What rank does an officer need to achieve to be allowed to serve 20 years?

PFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 00:42:30 -0500

Amongst the enlisted ranks, retention control points (RCPs) restrict maximum time in service by rank. Staff Sergeant (E6) is necessary to serve 20 years and earn a pension. Is there a similar system for officers and if so how would it break down? Would, say, a Captain passed up for promotion to Major be allowed to stay in for 20 years?

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Jan 17 at 2019 1:00 AM

LTC Jason Mackay — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 01:00:19 -0500

PFC Private RallyPoint Member if they are SELCON, Captains and Majors May go to 20 years. If there is no SELCON, you’ll need to be a LTC.

Many prior service officers retire as Captains and Majors. They have 10 years AFCS and 20 years TIS.

Don’t know what you are looking for for a “breakdown” of how that works. If you are curious, officers don’t have RCPs we have MRDs. Google HRC MRD calculator. You can what if to your hearts delight.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 17 at 2019 1:16 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 01:16:14 -0500

A captain can also elect to go to a non-commissioned ranks of E5 or E6 and retire at his highest rank attained. With this new Blended Retirement System, it will soon be a thing of the past. If you came in and passed basic before the Blended retirement system was mandatory, you can participate in the system. If you are thinking of going commission, just focus on graduating from OCS or going do a commissioning Source like ROTC or West Point.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Jan 17 at 2019 8:24 AM

CSM Darieus ZaGara — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 08:24:02 -0500

While there are many possibilities based on type of service, policy for the needs of the Army, RIF program etc., generally Major is the lowest rank that can retire at 20. Thank you for your service.

Response by Maj John Bell made Jan 17 at 2019 1:44 PM

Maj John Bell — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 13:44:07 -0500

It a little more complicated than this... but this gives the general idea.

There are end strengths authorized for each rank, and planned "culling" takes place by year group. Some of that culling is achieved by voluntary separation, some by involuntary separation. Force planners take a look into their crystal balls and designate a promotion zone or year group. The promotion board looks at all officers in the rank that have been passed over once, all officers in the year group and some officers who are below the zone but deemed exception and worthy of early promotion.

Any officer who has been passed over once, and gets passed over again, is on notice. No later than September 30th of the year following the promotion board, they will be separated from the service. Any officer not selected for the first time will be in the above zone for the next year's promotion board. Any officer from the below zone group enters the next board with a clean slate.

The prognosticators blew it in the few years after the first Gulf War. Generally if you are passed over for Major, even once, you won't make 20 unless you have somewhere between 4-6 years of enlisted time. In my day, time at a service academy did not count towards your 20.

Response by CAPT Michael Toleno made Jan 17 at 2019 2:20 PM

CAPT Michael Toleno — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 14:20:06 -0500

According to Title 10, an O-4 can go to 20. BUT an O-4 who is passed over twice for O-5 may have to undergo a "continuation board" to be allowed to continue on active duty. Title 10 has the definitive guidance, and the different services have differing policies (at different times) for how they handle the provisions of Title 10. Sorry I don't have a definitive answer, but you can poke around in title 10 to get the details. In the Navy, I haven't heard of a non-prior-service O-3 ever being allowed to get to 20 years of active duty, but I have heard of this as fairly common in the USAF.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Jan 17 at 2019 10:21 PM

CAPT Kevin B. — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 22:21:55 -0500

Son, DOPMA is still an up or out thing. In general, if you fail to select for the next higher rank twice, you get administratively processed out, usually no later than the sixth month after the last non promote. So if you do the math, LTCs will hit 20 before having the opportunity to belly flop twice for O-6 It gets more murky with prior enlisted where you can FOS for O-4 and still make 20. There is a version of continuation boards amongst the services for those who have 16 years or more. They may be continued at the present rank to the 20 mark. That's where you see some O-4s who were officers the whole time hit that 16 year mark and many are continued. Then again, some to many are not depending of the staffing caps. There was a lot of yammering on The Hill last year about taking some of the hard ass aspect out of DOPMA, but like most things political, that pony didn't run. I do speak from experience. I was canned off of active and then shifted to Reserve and ultimately did 32 years. Interesting ride either way.

Response by CW4 Craig Urban made Mar 23 at 2019 6:13 AM

CW4 Craig Urban — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 06:13:33 -0400

Major or if former enlisted captain