YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The Navy announced Thursday that 4,173 sailors will be promoted to chief petty officer in the coming fiscal year.

The news from the chief of Navy personnel means about 21 percent of the 19,962 sailors who became selection board-eligible from the test last February will become chief petty officers.

“I found out this morning from my brother who is a chief personnel specialist,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Benigno Adones from Yokosuka Naval Base. “PS’s always seem to get to the message traffic first.”

This is Adones’ first attempt at making chief. He said he was pleased with the number of store keepers that will be promoted.

“I want to be a part of that elite club, not just an E-7, but chief petty officer,” he said.

Petty Officer 1st Class Anthony Demangone, who has been in the Navy for more than seven years, said he had been checking the Navy Personnel Command’s Web site in anticipation of the quota release.

“This cycle the Navy is promoting 41 out of 227 [sonar technicians (surface)],” said Demangone, from Afloat Training Group, Western Pacific, based at Yokosuka. “That’s 18 percent, and we have been around 28 percent the last couple years.”

But Demangone remains optimistic.

“I’m in the playoffs,” he said, “and you can’t get to the Super Bowl without first making it to the playoffs.”

Becoming an E-7

Navy enlisted promotions E-1 through E-6 generally hinge on two criteria: the evaluation and a multiple-choice exam.

To make the jump to chief petty officer (E-7), however, candidates who score well on the test and have solid evaluations are not assured promotion. Instead, they are first slated as “selection board eligible.”

From that point, the sailor’s service record does all the talking. These records are scrutinized by a selection board of senior enlisted sailors and officers who look for certain qualities and experience before advancing sailors to chief.

Chief selectees are usually announced in early August.

— Chris Fowler