i am particularly heartened by my officer who is now trying to get me my 3SG rank without me passing my IPPT... it is a rule that specialists have to pass their IPPT in order to get their specialist rank, but my officer decided to approve my promotion anyway; and for that, he might create trouble for himself with the people at CPC... even though i may not get my 3SG eventually, but i'm just very happy that he's going the extra mile to get me something that i believe i deserve... we shall wait for a month to see what the outcome is like...