I don’t think being on profile alone is enough to say your career is side tracked, especially in a staff position.  With that said, whether right or wrong, being away from work could put you at a disadvantage.  Say, for example, you work 6 months and then are away from work for 2 months and then come back for 6 more months.  You would have 12 months of rated time in there, but it is in two separate chunks.  That can make it difficult for you to take on bigger, longer projects (if the time away is planned, like a pregnancy) because anything you work on either has to be passed off to someone else or has to be done well before your anticipated date away.  There was also a two month break in that example, which means that is two extra months for people to forget what you did in the first 6 months.

Here are some suggestion on ways you can mitigate the potential impact:

• Keep a thorough record of your accomplishments in the rating period.  You should be doing this already, but this will be especially important.  Don’t just keep things you know will go on an OER.  Keep track of all sorts of accomplishments.  Those give you data to support why you deserve a certain rating or how you contributed to the team.
• Take on big projects voluntarily and knock them out of the park.
• If someone is not giving you projects, find ways to innovate or add value to your organization.  Don’t wait for someone to tell you to do something, find it on your own and execute.

I’ve worked for people who have been highly sought after and were on profile for long periods of time.  They were sought after by BN and BDE CDRs because those people had a reputation of improving their organizations.  I have never seen a senior commander turn away or not support someone who continually adds significant value to an organization.  Be that person and I think you’ll do well.

See you leaving the S1 job as a potentially great thing.  A lack of a specific job is a fantastic opportunity to find value and innovate without other distractions.