Originally Posted by Another guy

I took 5 years (was appointed SH at GEO1A1), pretty much the same pace you'd described. Got C in my initial 1.5 years, though. Think it's not that much of a stretch for someone to have gone one year faster if getting B all the way. Whether the poster actually did so is another story, but I don't think it's impossible…

(Acting SH role, while not recognised by central HR, would have been sufficient cause for the ranking panel to push up his CEP.)