How Army Officers Get Promoted | 2nd Lieutenant To General 

Here is a joke about 2nd LT and Generals. A Sergeant was on guard duty on a foggy night in London. While on break he went to have a smoke but did not have a light, in the fog he saw a figure come out of the door. The Sergeant said "hey buddy got a light." The figure replied "Sure Sergeant." In the glow of the lighter the Sergeant saw the man holding the lighter was General Eisenhower. The Sergeant immediately dropped his cigarette and came to attention, "General sir, I am sorry, Sir, I did not know it was you General sir." Eisenhower took out two cigarettes, lit one and gave it to the Sergeant and said "relax Sergeant, the army does not care if you forget to salute a 4 star general." Eisenhower took a drag on his cigarette and then said "But Sergeant, don't you ever forget to salute a 2nd Lieutenant."

I retired as a Army officer after 31 years of service. I served enlisted first made E6 and was commissioned through OCS. My only advice is to stay focused and flexible. Get all your schools out the way and completed on time and do your job.

1939 my uncle was commissioned a 2nd Lt. U.S. Army. He was promoted to Captain the day after Pearl Harbor bombing. On V.E. day he was a brigadier General. But that was a brevet rank. When he left the service in 1946 he reverted to his permanent rank of Lt. Colonel. He was in reserves when the Korean War broke out and they took him back as a full bird colonel and then a few months later got his star back for about a year and a half. Then he got out again after Korea and this time his permanent rank was full colonel. He was in reserves for almost a decade when Vietnam happened and he went back yet again as a colonel but he retired in 1974 for the last time with his star permanently this time. He was active duty a total of about 20 years. In between he was an engineer.

If you're about to start or are beginning a military career, I suggest that you: 1) Run a lot - Physical fitness is quantifiable in the military and therefore has an overbalanced impact compared to the other aspects of performance. You could be a world-class leader but if you can't run you won't be successful. 2) Get a graduate degree (or degrees) - I've never met a field grade officer who didn't have at least one master's degree. 3) Think like you're two ranks ahead. Be valuable but not so valuable that you are a necessity. Be noticed but not too noticeable. 4) Learn the subtle art of ego-stroking. Look in the mirror and say stuff like, "That's why you're the boss, sir" and "You've taught me so much about how to be an outstanding leader," etc. A BG's brief comment about liking you could instantly lift you into becoming the new battalion XO. The core of your career will be determined by what your superiors think about you, whether it's justified or not.

For an Infantry Officer the Ranger tab is as close to being mandatory as you can make it.

To make General in the Army you have to be born into the club or adopted into the club. As a thirty year Army vet that’s my personal observation.

tihis all changes in war, a 2nd Lt needs only 90 days in grade to be eligible for promotion. As Rick Atkinson writes in his book "Army at Dawn" in 90 days a combat 2Lt is either KIA, taken out of action due to wounds or incompetence, or promoted to 1st Lt. Percentage wise they had the highest casualty rate during ww2.

Almost 1 year into my 1LT time, hopefully I can see CPT before I contemplate getting out or staying in.

My Grandfather was a Major in the Medical Corps & was medically discharged 2 weeks before he'd be eligible for retirement in the 60's before the US became fully involved in Vietnam

After 33 years military service regarless you are enlisted or officer .The key to get promoted is complete all your military and civilian schools .Never be afraid to take on the challenge on duty positions. Be aware you dont know everything so dont be afraid to ask for advice.Always think of the responsabilities and duty of 2 ranks up and work to get experience.Verify and work your performance evaluations.The most important treat every one regarless of rank with respect and profecionalism.and dont be Lazy.

I regret not going into the military. Too old now,47. Could of been possibly retired. Wish I knew what I know now back in 94 when i finished high school. Great vid bud!

Dont get a DWI and you will make Captain. Run a 13:00 two mile, you make colonel. Brownnose and you make general.

My son graduates Engineering college (Mechanical Engineering) in the Spring and was just selected by a local OCS board to go to OCS next Summer. He is pretty excited...I was in The Corps and was a rifle range instructor at OCS at Quantico and knowing how hard that was and how competitive the Officer's boards are in The Corps I suggested he go either Navy or Army.

Thank you so much Matt! There’s not a lot of information out there on Officer specific stuff this is gold

Thank you I been looking for something like this for the longest

Just enlisted as 14G! Shipping out Oct. 1st Fort Jackson! Thanks for constant info and uploads Matt!

Is this a hint that Matt is going to get promoted :D

Thank you to all veterans for your service.

Thank you so much for the video Matt hope you get promoted fast

Many officers are not aware that the promotion board can “show cause” you. If your record is bad the Army will ask you why should we keep you. I reviewed records going before the boards, we surprised more that a few officers who thought they could skate to 20. Yes, that 3-star letter of reprimand will be on your record.

When you make it to 4 star general will you still make us videos?

As seen with enlisted personnel, your specific MOS can and does have an effect on your opportunities for advancement. Essentially, the greater the need for personnel at your next rank, the more opportunity - and likelihood - you will have to advance. The same goes for officers. Your MOS could be a curse or a blessing ... not to mention the additional concepts of luck and timing. You could say that I am a recipient of both a blessing and a curse - based on my MOS. Please note, at the time I first became an officer - in the USAF - the TIG from 2nd to 1st Lt was only 12 months, not 18. My specific MOS was one that is not common and generally did not come with a lot of competition for promotion. Additionally, it was a highly specialized field. Therefore, if it was decided that my department were to be expanded, you could not have someone from outside this department fill a void without the required skill-set. They definitely looked from within - even if that meant they had to lower the BZ. In my case, I spent 1 yr as 2nd Lt.; 2 as 1st Lt and only TWO as a captain. In august of that year, just one month after my 23rd birthday, I made major. That was the luck and being there at the right time. Although I did not have the standard TIG, I did possess the proper skills and experience for the job. Plus, there were no other captains - with the required field of specialty - qualified. In simple terms: They needed a major and no one else was available for promotion. It was a little more complicated than that, but that was about the gist of it. Next comes the unlucky part ... 12 years a Major. The only way I was moving up was either my CO was bumped up to General, retired, was MIA/KIA or I changed my MOS. As it turned out, he made general and I was immediately bumped to LTC .. then resigned 3 months later. (that's a different story) As this video shows, thru the use of infantry vs signal corps, it can vary vastly. Although there is a general set of mandatory minimums, the word, 'mandatory,' can be written with a #2 pencil that has an intact eraser. Consider any branch of any military saying, "I need a major in this position, now! No one qualified to handle this position has enough TIG? Well, I guess we'll wait until next year." On the other side of the coin, they are not going to say, "She's been a great major for the last 6 years, we should promote her - even though we have no need anyone at 0-5." My advice to anyone wishing to come from civilian life into the military as an officer and wants to make rank ASAP is to consider the following: 1) PROPERLY ordained ministers and priests do not need a college degree and start out as a 1st Lt. 2) RN nurses also are commissioned without a 4 yr degree and start out as either a 2nd or 1st Lt (

My grandfather hit Omaha beach as a PFC at day's end he was a sergeant. He left the Army after the war as a first sergeant. When Korean war started they asked him to come back as a Captain but he turned them down

You not being Active duty does cause some slip ups in your videos that seasoned soldiers will notice. However, still appreciate the effort to help out those who have these kinds of questions.

This was super helpful! I'm a writer and I was very curious about this sort of thing so thank you very much for making this video!

FYI, your channel got 321.8 k views in last 30 days. 35.6 mill views total so far, congrats that is some impressive numbers

Thank you so much Matt!!!

Anyone who dons the uniform and fights to protect my kids has earned my respect and gratitude. God bless you for your selflessness.

Knew a Major once who got passed over for Lt. Col. twice. We used to call it getting Rifed (pronounced Riffed) = Reduction in Force.

Very good video. I learned quite a bit.

Doing research for a book. Would love input on this (not entirely plot relevant but is one of those details that might make it or break it with some people): Captain comes from a family thats been in the military since the War of 1812. Guy is smart enough to get his college/school thing down but is socially inept, and he gets carried up the ladder by his family's name and that he's decent at the job.

Its always very interesting to hear, how things go in foreign armed forces...

Well done! Very good summary,. It sounds much the same as 25 years ago when I was in the Army. Made it to LTC in the Signal Corps afters some time on active duty and and a tour as an S3 for a Signal battalion in the NG. I think my civilian job as an telecom engineer help get me the promo., Best of luck to all of you aspiring to higher ranks and thank you for your service!

Great video Matt!!

Loved the video and I think you did a good job. Just a small clarification regarding Officer Evaluations (beginning with the board to make CPT). It is all about what your "Senior Rater" (SR) writes, not your Rater. Yes, you should have good comments from your Rater, who writes about what you've done during the rating period (usually 12 months). But it's your Senior Rater who writes what your potential is for serving in the next higher grade. With the 2-3 minutes a promotion board member has to review the Officer's records, their only focus is on the Senior Rater's bullets and how that SR stacked that Officer against their other Officers.

I was signal when I was in (25Q) and I had 3 different officers who recommended me to get my degree and go green-to-gold. Only 1 of them actually sat me down and explained how crazy competitive it is to get past Captain. He told me they count EVERYTHING you do/don't do at the selection board.

My SGM talking about promotion: be at right place at right time in right uniform. BG talking about promotion: Be the best soldier, know your job, push your soldiers to be best, and make your soldier respect you.

Just fininshed Meps yesterday. Hitting up basic training Oct 7 as a 15w

Who your daddy is also plays a HUGE roll. I worked for two butter ball lieutenants and both of them were great officers, but one of them went to West Point and his dad was a General. The Army definitely treated him different than they did the first officer who was just as good an officer if not a better officer (I certainly liked him a lot more). By the time I left, the West Point grad was a Captain, and he got a coveted assignment at the Pentagon. The other officer was also Captain, but he was still at Ft. Gordon when I left (I was also Signal Corp. by the way).

There are two time-in-service requirements that I'm aware of for officers - they're not in regulations, but rather in federal law. - Cannot be promoted (but can be announced) for O-4 before 8 years of commissioned service. There are exceptions to this, such as doctors and lawyers. - Must be promoted to O-5 before 30 years total service (commissioned and enlisted). Might be a little off on this one, since I'm not up for O-5 yet. Also good to note that O-8 is the highest permanent rank in all of the branches. O-9 and O-10 are tied to billet. If you can't find a higher billet, you're expected to retire (of course at your highest rank held - not necessarily your highest permanent rank) because, at that point, it's mostly a matter of timing and luck. In fact, you don't even need to pass through O-9 to get to O-10. This happened with ADM Zumwalt when he went from two-stars to Chief of Naval Operations.

As a Personnel Management Officer the Promotion Boards are constrained to a limited amount of time that they have to "review" an officer eligible for selection. They may only have 90 seconds to look at a single officer's file. They are then (literally) thrown into groups: Promote Ahead / Promote Now / Promote Maybe and Promote NO! Helpful items that influence decisions are: Special assignments / Joint Operation assignments / and comments from a General Officer. Regardless, all actions depend on the "Needs of the Service" at that time.

I was used to be in the MITT Team from 08-09 prior the transition to leave Iraq. Hopefully Ill be back in the military as an Officer.

Very informative video, Matt. Thanks

Rater is rating performance. Senior Rater is rating potential. Potential is most important since it will be read on boards.

Getting promoted to Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel and General sounds A LOT like what you have to do in corporate America to make it from manager, senior manager, c level, and CEO. You have to constantly burnish your credentials, score superior reviews from your boss and need a lot of luck or connections.

Each rank has three looks. Some officers who are not promoted and retained on Select Continue or SELCON. Usually due to time constraints due to operation tempo. It is so they non promotable can make it to 20 years

Although my military service time has long since passed, I find all these videos you do on current affairs be extremely interesting. 👍 That being said, I do have one minor critique; I find that LARGE silver RU-vid plaque on the shelf in the background to be..."distracting". There is also a diamond shape thing over your other shoulder, next to the hourglass, that reflects a bit into the lens. IDK, probably just some minor hitherto unknown OCD on my part. Anyway, I always look forward to the next video, keep up the good work.

My cousins son in law became a lt coronel after 12 years he was an xo in afghanistan and iraq. He now teaches at the wor college.

This was very good. one question - does it help your career if you are an academy graduate vs rotc or ocs. curious.

So for the Good Conduct medal. I’m pretty it was Matt who said like an enlisted can get it every 3 years for “good behavior”. And that reminded me, I know it could depend on your unit but doesn’t the reserve/guard deploy on average every 2-3 years?

While not common, its possible for a one star to go directly to 3 star or even 4 star. General of the Army Marshall skipped MG and LTG and Pershing as well and others.

Hope you get your promotion soon Lieutenant!

So helpful!

I turned down OCS in early '65 and got out in August of that year and got married. Did my three years, but have often wondered how things would have turned out for me if I had stayed in....? Of course, I'd have had to survive two tours of Nam too. Who knows? Today I receive payment from the VA with 100% total disability service connected from injuries in just three years active service.

THANK YOU

Sounds like the system is geared around game playing peter principle types, who are good as knowing who to please. Most managers in my lengthy experience hit a plateau of performance, after which anything beyond will simply set them to fail. Doesn't mean they aren't effective and within their role are an asset. Instead in the army system they're weeded out.

Great video! Wanted to ask if you could make a video talking about the signal corps? I just got accepted for OCS and I got accepted for signal here in Texas (I'll be a reservist)! Been following your videos and it has helped me out a lot and I would def like to hear you talk more about signal if you could. Thank you sir!

If it's anything like the Air Force...a Butter Bar LT, 2nd Lt. he's survived the required amount of time with some chief who hates having to break in a Butter Bar. (that's in reference to the gold bars on his uniform!)

Hiiii I been watching u for a long time now and I wanted to say keep up the good work

Do you think you could do a video on US army cyber command and maybe the steps to take to becoming a cyber security MOS in the army? Ive done just about as much research as I think I can do on it but there seems to be little information out there, so a video on this topic would be greatly appreciated!

Good job bro.

Glass ceiling O5 to O6. He's right 2x passover and you're done

I find it funny comparison how US military has that "get promoted or get out" thing. While my country's military is thinking about changing cadre/career officers service rules in such way that master of military science wouldn't be requirement for permanent commission (because initial commission is temporary for up to 10 years and you can't get promoted past lieutenant if you don't go back to school for Master's) and you could serve entire career with just Bachelor of military science and never going past captain, before being retired into reserve, if you don't want to. Of course promotion cycles would be slower to compensate. Then again probably just the generals of the US military out number whole cadre officer of corp of Finnish Defence Forces. /jk.

Can you make a video or touch on in a Q&A about transferring schools while in rotc? Do your scholarships come with you? Do you need to get recommissioned? If you do only the last 2 years of rotc do you still continue to get the stipededs while you finish even tho you've finished the course and been commissioned? What would be the process of all that stuff?

Is there one of these for enlisted? I’m curious as how other branches do it. I’m in the NAVY for us E1-E3 is automatic. Up until last year E3 to E4 was exam. As well is E4-E6 with a test for E7 just to be board eligible in order to submit your packet. From there E7-E9 are selection boards. As for Officers I know O1-O3 automatic with O4 being a selection board then TIG from O4 to O5 I believe is 4 years with O5 to O6 with a 7 year TIG I was told but that might be off a bit.

when I served, it was 16 months to 1LT and 32 months to CPT. At the same time my boss had 7 years 8 months TIG before he made O4. He made the O4 list but promotions were slow.

How to make general/flag officer? Go to the right school, be from the right demographic, know the right people. Ring knockers and being a woman still have a leg up when it comes to promotions.

Morning Matt!

Actually, only 2% of LTC get promoted to full Colonel. I should know, I was promoted to full Colonel in '05. L. 108-375 amended table generally, increasing percentages of authorized number of officers in grades other than colonel. ... Colonel 2 percent Lieutenant colonel 8 percent Major 16 percent Captain 39 percent

Damn is it even worth going in as an officer, when your risking getting kicked out.

I've been waiting lol

I went to Jump School at Ft. Benning in 1984 as a USMC 1st Lt. The Air Defense Artillery Army officers I knew (2nd Lt's), said they would pick up Captain in 33 months. In the Marine Corps I wouldn't pick up Captain until 60 months (5 years after commissioning) WOW. Special MOS, Lawyers etc, would only get 1st Lt after The Basic School where as Navy, Air Force and Army officers (Doctors/Lawyers) would get Captain or Navy LT (ie O-3) after their OCS. Semper Fi and All the Way!

A couple thing wrong already. From 1lt to CPT you can be passed over it's not automatic you have to submit a board packet and get picked up. It is not necessarily automatic if you havent completed something for the board. The only automatic rank is 2lt to 1lt. But to get to CPT and above you have to submit board file and complete requirements

Can you do a video on AGR?

so if you are on the recomended list but get passed over twice then you might get kicked out but if you never got recommended for promotion then how long can you stay at your current rank before getting kicked out?

BOLC? It was called Officer Basic Course (OBC) when I was commissioned.

Something I am rather curious about. Do the schools and qualifications you received as an enlisted soldier carry over once you commission? For example if I did airborne as a enlisted soldier would that carry over to when I earned my commission?

@6:17 According to those numbers 28% of officers make it to O6 (50% of 70% of 80% of 100% of 100% = 28%).

I was an enlisted puke in the Army. One thing I noticed about officers was that the junior ranks were pretty much automatic. Once you get to Major and higher, it's more political. Even more political once you get that first star.

Very interesting. But it would help people listening to this complex stuff if you reduced the volume of the background music relative to your voice.

Sometimes they get promoted because they can do less harm (to the mission) at a higher rank. I know we at least knew 1 like that!

If you are no longer in the military, could you express your opinion on Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville blocking top end officer promotions?

Really glad to see someone making a video to share this kind of information. That said, a lot of the info here is innacurate. Much of the basic info is accurate, but the timelines and details are well off. (E.g. there are TIS requirements for officers as well as TIG. - A CPT will do approx 7 years + or - 1 year as a CPT before making MAJ. A MAJ will do approx 7 years + or - 1 year as a MAJ before making LTC. A LTC will do approx 6 years +or - 1 year to make COL). The 600-3 career paths shown lay it out pretty well, though those are merely a guideline. Only KD jobs are required, and there are jobs that can be KD that are not listed. A nominitive assignment is one you are hand selected for (such as an aide de camp for a general officer) Promotion boards do not look at ALL of your OERs. They typicallY only look back at the last 5. (They can see them all, but they don’t have time to look at them going all the way back). For promotions to MAJ and LTC they only have about 2 minutes to look over each candidates’ packet. A senior rater does not have to rank order all of their people 1-n (though some do). There are 4 “block” ratings on the OER. The only requirement for senior raters is that they are limited to the number of “top blocks” they can give at each grade to 49%. In otherwords a senior rater with 10 ratees (all of the same rank) can only rate 4 of them as “top blocks”. To complicate it even more, that restriction % applies for their entire career, so as people move, they bring their “profile” with them. I.E. If you rated those same 10 people (say they were CPTs) and then moved jobs and only had 3 CPTs senior rated there, you could only top block 1 of them. It is ridiculously complex and requires a complex tracking spreadsheet to maintain.

Is that a 518th Sustainment Brigade patch on your wall?

Is every rotc program infantry lead? Also, I know the Army is putting LTs’ in charge of platoons in bct, would be cool to see a video about that. And, would you recommend going to a community college first and then go into rotc so you can just get some of the core classes out of the way, so you just focus on what you wanna do?

So in full theory you can be promoted to Colonel 1.5 + 2 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12.5 years after being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant.

The problem with Army officer promotions is that an officer gets evaluated on his/her ability to lead from the perspective of two people (rater and senior rater) that the officer never led, will never lead, and - in the case of the senior rater - that officer likely rarely interacted with during the rating period.

Are reserves and on duty personnel have the same time for promotion and pay or what?

Nice video Matt 👍 Sir Echo Bravo Charlie 💜🇱🇷👍 2021/13/09 at 2200 hrs y'all are hopefully home now... 🍻 Most civilians don't know about the 13 folding the flag 🙏 God Bless the USA and Our Troops 🙏 recently everyone at a store walked around a Vietnam Vet but me I walked over to him and welcomed him home he shook my hand and said nice to meet you Ma'am.🇱🇷👍💯🙏

I like those odds

Hey you should make a video about military haircuts

Completed infantry osut 22 week....was a fucking blast ☠️☠️☠️☠️

I guessing that the rank of Captain is a hard rank to get promoted from. What is the percentage of Captains that get promoted to Major? I'm guessing that only 35% of Captains ever get promoted just to Major the next grade.

Matt Ward I was at your ceremony forgot what you were awarded Medal of Honor or a Congressional Or Silver Star or injured and couldn’t attend

Hello from Camp humphreys, Korea!!

When I was in the USAF my Army friend got promoted to Corporal for passing an exam.....

2nd LT lasted a few months in Vietnam war as infantry

Officers also have a reviewer after the rater and sr rater.

Does the us have brigadier or lieutenant general or your generals are just named by stars and what about field marshal do you have that

Are the years service in the rank scale guide, mandated or just a guide?