Then you should have joined the Regiment. If you were good at your trade then you wold have got your FT1 and FT2 had you wanted it. Nothing to do with "who you know".
Actually I was good at my job and so were most of the guys I worked with, but when you are one of the 80% of CPLs (and a smattering of JTs) in the trade, promotions were few and far in between. SACs were unheard off and only came into the trade towards the end
As for the “who you know” principle – it has a lot to do with it. Even nowadays! If your face doesn’t fit, well...