Joel Schofer's Career Planning Blog

Throwback Thursday Classic Post – How to Be Considered for Promotion if You’ve Been on Active Duty for Less Than 1 Year

Posted on December 31, 2020 Updated on December 26, 2020

The first FY22 promotion board NAVADMIN was released in December. If you are in-zone or above-zone for an upcoming promotion board but you’ve been on active duty for less than 1 year, you should read #8 from the NAVADMIN, which says:

8. In-zone and above-zone eligible officers in the grades of lieutenant  commander and commander, whose placement on the Active- Duty List is within one year of the convening dates of these boards, are automatically deferred unless they specifically request to be considered. The officer may waive this deferment and request consideration for promotion, in writing, emailed to NPC_Officer_SELBD_Elig_Waivers.fct(at)navy.mil or mailed to:

Commander, Navy Personnel Command (PERS-802)
5720 Integrity Drive
Millington, TN 38055-0000

For in-zone and above-zone eligible line officers in the grade of commander, the request must be received by PERS-80 not later than 2359 CST 15 days prior to the convening date of the respective board. For in-zone and above-zone eligible staff corps officers in the grade of commander and in-zone and above-zone eligible line and staff corps officers in the grade of lieutenant commander, the request must be received by PERS-80 not later than 2359 CST 30 days prior to the convening date of the respective board. Specifically:

Selection To Convening Date Due Date / Time
URL/RL Captain 13 JAN 21 28 DEC 20 / 2359 CST
URL/RL Commander 16 FEB 21 16 JAN 21 / 2359 CST
Staff Corps Captain 1 MAR 21 29 JAN 21 / 2359 CST
Staff Corps Commander 3 MAY 21 2 APR 21 / 2359 CST

What does this mean and why would it apply to you? Maybe you had prior service, you went to medical school, and now you’re a senior LT who is in-zone for LCDR right away. Maybe you did a civilian NADDS residency and you are in-zone right away for LCDR. There might be other situations that would put you in this position, like getting time-in-grade credit for a PhD.

I recognize that due to COVID the above referenced NAVADMIN doesn’t deal with the O4 board and only is talking about the O5 and O6 boards, but you can expect that the same language will be in the NAVADMIN that talks about the O4 board when it is released, so consider this your early warning to think about this.

If you believe you are in this position, here is what I’d do:

1. Confirm you are in-zone or above-zone. How can you do this? The easiest way is to read Chapter 2 of the Promo Prep.
2. If you wish to be considered for promotion to LCDR, CDR, or CAPT, do what it says above. Send the letter simply requesting this. It can probably be a very short letter. There is no need to be verbose.
3. Finally, contact PERS-802: Selection Board Eligibility Branch because I know people who did only #2 (sent a letter) and were not considered. Here’s what their website says:

If you have questions concerning promotion boards, eligibility for promotion boards, please contact the MyNavy Career Center at (833) 330-MNCC or askmncc@navy.mil.

PERS-802, Branch Head: (901) 874-4537

Officer Active and Reserve Eligibility Section, Lead: (901) 874-3324

Enlisted Active and Reserve Eligibility Section (E7-E9), Lead: (901) 874-3217

1. Also, here is a great article on this topic from the August 2018 Medical Corps Newsletter:

Do you know about OPT-IN requirements for promotion?