Promotion Boards
More FY17 Promo Board Information
Here is some more of the FY17 promotion board information I scared up from the PERS website for your perusal:
The FY17 Medical Corps Community Brief is a standard document updated and released every year and can give you some insight into what the promotion boards are looking for.
The FY17 Promotion Board Update Active Duty slides explain the changes in FY17 promotion boards. We’ve already discussed the changes in the zone stamps, but the slides also mention a few other changes.
The FY17 Promo Board Precept explains the “rules of the road” for all the promotion boards. You will find more detailed information in each board’s convening order, but those aren’t released yet and this still contains some general information about what promotion boards are looking for.
Promotion Board Changes
The following is from a PDF document created by RDML(s) Swap, Chief of the Medical Service Corps, and adapted for the Medical Corps with permission. Her unedited PDF is here:
Talking Points #33 AZ IZ Stamps
INTRODUCTION
Promotion boards are an integral part of how the Navy identifies the best and most qualified officers to lead in the future. Promotions are an expectation of future potential, not a reward for past performance. Every Medical Corps officer plays an important role in developing our next generation of leaders to include preparation for promotion boards. It is incumbent on our senior MC officers to understand the promotion selection process and be familiar with changes to the system, so appropriate mentoring can be performed.
BACKGROUND
ALNAV 050/15 released on 12 June 2015 outlines new talent management initiatives introduced by the Secretary of the Navy. New initiatives include changes in officer promotion processes to ensure the best and most fully qualified officers are promoted with consideration for current abilities and talents, rather than placement in a particular promotion zone. Therefore, beginning in January 2016, Above Zone (AZ) and Below Zone (BZ) stamps on officer records will no longer be used for records reviewed on promotion boards. These stamps were indicators on the Officer’s Summary Record (OSR) that highlighted the officer’s status within the zone.
KEY MESSAGES
- Beginning in January 2016, AZ and BZ stamps will no longer be placed on records reviewed in “the tank” (which is the promotion board room at PERS).
- AZ records will be reviewed with In Zone (IZ) records as conducted previously, minus the AZ stamp.
- A separate BZ review will still be conducted to review records warranting further consideration.
- Any BZ record selected for further review will be added to the crunch records reviewed in the tank. All BZ records identified for complete review will have no identifying BZ stamps and will be reviewed twice to ensureconsistent appearance among all of crunch records.
- Promotion zone eligibility will continue to be released via NAVADMIN in December of each year.
TALKING POINTS FOR MENTORSHIP SESSIONS
- Removal of the AZ/BZ stamps from the board view is to ensure the selection of the best and most qualified officer and that officers are promoted with consideration for current abilities and talents, rather than placement in a particular promotion zone.
- This initiative does not change the requirement for the OSRs to be stamped with “Letter to the Board”.
- It is still the officer’s prerogative on whether to submit a letter to the board.
- All officers should engage a mentor or senior leader to review their record prior to coming in zone, to identify issues/challenges that may require attention.
- If there are items in an officer’s record that need to be addressed/explained (regardless if BZ, IZ or AZ), it is recommended that a letter to the board be submitted addressing the issue.
- Officers who have previously failed to select may choose not to submit a letter to board if the record is in good order and has no items requiring attention.
HOW DOES THIS CHANGE THE GAME?
These are my comments now, and not RDML(s) Swap’s. First, I think this might make it a little easier to promote if you are AZ. Second, it also might make it easier to promote if you are BZ. In other words, don’t put off fixing your records just because you are BZ. Make sure you go to Joel Schofer’s Promo Prep and update your record if you are BZ, IZ, or AZ as soon as possible.
FY17 Promotion Boards
The NAVADMIN that announced the FY17 promotion boards is out. The full NAVADMIN can be found here:
http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/reference/messages/Documents/NAVADMINS/NAV2015/NAV15281.txt
The dates of the promotion boards are:
- 2 FEB 2016 – Staff Corps Captain
- 22 MAR 2016 – Staff Corps Commander
- 10 MAY 2016 – Staff Corps Lieutenant Commander
The promotion zones are:
"The Secretary of the Navy has authorized the release of the following list indicating the names, Active-Duty List numbers and dates of rank of the Senior in-zone, Junior in-zone and Junior officer eligible for consideration for promotion in each competitive category as of the date of this NAVADMIN. In addition, those officers on the Active-Duty List and in the same competitive category who are senior to the Senior in-zone officer listed in their category are considered above-zone and are also eligible for consideration."
CAPTAIN Medical Corps (210X) Senior in-zone - CDR A. J. Vanderweele Jr. 022444-50 01 OCT 2010 Junior in-zone - CDR M. P. Shusko 022908-50 01 SEP 2011 Junior eligible - CDR R. S. Montgomery 023324-37 01 SEP 2013 COMMANDER Medical Corps (210X) Senior in-zone - LCDR J. M. Montgomery 035607-00 01 OCT 2010 Junior in-zone - LCDR E. B. Rizo 037423-12 09 SEP 2011 Junior eligible - LCDR A. M. Cuellar 039165-00 01 SEP 2013 LCDR Medical Corps (210X) Senior in-zone LT J. M. Raunig 106784-00 05 OCT 2010 Junior in-zone - LT A. C. Buchholz 111950-00 22 SEP 2011 Junior eligible LT A. C. Alex 124244-00 12 SEP 2013 If you want to prepare for your upcoming promotion board, read: Joel Schofer's Promo Prep Guidance - 25 OCT 2015
Should You Send a Letter to the Promotion Board?
Assuming you are at least in zone or above zone, the answer is yes if:
- You are above-zone and wish to be considered for promotion. You will be considered whether you send a letter or not, but you should always send a letter to demonstrate interest in getting promoted when you are above zone. In general, you should try to get letters of recommendation from the most senior members who know you well enough to discuss your contributions to the Navy and why you should get promoted. For example, it is probably better to get a letter from an O6 who knows you well than to get a letter from an O8 who does not. Your specialty leader is always a solid choice as a letter writer if you are unsure who to get one from.
- You are reporting to a new command before the FITREP cycle and your Commanding Officer is willing to write a positive letter about your contributions to your new command.
- You have issues in your record or career that require explanation or amplifying information. For example, you want to tell the promotion board how promotion to the next rank will allow you to do something you can’t do at your present rank, like screen for XO. If there are any gaps in your military service or any new information not on your FITREPs, these may need explanation as well.
- You have to make corrections/additions to your record (like missing or illegible FITREPs, awards, academic or professional achievements, etc.) but you either don’t have time to update them the standard way or your have tried without success.
THINGS TO REMEMBER
There are a few things to keep in mind:
- After the board is finished, anything you sent is discarded. You cannot permanently update your record by sending documentation to the board.
- By law, a letter to the board must be considered. In other words, if you don’t want the board to discuss a topic, don’t mention it in a letter. If there is adverse information in your record, sending a letter discussing it may help if you have amplifying information to add. Then again, if it is something they might not have noticed, sending a letter discussing it ensures that they will notice it!
- Your Commanding Officer usually should not write a letter if he/she has done a FITREP on you, as his/her opinion should be reflected in the FITREP.
- They are usually not recommended if you are in-zone unless there is a reason to send a letter listed above. Do not send one just for the fun of it.
- Keep the length of letters to a minimum – one page or less – as boards have to read everything that is sent to them.
- Do not send copies of publications.
- Only the service member can send the letter on his/her behalf. In other words, if you have a letter from an admiral, you need to send it to the board. Don’t have the admiral’s aide send it because it will just get shredded and will not be briefed to the board.
- Your letter must arrive no later than the day before (2359) the board convenes.
HOW DO I WRITE/SEND THE LETTER?
Here are a Sample Letter to a Promotion Board and Promotion Board Correspondence FAQs. Also, see the following website:
http://www.public.navy.mil/BUPERS-NPC/BOARDS/ACTIVEDUTYOFFICER/Pages/default.aspx
How to Get on a Promotion Board
The promotion boards for FY17 are rapidly approaching, so I wanted to briefly discuss who makes up the promotion boards and how to get on one.
COMPOSITION OF THE BOARDS
The promotion boards consist of five voting members, and at least three of them are required to have board experience. Someone is designated the senior member or board president. In addition, there is always a line officer on medical corps boards, and this is one reason you can’t use medical abbreviations on your FITREPs without explaining what they mean. That line officer could be the one briefing your record and he/she may not know what AHLTA, STEMI, DM, or CVA mean. The remainder of the board will be filled by a diverse group of officers. There will always be at least one woman on the board and one minority, although the same person could meet both of these requirements. In addition, there will be a geographic dispersion including at least one member from outside the continental US (OCONUS).
The board recorders are the officers who review your record for a week before the board members arrive and the board convenes. There will be a head recorder as well as assistant recorders and they will all be from CONUS. In other words, you cannot serve as a board recorder if you are stationed OCONUS because it just costs too much money for travel.
HOW DO I GET ON A PROMOTION BOARD?
This one is simple as you just have to e-mail your Detailer and ask. Keep in mind, though, that the demand to be on a board far outnumbers the spots that exist. When I was a Detailer I had a folder in my Outlook e-mail where I put everyone who wanted to be on a board, and there were between 50-100 names in there. During the 15 months I served at PERS, I only had to contribute about 10 names for a board. With the requirements related to board composition that we discussed above, opportunities may only be present for officers meeting these requirements.
FAP & NADDS Graduates – Check the Reserve LCDR Promotion List
Navy physicians who participate in the FAP & NADDS programs often get promoted off of the reserve list. Here is the ALNAV for promotion to LCDR. If any of your friends are on the list, let them know as they often don’t even realize it:
UNCLASSIFIED//
ROUTINE
R 021500Z SEP 15
FM SECNAV WASHINGTON DC
TO ALNAV
INFO SECNAV WASHINGTON DC
CNO WASHINGTON DC
CMC WASHINGTON DC
BT
UNCLAS
ALNAV 067/15
MSGID/GENADMIN/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC/-/SEP//
SUBJ/FY-16 NAVY RESERVE LIEUTENANT COMMANDER STAFF CORPS SELECTIONS//
RMKS/1. I am pleased to announce the following Staff Corps Officers on the
reserve active-status list for promotion to the permanent grade of Lieutenant
Commander.
2. This message is not authority to deliver appointments. Authority to
effect promotion will normally be issued by future NAVADMINS requiring
NAVPERS 1421/7 preparation and forwarding of documents to PERS-806.
3. Frocking is not authorized for any Officer listed below until specific
authorization is received per SECNAVINST 1420.2A.
4. For proper alphabetical order read from left to right on each line. The
numbers following each name to the right indicate the relative seniority
among selectees within each competitive category. Members are directed to
verify their select status via BUPERS On-Line.
Medical Corps
Aquino Theodore Lee 0005 Bower Paul Edgar 0013
Crosby Mark Isaac 0002 Fitzgerald Steven Matt 0001
Freeman Brian Lee 0007 Kaminsky Michael Edwar 0011
Kulzer Matthew Henry 0008 Mallick Ronobir Ranjan 0003
McCord Caitlin Meghan 0015 Menger Richard Philip 0019
Morrisonponce Daphne P 0016 Philipp Sarah Kathleen 0006
Pride Keth Mackenzie 0012 Pulos Nicholas Alan 0018
Schneider Eric Peter 0004 Stockslager Steven Gre 0010
Thorpe Mary Arbuthnot 0017 Tran Diepdenise Ngoc 0020
Werner John Kent Jr 0014
FY16 LCDR Promotion Board Stats
Here are the overall stats. Keep in mind that the promotion opportunity was 100%, meaning that all fully qualified candidates could have been selected for promotion:
| # OF PEOPLE | # SELECTED | % SELECTED | |
| ABOVE ZONE | 11 | 5 | 45.45% |
| IN ZONE | 212 | 198 | 93.40% |
| BELOW ZONE | 473 | 5 | 1.06% |
Here they are broken down by specialty:
| # IZ | #SEL IZ | % SELECT IZ | # AZ | #SEL AZ | % SELECT AZ | # BZ | #SEL BZ | % SEL BZ | |
| FLT SRG | 34 | 27 | 79.41% | 0 | 0 | N/A | 115 | 0 | 0.00% |
| RAM | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| ANESTH | 8 | 8 | 100.00% | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | 2 | 0 | 0.00% |
| SURG | 7 | 7 | 100.00% | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | 14 | 0 | 0.00% |
| NEURO SURG | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1 | 0 | 0.00% |
| OB GYN | 4 | 4 | 100.00% | 0 | 0 | N/A | 18 | 1 | 5.56% |
| GMO | 40 | 34 | 85.00% | 2 | 1 | 50.00% | 96 | 1 | 1.04% |
| OPHTH | 2 | 2 | 100.00% | 0 | 0 | N/A | 5 | 0 | 0.00% |
| ORTHO | 8 | 8 | 100.00% | 0 | 0 | N/A | 10 | 0 | 0.00% |
| OTO | 3 | 3 | 100.00% | 0 | 0 | N/A | 4 | 1 | 25.00% |
| URO | 4 | 4 | 100.00% | 0 | 0 | N/A | 2 | 0 | 0.00% |
| PREV MED | 1 | 1 | 100.00% | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| OCC MED | 2 | 2 | 100.00% | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| PHYS MED | 0 | 0 | #DIV/0! | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| PATH | 2 | 2 | 100.00% | 0 | 0 | N/A | 4 | 0 | 0.00% |
| DERM | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1 | 0 | 0.00% |
| EMERG | 10 | 10 | 100.00% | 0 | 0 | N/A | 12 | 0 | 0.00% |
| FAM PRAC | 26 | 25 | 96.15% | 3 | 1 | 33.33% | 57 | 2 | 3.51% |
| INT MED | 18 | 18 | 100.00% | 2 | 2 | 100.00% | 42 | 0 | 0.00% |
| NEURO | 1 | 1 | 100.00% | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1 | 0 | 0.00% |
| UMO | 14 | 14 | 100.00% | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | 40 | 0 | 0.00% |
| PEDS | 16 | 16 | 100.00% | 1 | 1 | 100.00% | 28 | 0 | 0.00% |
| NUC MED | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| PSYCH | 9 | 9 | 100.00% | 0 | 0 | N/A | 17 | 0 | 0.00% |
| DIAG RAD | 3 | 3 | 100.00% | 0 | 0 | N/A | 4 | 0 | 0.00% |
| RAD ONC | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| TOTAL | 212 | 198 | 93.40% | 11 | 5 | 45.45% | 473 | 5 | 1.06% |
FY16 Courses, Updated Promo Prep, and MC Career Roadmap
Here are 3 documents of interest to MC officers:
- From BUMED – FY16 Navy Medicine Leadership Course Information
- From BUMED – Medical Corps Career Roadmap
- Updated promo prep document that contains #1 above, Joel Schofer’s Promo Prep Guidance – 18 AUG 2015
Sailor of 2025 Talent Management Initiatives
There are some exciting and interesting initiatives underway to modernize the Navy’s personnel system. There have been many articles on this in Navy Times. Here is one article recently released by the Military Officers Association of America.
In addition, here are some slides that describe this initiative:
The changes that physicians should be aware of, some already finalized and others representing potential changes, are:
- Pay and bonus changes that would reward individual talent rather than treat everyone the same.
- A removal of promotion zones. No longer would records be stamped as below-zone, in-zone, or above-zone during promotion boards. This would switch to a system that rewards talent and milestones rather than longevity. It would allow those that progress faster to promote faster and no longer have to “wait their turn” as well as remove the stigma that some feel is associated with being above-zone.
- Expansion of opportunities to diversify your career. Examples include an expansion of the career intermission program and fellowships providing officers with the opportunity to spend some time in civilian industry so that they can bring best practices back to the Navy.
- An information technology (IT) investment in a new, more transparent personnel management system. Ideas I have heard mentioned include eliminating all of the various computer systems that exist and consolidating them into one so that you don’t have to update your record in 20 different ways. An assignments system has also been mentioned that would allow officers to see all the billets available and apply for the ones that they want, giving commands the ability to pick which officers they want.
- Improved co-location policy. I have no details on this one, and right now I feel the detailers do a pretty good job co-locating dual active duty couples, but others may disagree.
- Changes to the physical fitness assessment/body composition assessment (PFA/BCA), which were detailed in this NAVADMIN. This includes expanded fitness center hours.
- Changes to the maternity leave policy, detailed in this NAVADMIN, and expanded child development center hours.
Keep in mind that while some of these changes have been released already, like the PFA/BCA and maternity leave policies, the rest are works in progress. I think it is interesting, though, to see that the DoD and Navy leadership are interesting in modernizing our personnel system and management. As a detailer who writes orders on a DOS-based system, I can assure you that modernization is sorely needed.
FY16 O5 Promotion Board Takeaways
Now that the FY16 O5 promotion board results have been released and I’ve had a chance to review a number of officer records, here are my O5 promotion board takeaways. If you’d like to review the statistics, click here:
http://mccareer.org/2015/07/18/fy16-cdr-promotion-board-statistics/
Promotion Board Takeaways
If these things happen to you, you are very likely never going to promote to O5:
- Any PFA/BCA failures.
- Legal issues, such as a DUI or any other legal trouble.
- Failure to become board certified.
There are other things that could happen to you that make it difficult but not impossible to promote. They include:
- Coming into zone while in GME. There were people who promoted while in GME, but those lucky few broke out in large competitive groups before or during GME. Those who have non-observed (NOB) fitreps before the board, such as those in full-time outservice training, tend not to promote.
- Spending too much time in the fleet as a GMO, flight surgeon, or UMO. This is mostly because it causes you to come into zone while you are still in GME, and is worsened if your residency is long.
- Never getting a competitive early promote (EP) fitrep. Many officers who fail to select for O5 have never had a competitive EP fitrep as an O4. This can be because they are stationed places without competitive groups and get 1/1 fitreps, or it can be because they were in a competitive group and did not break out and get an EP.
- Receiving potentially adverse fitreps. This most commonly happens when you are at an operational command and your reporting senior is not someone who is used to ranking medical corps officers, although it could happen for other reasons (like your reporting senior felt you deserved this type of fitrep). The most common thing would be if there is a competitive group of 2 officers but both are given must promote (MP) fitreps instead of 1 getting an EP and the other the MP. When both get an MP, it reflects poorly on both officers unless the reason for this is CLEARLY explained in the fitrep narrative, which it often is not. The other thing that happens is that a reporting senior gives you a 1/1 MP instead of a 1/1 EP. If you are ever getting a 1/1 fitrep, make sure you get an EP. You should consider getting a 1/1 MP an adverse fitrep. If there is no way around this, often because the reporting senior has a policy that they don’t give newly promoted officers an EP, make sure that this policy is clear in the fitrep narrative.
- Having a declining fitrep. Mostly this happens when you go from getting an EP to an MP on your fitrep under the same reporting senior. If it is because you changed competitive groups, like you went from being a resident to a staff physician, that is understandable and not a negative. If you didn’t change competitive groups, though, make sure the reason you declined is explained.
- Making it obvious to the promotion board that you didn’t update your record. The most obvious ways a promotion board will know you didn’t update your record is if you don’t have a photo in your current rank, your officer summary record (OSR) is missing degrees that you obviously have (like your MD or DO), or if many of the sections of your OSR are either completely blank or required updating by the board recorders. Remember that although promotion board recorders will correct your record for you, anything they do and any corrections they make are annotated to the board. While a few corrections are OK, you don’t want a blank record that the recorders had to fill in. It demonstrates that you didn’t update your record.
So who actually promotes to O5? In general, the officer who promotes to O5 is:
- Board certified.
- Finished GME early enough that they had time to break out with a competitive EP fitrep as a staff physician.
- Has a demonstrated history of excellence as an officer. In other words, whenever they are in a competitive group, they successfully break out and get an EP fitrep. Being average is just not good enough anymore.
- They have no PFA failures, legal problems, declining fitreps, or potentially adverse fitreps.
- They have updated their record, and if they previously failed to select they reviewed their record with their detailer and actively worked to improve it.
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