Posted on Mar 13, 2021
Where can I find the no-joke requirements for competitively screening for LCDR as a SWO?
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I'm a SWO(N) with a little more than a year left on my first shore duty. I commissioned in May 2014. After DH school, I will probably have only a month or so at my DH tour before receiving my first DH FITREP (probably not ranked very high due to the timing) and immediately getting screened for LCDR. Where can I find the exact requirements for screening? Some MILPERSMAN document? OPNAVINST? Everything I know about the process so far has frankly been gouge, and I really can't afford to miss the mark on LCDR screening if I want to finish my 23-year service requirement for retirement (I'm a STA-21 officer) without getting force ejected.
As an example, I will have finished my masters degree in engineering management before leaving shore duty but can't find degree requirements to ENSURE there are no odd joint service education requirements that are also needed.
As an example, I will have finished my masters degree in engineering management before leaving shore duty but can't find degree requirements to ENSURE there are no odd joint service education requirements that are also needed.
LCDR
Surface Warfare Officer (SWO)
Promotions
Military Career
Career Advice
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 3
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LT (Join to see) Talk to your detailer. They have all the latest board stats and requirements. Tell them your issues and they should be able to help out. Not sure if they still do it, but when I was in NPC Millington would put out notes after each promotions. You should be able to screen the past messages from them by UIC. I don't have that info anymore... Best of luck.
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LT (Join to see)
Thanks! This line of thinking actually came about from a recent talk with my detailer. I wanted to come into the next conversation with as much of my own research done as possible.
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You are filling shoes that have been filled many times before, so your situation is fairly common. You have to know some things about how Boards work and things about how your FITREP should be prepared.
I've been out since 2003, but had Skipper tours and sat 6-7 varied AD/Reserve boards at Millington. Although there are some changes since my time, I do have some pointers. First, read the prior 1-3 years of board precepts. They should be available on the NPC website. They explicitly say how the board works, what is fair game, etc. Look for "shall not be disadvantaged" topics. If the Precepts are any good, they recognize people take many paths. Just don't get labeled a "camper". Second, the Board reviewing officers and President will quickly see what your progression was and understand why you are where you are. You'll be in good company at the Board. By definition, you're not likely a First Crunch water walker wearing a MSM, but, you want to position yourself best for the Second/Third Crunch. Also, people forget that besides selecting, decisions are made not to select. After the First Crunch, the Board looks for a "Cut Line" for obvious selection and non selection. Hopefully your first Reviewing Officer did their job properly and you're in the fat part of the curve. Boards look for a "Level of Confidence" you will do well at the next rank. Final thing is to take a look at the size and width of the Zone and what the selection percentage is. If NPC doesn't say, take a look as the prior few years. Good years are around 70-75%.
Now to the FITREP. Your Skipper has a "Reporting Senior Average" that needs to be managed. If not, then the credibility of his/her paper is diminished. You should be in a group of peers. If not, you're a "one of one" on the summary. MOST IMPORTANT are the words in the narrative. If you are say 4 of 5 in the summary, words like "his increasing performance will make him competitive for top grading next cycle." Check and see what grouping you're in. I had to group new officers separate from zoned officers, but I don't know if that is still true. You won't have much track record, so it's important for the Skipper to depict what you're turning into. That creates momentum. At Third Crunch, Reviewing Officers can easily tell who has momentum and who doesn't. Passive words like "new officer in billet", "limited", etc. don't have momentum. Passive words are code speak for "you can let him go." And yes, I purposely used those words on the lower 1/3rd of the groupings. I had a great Reporting Senior Average that allowed me to shoot a silver bullet every now and then. 100% of my top third in groups were promoted, even to O-6 on third go-around.
With these two aspects understood, the board process will commence and your record will get reviewed by a different officer for each Crunch. All Board members vote level of confidence each time. Annotations are made to the record posted on the big screens in "The Tank" which depict positive, negative, or neutral aspects. It's momentum, momentum, and momentum. Your record must not give an easy reason to set aside. Third Crunch can be like trying to split Angel hairs, but that's the job that needs to be done.
Many more aspects, but you have an idea of what your paper needs to say.
I've been out since 2003, but had Skipper tours and sat 6-7 varied AD/Reserve boards at Millington. Although there are some changes since my time, I do have some pointers. First, read the prior 1-3 years of board precepts. They should be available on the NPC website. They explicitly say how the board works, what is fair game, etc. Look for "shall not be disadvantaged" topics. If the Precepts are any good, they recognize people take many paths. Just don't get labeled a "camper". Second, the Board reviewing officers and President will quickly see what your progression was and understand why you are where you are. You'll be in good company at the Board. By definition, you're not likely a First Crunch water walker wearing a MSM, but, you want to position yourself best for the Second/Third Crunch. Also, people forget that besides selecting, decisions are made not to select. After the First Crunch, the Board looks for a "Cut Line" for obvious selection and non selection. Hopefully your first Reviewing Officer did their job properly and you're in the fat part of the curve. Boards look for a "Level of Confidence" you will do well at the next rank. Final thing is to take a look at the size and width of the Zone and what the selection percentage is. If NPC doesn't say, take a look as the prior few years. Good years are around 70-75%.
Now to the FITREP. Your Skipper has a "Reporting Senior Average" that needs to be managed. If not, then the credibility of his/her paper is diminished. You should be in a group of peers. If not, you're a "one of one" on the summary. MOST IMPORTANT are the words in the narrative. If you are say 4 of 5 in the summary, words like "his increasing performance will make him competitive for top grading next cycle." Check and see what grouping you're in. I had to group new officers separate from zoned officers, but I don't know if that is still true. You won't have much track record, so it's important for the Skipper to depict what you're turning into. That creates momentum. At Third Crunch, Reviewing Officers can easily tell who has momentum and who doesn't. Passive words like "new officer in billet", "limited", etc. don't have momentum. Passive words are code speak for "you can let him go." And yes, I purposely used those words on the lower 1/3rd of the groupings. I had a great Reporting Senior Average that allowed me to shoot a silver bullet every now and then. 100% of my top third in groups were promoted, even to O-6 on third go-around.
With these two aspects understood, the board process will commence and your record will get reviewed by a different officer for each Crunch. All Board members vote level of confidence each time. Annotations are made to the record posted on the big screens in "The Tank" which depict positive, negative, or neutral aspects. It's momentum, momentum, and momentum. Your record must not give an easy reason to set aside. Third Crunch can be like trying to split Angel hairs, but that's the job that needs to be done.
Many more aspects, but you have an idea of what your paper needs to say.
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CAPT Kevin B.
Cody, letters to the Board can only cover two topics. Acceptable letters are those that correct an error or provide something that's missing from the fair game list. General letters from prior Skippers scream they don't have a clue either. Board members won't see them as noncompliant letters are screened out by the staff. There's a lot of urban myth out there talking about being proactive, etc., but that's from people who never sat a Board or read a Precept. Look at your record for any gaps that need to be filled. Gaps in dates that a prior Skipper can correct or other aspects will have the staff include the correction. All your letter better say is provided to fill in whatever. I don't know if your letter is screened out and just the correction is inserted. I was around enough to see the process go both ways, so I don't know if it's in favor or not. Stuff telling your side of the story about a lower graded FITREP, LOR, why you think you didn't get an EOT award is off limits as well. BTW the most "political" Boards I've seen were the Nurses and Chaplains. We could hear the Holy Rollers yelling through the walls in their Tank. Hopefully it's a tamer world out there nowadays.
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LT (Join to see)
Thanks for the information! Someone who sat a board recently told me that a LTB forces the Board to review my record first during the Second/Third Crunches and simply statistically improves my chances of getting selected before the quota is met. For instance, LTBs from my first CO and first O-6 carrier HOD are the reason, I thought, that I was selected for DH on my third look (others with better records than mine who did NOT submit LTBs were passed over and forced out).
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LCDR Mike Morrissey
Be very careful with any letter to a promotion board (as compared to other boards such as schools etc.). There are also strict criteria as to what will be allowed.
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CAPT Kevin B.
Quota met? More bad gouge. Third crunch is say 20 people for 6 slots or whatever. We don't have to meet a a quota as we can decline to fill all the slots. That can happen if there is a significant break point. That happened on one of my Boards. We have to explain it, but usually the President of the Board has a chat with the Secretariat side and we're done. Then the lowest selected is compared to the highest non select to verify we didn't go astray. Think you also got bad gouge on the LTB giving head of the line privileges on Third Crunch review. Times may have changed, but there'd be no reason to do that and puts out a false expectation that if you drown the Board in paper, something good can come out of it. One thing that's a downside on Board members. That's getting key-holed by a non select some time down the road. Their Reporting Senior gave them "I have no idea why" just not to deal with it. But then again, they typically haven't sat Boards.
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The opportunity to select to O-4 under DOPMA is 80% of those in zone. Now those selected outside the zone (e.g. once passed over) count against that percentage. In my day, selection to O-4 when I was up was 65% but 10% was “eaten up” by above zone selects. CDR was less than 50%.
Selection to O-4 is not dictated by designator requirements such as the Cdr and above billet requirements. As an unrestricted line SWO LT there isn’t an educational REQUIREMENT but the options you have taken stand you in good stead. The 80% is not spread evenly across warfare designators. Nearly 100% of SEALS are routinely selected to O-4 which eats away at the 80%. I noticed your SWO(N). Are you nuclear qualified? If so, they usually also have higher selection percentages.
As for the one month fitrep as a DH, check current fitrep inst. as such a report was usually just one to maintain continuity without grading—for the very reason that concerns you.
Hopefully your at sea time ranking amongst peers was at least in upper 15-20%. Such as 1 of 3 or at least 2 of 5 etc.
So in summary:
Met SWO qual requirements
You selected and completed Dept Head school —
an indication of successful division officer tour
DH school completion real plus and meets the expected flow point.
Selected to actually serve as a department head. -another plus
Advanced degree in a critical field (as opposed in English Lit.) —another plus. Was the degree part of a Navy grad school program or on your own during shore duty? Either one is highly desired.
I wouldn’t be so nuts as to guarantee your selection, but based on what you present, I’ll be very surprised if you don’t select. 2 out of 10 won’t, and if 8 out of 10–why wouldn’t you be in that number? If for some reason the disaster of not finding your name on the promotion list (there is no formal notification of FTS from the board), don’t give up. There is one more shot a year later, a year as an actual Dept. Head. Have others go over your record.
I’ve known several who had the shock of not finding their name on the list only to have somebody else see it or, upon a second frantic search, find the name and the adrenaline shock. If married. the very first phone call is to the spouse.
Selection to O-4 is not dictated by designator requirements such as the Cdr and above billet requirements. As an unrestricted line SWO LT there isn’t an educational REQUIREMENT but the options you have taken stand you in good stead. The 80% is not spread evenly across warfare designators. Nearly 100% of SEALS are routinely selected to O-4 which eats away at the 80%. I noticed your SWO(N). Are you nuclear qualified? If so, they usually also have higher selection percentages.
As for the one month fitrep as a DH, check current fitrep inst. as such a report was usually just one to maintain continuity without grading—for the very reason that concerns you.
Hopefully your at sea time ranking amongst peers was at least in upper 15-20%. Such as 1 of 3 or at least 2 of 5 etc.
So in summary:
Met SWO qual requirements
You selected and completed Dept Head school —
an indication of successful division officer tour
DH school completion real plus and meets the expected flow point.
Selected to actually serve as a department head. -another plus
Advanced degree in a critical field (as opposed in English Lit.) —another plus. Was the degree part of a Navy grad school program or on your own during shore duty? Either one is highly desired.
I wouldn’t be so nuts as to guarantee your selection, but based on what you present, I’ll be very surprised if you don’t select. 2 out of 10 won’t, and if 8 out of 10–why wouldn’t you be in that number? If for some reason the disaster of not finding your name on the promotion list (there is no formal notification of FTS from the board), don’t give up. There is one more shot a year later, a year as an actual Dept. Head. Have others go over your record.
I’ve known several who had the shock of not finding their name on the list only to have somebody else see it or, upon a second frantic search, find the name and the adrenaline shock. If married. the very first phone call is to the spouse.
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LT (Join to see)
Thanks for your response! I am a qualified Nuclear Engineering Officer (NEO). On my nuke sea tour I qualified PPWO and EOOW (a TAO-equivalent station). I pursued my graduate degree on my own during shore duty (a remote degree offered by ODU and fine-tuned for Navy Nukes).
My primary issue and source of concern is my FITREP history. I have never gotten MP or EP. This is mostly a timing issue (arriving to get the "new guy" FITREP and departing in December, losing the "best guy in the world" competitive FITREP and instead getting a one-of-one departing kiss) but I also didn't kick enough ass during my first few months at the command. Even my ensign FITREPs were just at RSCA. And, of course, most of my LTJG FITREPs were NOB at nuke school. Never a breakout moment.
This shore command is the first time a CO has really cared about my timing problems. Instead of giving me a "new guy" FITREP a month after reporting, he held for the next periodic window to make sure my very first FITREP from him was a 2-of-5 MP with a recommendation for Early Command. Does the Board care about that recommendation coming from shore command? Not one bit. But considering my CO is a submarine O-6 fresh from Major Command, I sure wish they would. My final competitive with him will likely be a 1-of-6 EP, followed by a 1-of-1 detaching.
I feel that a letter from a Major Command O-6 (I've got plenty willing to write them) saying I walk on water but have horrible career timing would be meaningful to the Board, but the feedback I'm hearing here implies that's not the case -- or that it will be filtered out such that the Board never sees it. That is disheartening, to say the least.
My primary issue and source of concern is my FITREP history. I have never gotten MP or EP. This is mostly a timing issue (arriving to get the "new guy" FITREP and departing in December, losing the "best guy in the world" competitive FITREP and instead getting a one-of-one departing kiss) but I also didn't kick enough ass during my first few months at the command. Even my ensign FITREPs were just at RSCA. And, of course, most of my LTJG FITREPs were NOB at nuke school. Never a breakout moment.
This shore command is the first time a CO has really cared about my timing problems. Instead of giving me a "new guy" FITREP a month after reporting, he held for the next periodic window to make sure my very first FITREP from him was a 2-of-5 MP with a recommendation for Early Command. Does the Board care about that recommendation coming from shore command? Not one bit. But considering my CO is a submarine O-6 fresh from Major Command, I sure wish they would. My final competitive with him will likely be a 1-of-6 EP, followed by a 1-of-1 detaching.
I feel that a letter from a Major Command O-6 (I've got plenty willing to write them) saying I walk on water but have horrible career timing would be meaningful to the Board, but the feedback I'm hearing here implies that's not the case -- or that it will be filtered out such that the Board never sees it. That is disheartening, to say the least.
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