Pressing: Manufacturing may be one of your biggest expenses. There are a few different ways this can go down: If you have a distribution deal, your distributor may pay for manufacturing up front and then recoup the costs from sales.
When a opening takes place (someone retires) then the Marine Corps promotion board looks at the available candidates and their fitness report scores to fill the vacancy. So make sure you have excellent scores and reports. I picked up SSgt (E6) in 10 years. Gunnery Sergeant (E7) may take up to 14 to 16 years.
Moving up the Air Force Ranks: The promotion process for Master Sergeant is identical to the process for promotion to Staff Sergeant and Technical Sergeant, except for the minimum requirements: 8 years Time-in-Serve (TIS) and 24 months Time-in-Grade (TIG) requirements, in addition to achieving a 7-skill level.