily good at their jobs) and speed up your promotions. I went from E1-E5 in 2 years and 1 month WITHOUT doing any of this and there are people around me who did it even faster. The pay difference in unbelievable. Most E5 make over 60k a year all pays considered, possibly more but rarely less, depending on BAH