• Promotion Information

  Failure of Promotion

  Overview

  Failure of Promotion occurs when an officer who is examined by a promotion board and is:

  • Recommended by the promotion board but ranking by the board in the bottom 10 percent (if there are less than 10 officers eligible for a particular grade, then the lowest ranked officer who is not promoted is deemed to be in the bottom 10 percent)
  • “Not recommend” by the promotion board
  • Eliminated from the final promotion approval list (e.g., failed readiness, COER, adverse action checks) 

  Failure of promotion is not the same as being passed over because you were below the promotion success line but above the bottom 10%.

  Consequences of Failure of Promotion

  If an officer has twice failed promotion, the Director of Commissioned Corps Headquarters will evaluate the reasons why the officer failed promotion and may authorize the officer’s continued eligibility for promotion examination when such a determination is warranted and in the best interests of the USPHS.

  After that time, section 6-8 of Commissioned Corps Instruction 331.01, “Permanent Promotions” includes specific situations based on the officer’s eligible grade, category, and reason for failure which are outlined here: 

  Eligible Grade	Failure of Promotion	Result
  O-6 All Categories   And   O-5, O-4  All Categories except Medical & Dental	Any Combination of Two Failures of Promotion (bottom 10%, elimination from the list, “Non-Recommendation”)	Serve in current grade until separation or retirement
  	Two “Non-Recommendations”	Serve in current grade until separation or retirement  and may be referred to a disciplinary board
  	One “Non-Recommendation” and One Elimination from the List	Serve in current grade until separation or retirement  and may be referred to a disciplinary board
  O-5 Medical and Dental	Two Failures of Promotion	Serve as an O-4 until retired with retire pay
  O-4 Medical and Dental	Two Failures of Promotion	Commissioned terminated with 1 year of pay and allowances unless the officer has 18+ years of service
  O-3 All Categories	Two Failures of Promotion	Commissioned terminated with 6 months of pay and allowances unless the officer has 18+ years of service

  Promotion Instructions are available on the Commissioned Corps Issuance System (CCIS).

  • Select "Commissioned Corps Issuance System" from the link bar at the top of this page.
  • Click on "Table of Contents."
  • Click on the "+" next to "Book 3: Personnel Management."
  • Click on Chapter 3: Promotions and Reductions.
  • Click the "+" next to the topic of interest related to promotions. The section title will turn blue.
  • Double click the blue section title and refer to the policy governing this process.

  Promotion Instructions are available on the Commissioned Corps Issuance System (CCIS).

  • Select "Commissioned Corps Issuance System" from the link bar at the top of this page.
  • Click on "Table of Contents."
  • Click on the "+" next to "Book 3: Personnel Management."
  • Click on Chapter 3: Promotions and Reductions.
  • Click the "+" next to the topic of interest related to promotions. The section title will turn blue.
  • Double click the blue section title and refer to the policy governing this process.

  Last Updated: 8/1/2024
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