General Medical Officer (GMO) Manual: Administrative Section

Promotion Boards

Department of the Navy
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery


Introduction

A critical issue in an officer's career is the opportunity for promotion. The mystique of what promotion boards look for, what information they look at, and how the process works has generated numerous concerns among eligible officers.

Composition of Boards

Board membership must comply with SECNAVINST 1401.3, consisting of a board president and several other representative senior officers from various backgrounds. Additional representation is required from the unrestricted line community, as well as gender and minority arenas. Refer to SECNAVINST 1401.3 for further details.

Guidance for Boards

All promotion boards are statutory in nature. That means that the authority for the Secretary of the Navy to convene the boards is derived from law, Title 10, United States Code (10 USC). Each promotion board is directed to convene by its precept. The precept is a letter from the Secretary of the Navy addressed to the president of the board and provides several important factors:

Focus Areas of Interest for the Board

Eligibility for Promotion

One of the most frequently encountered problems associated with promotions is finding out when an officer is eligible for consideration by a promotion board. Each year, an ALNAV (All Navy) message is released from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy outlining convening dates and promotion zones for the next fiscal year's promotion boards. This message is normally released in early December and is sent to all naval activities. The manpower management or personnel department at your command is your resource for this promotion board information. Also, the zone message is available at BUPERS websites.

How do you prepare your record for promotion?

Officers who are Below Zone or In Zone eligible for promotion consideration should use the following preparation guidelines:

Request a copy of your Performance Summary Report (PSR) and a copy of your official digital officer record. See the Navy Personnel Command References chapter in this manual for guidance on requesting your PSR and digital record. Many times the digital record has blurry images that are hard to read or in some cases impossible to decipher. This is important because if you can't read it, then the board members can’t either.

Letters to the board are a good idea particularly if you review your record and find blurry documents. Keep this letter short. This correspondence is intended to send enclosures that are offered for the completeness of your record and should not detail all of your salient qualities that may or may not be present in your Fitness Reports. The board considers everything in the PSR and the record focusing on education, professionalism, experience and performance, selecting the "best and most fully qualified officers" for promotion. Your performance is viewed from the perspectives as a Naval Officer and a Medical Corps Officer. As you specialize later in your career, this information will also become important.

Plan ahead: this is your career. Ensure that you pursue updating your officer record well in advance of the promotion board.

References

  1. SECNAVINST 1420.1A
  2. DoD Directive 1320.14 (Defense Officer Program).
  1. SECNAVINST 1401.3
  1. BUPERSINST 1610.10 Navy Performance Evaluation and Counseling System.
  2. http://www.bupers.navy.mil or http://www.persnet.navy.mil

 

Revised by LT Denis Ashley MC, USNR, 00MC, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Washington, D.C. and LCDR Margo Haley Brown, MSC, USN, Special Assistant for Staff Boards, Navy Personnel Command (PERS-85M), Millington, Tennessee. DSN: 882-4524 COMM: 901-874-4524 FAX: 882-2751 COMM: 901-874-2751 E-MAIL: p85m@bupers.navy.mil HOMEPAGE: http://www.bupers.navy.mil/codes/pers8/p85/p85m/pers-85m.htm (1999).

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