Recently I’ve seen several officers miss the next step.  A 2LT missed the automatic promotion to 1LT and we’re playing catch up.  A CPT who is really awesome get passed over and another CPT who is likely to get passed over.

All three of these officers are great.  There is no ht/wt issues, no APFT issues and nothing on the surface that should prevent their upward movement.  The issues aren’t truly performance related at all.  But rather in how they’ve managed their careers.

The LT assumed her paperwork was correct.  Yet, there was an error in the system.  When she transferred from one state to another the BOLC box wasn’t checked correctly.  Everything was scanned into iPerms but the automated system was in error.  As a result she didn’t process on schedule.

The CPT who was passed over could be for a couple of reasons.  An OER from a boss who wrote promote with peers in an otherwise glowing evaluation.  Also she hasn’t held a command or PL time.  Most of her career was on staff.  Her state had no real positions for her to command or even hold a PL position.  So her time has been all on staff.

The CPT likely to be passed, is going to miss because of CCC.  They’ll graduate two days after their board closes.  A solid mix of active duty, deployments, PL and staff time.  But balancing school, marriage and a pregnancy delayed CCC.

So my question/challenge is how are you getting ready for the next step?

Who is helping you manage your career?

Do you have a mentor you trust to help you decide when to take those key positions?

How are you going to stay on track?

What advice would you give to these young officers?