thedrifter
10-03-06, 12:29 PM
October 09, 2006
Promotion manual clarifies, consolidates rules
By Christian Lowe
Staff writer
A newly published officer promotion manual clarifies hard-to-understand rules, consolidates information from several publications and expands on policies that had been given short shrift.
Officers will now be able to read about the running mate system, precedence, competitive categories and seniority — all issues that were scattered in other Navy publications.
Marine lawyers will get a better idea of how their graduate studies can contribute to their promotion chances, and senior officers who thought they had a little more wiggle room to submit information to a promotion board will learn they’d better get their material in earlier.
But most of all, the manual is easier to read, officials said.
“We’ve adjusted some of the chapters to make it flow better,” said Maj. William McWaters, head of officer promotions at Quantico, Va.-based Manpower and Reserve Affairs. “We put that out there to ensure that they read it so they can understand it because it really affects their career if they can understand the promotion process.”
The publication of the new officer promotion manual — which was approved by manpower officials Aug. 6 — was announced in a Sept. 13 Corps-wide message, MarAdmin 431/06. The previous promotion manual was published in 2000.
The key additions to the manual involve the inclusion of a series of administrative definitions that were, for the most part, included in Navy or Defense Department publications but not in the Corps’ officer promotion manual.
Some of this was included in the 2000 promotion manual, but the new manual “fleshes them out,” McWaters said.
Service credit
The manual also outlines how Marine lawyers can earn service credit for attending law school. In some cases, Marines who earn their commission still need to finish their graduate degree before they attend The Basic School. Schooling has always counted toward Marines’ date of rank, but “we’re just giving the Marine more information in one spot so they don’t have to go looking around for it,” McWaters said.
Officers will also be under the gun for misdeeds that aren’t in their jacket, including drunken-driving convictions and other violations that happen outside their Corps career. The so-called “adverse process” section of the new manual outlines the screening that will take place after an officer is promoted by a board but before he pins on his rank.
“That’s always been there, but we just spelled it out more clearly for the Marines,” McWaters said.
Requests for leathernecks to be frocked — which means pinning on the next rank before one has been officially promoted, a process that usually occurs when a Marine is assigned to a job that requires a certain rank — are to be handled through manpower’s officer assignments office rather than by officials who handle promotions, McWaters said.
The manual also includes a new congressional order requiring officers to submit their promotions material one day earlier than before.
“There are enough things that have changed that it warranted being reconsidered and rewritten to put out there so the latest information is available to the Marines,” McWaters said.
Ellie
Promotion manual clarifies, consolidates rules
By Christian Lowe
Staff writer
A newly published officer promotion manual clarifies hard-to-understand rules, consolidates information from several publications and expands on policies that had been given short shrift.
Officers will now be able to read about the running mate system, precedence, competitive categories and seniority — all issues that were scattered in other Navy publications.
Marine lawyers will get a better idea of how their graduate studies can contribute to their promotion chances, and senior officers who thought they had a little more wiggle room to submit information to a promotion board will learn they’d better get their material in earlier.
But most of all, the manual is easier to read, officials said.
“We’ve adjusted some of the chapters to make it flow better,” said Maj. William McWaters, head of officer promotions at Quantico, Va.-based Manpower and Reserve Affairs. “We put that out there to ensure that they read it so they can understand it because it really affects their career if they can understand the promotion process.”
The publication of the new officer promotion manual — which was approved by manpower officials Aug. 6 — was announced in a Sept. 13 Corps-wide message, MarAdmin 431/06. The previous promotion manual was published in 2000.
The key additions to the manual involve the inclusion of a series of administrative definitions that were, for the most part, included in Navy or Defense Department publications but not in the Corps’ officer promotion manual.
Some of this was included in the 2000 promotion manual, but the new manual “fleshes them out,” McWaters said.
Service credit
The manual also outlines how Marine lawyers can earn service credit for attending law school. In some cases, Marines who earn their commission still need to finish their graduate degree before they attend The Basic School. Schooling has always counted toward Marines’ date of rank, but “we’re just giving the Marine more information in one spot so they don’t have to go looking around for it,” McWaters said.
Officers will also be under the gun for misdeeds that aren’t in their jacket, including drunken-driving convictions and other violations that happen outside their Corps career. The so-called “adverse process” section of the new manual outlines the screening that will take place after an officer is promoted by a board but before he pins on his rank.
“That’s always been there, but we just spelled it out more clearly for the Marines,” McWaters said.
Requests for leathernecks to be frocked — which means pinning on the next rank before one has been officially promoted, a process that usually occurs when a Marine is assigned to a job that requires a certain rank — are to be handled through manpower’s officer assignments office rather than by officials who handle promotions, McWaters said.
The manual also includes a new congressional order requiring officers to submit their promotions material one day earlier than before.
“There are enough things that have changed that it warranted being reconsidered and rewritten to put out there so the latest information is available to the Marines,” McWaters said.
Ellie