Master Sgt. Joseph Stoker poses for a photo at Marine Corps Support Facility New Orleans on Dec. 18, 2025. A member of the 4th Marine Air Wing, Stoker was selected for a lateral move to first sergeant under the new E-8 transfer pilot program. (Scott Jenkins / U.S. Marine Corps)
The Marine Corps broke a long-standing senior enlisted career divide this week by redesignating master sergeants to the rank of first sergeant under a new pilot program.
Master Sgt. Joseph Stoker, an individual material readiness list coordinator with Marine Forces Reserve, was among the first Marines selected to laterally transition between the two E-8 ranks, the service said in a statement Dec. 31.
While master sergeants serve primarily as senior experts in their job fields, first sergeants fulfill a command leadership role, acting as the senior enlisted adviser to commanders at the company, battery or squadron levels.
Historically, gunnery sergeants selected for advancement to E-8 were assigned by a selection board to either the master sergeant or first sergeant career track.
Prior to the pilot program, Marines were locked into one track or the other once they pinned the selected rank, and they had no option to laterally transition.
The pilot program is a significant milestone in the Marine Corps option and gives master sergeants greater control over their careers, Sgt. Maj. Carlos Ruiz, the service’s senior enlisted leader, said in the statement.
“It advances our talent management efforts by ensuring our E-8s are placed in positions that best support both their success and that of the Marine Corps,” Ruiz said.
Another beneficiary of the program is Master Sgt. Cord Burgan, an instructor section adviser at the Staff Non-Commissioned Officer Academy in Quantico, Va.
Master Sgt. Cord Burgan laterally transitions to first sergeant on Jan. 5, 2026, after being selected by a board to be one of the first-ever Marines to be redesignated within the E-8 pay grade. (U.S. Marine Corps)
Ruiz said Monday on Facebook that Burgan had been selected as a pilot program qualifier and pinned on the rank of first sergeant.
Announced in mid-2025, the pilot program began reviewing eligible applicants in October and selected its first group of Marines to transition in January, with Stoker among those approved to pin on the first sergeant rank.
“I’ve always believed that the strength of the Marine Corps is its people, and I want to be in a position where I can guide and mentor more Marines on a larger scale,” Stoker said in the statement.
Service officials have not said how many Marines will ultimately be approved under the pilot program, but it is expected to inform future decisions on whether lateral transitions between the two E-8 career tracks could become permanent.
Lateral transitions between ranks in the same pay grade are not new across the Defense Department.
The Army, for example, has long allowed such movement between certain ranks when it is deemed “consistent with the responsibilities associated with their assignment and utilization,” according to an Army doctrine.
Possibilities for soldiers include switches from specialist to corporal, master sergeant to first sergeant, and sergeant major to command sergeant major.
