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Selection chances increase for O-4s, O-5s

QUANTICO, Va. —The Corps plans to increase selection opportunity for majors and lieutenant colonels by 5 percent for the second consecutive year as part of the ongoing effort to expand the service to 202,000 active-duty Marines by 2011.

The selection percentage for captains promoted to major will remain roughly the same, a Marine manpower official said.

The Corps also announced that certain majors and lieutenant colonels who were passed over for promotion twice or hold critical military occupational specialties will be permitted to remain in the service, barring a few exceptions.

The fiscal 2010 Major Promotion Selection Board will convene Sept. 3 at Quantico and is expected to select about 90 percent of eligible in-zone captains. In-zone captains to be considered have dates of rank from Sept. 1, 2003, to Dec. 1, 2004.

The Corps is slated to promote roughly 784 captains out of the 871 eligible, according to Lt. Col. William McWaters, head of officer promotions at Manpower and Reserve Affairs. But that’s fewer promotions than last year, when 857 captains were selected out of a possible 952 in-zone eligible.

The fiscal 2010 Lieutenant Colonel Promotion Selection Board will convene Sept. 3 to consider majors with dates of rank between Aug. 1, 2003, and Nov. 1, 2004. For the second year in a row, the board will select 75 percent of those in-zone eligible for promotion, 5 percent higher than the fiscal 2008 rate.

That works out to 459 new lieutenant colonels, from a pool of 613 up for promotion. That’s more than 100 more new lieutenant colonels than last year, when 347 were selected for promotion, according to manpower statistics.

Majors who have been passed over twice for promotion, but hold positions as either a combat engineer, assault amphibious vehicle officer or aviation supply officer, will be eligible for continuation due to a lack of officers in those positions.

The fiscal 2010 Colonel Promotion Selection Board will convene on Sept. 9 and is slated to select 132 out of a possible 232 in-zone lieutenant colonels with dates of rank between Jan. 1, 2004, and Oct. 1, 2004. The colonel board also will promote more lieutenant colonels than it did in fiscal 2008, when 102 colonels were selected, according to Marine statistics.

Lieutenant colonels who have been passed over twice, but hold a military occupational specialty as an adjutant, combat engineer or military police, are eligible for continuation due to a shortfall in those skills, McWaters said. Those lieutenant colonels will have a retirement date between Aug. 1, 2009, and July 1, 2010. They cannot be continued for more than five years under federal law.

Marine officials have not made an announcement on any possible officer augmentation bonuses.

While the Army is offering up to $35,000 for captains to stay in the force, the Corps has yet to offer financial incentives for current officers despite statements that it was exploring the possibility.

The Corps has, however, offered up to $30,000 the past two years in a college loan repayment program for incoming officers who agree to serve six extra months. The Corps is expected to continue that program through 2011. The Corps also announced earlier this year a lump-sum, one-time $4,000 bonus for new officers who agree to 48 months of service.