Officer Promotions Embeds

From the day the board adjourns, the Marine Corps has 22 days to finish the AMAB process, including the Commandant’s decision to withhold (or delay), support & report, or classify the material as “not adverse”.

The Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the Marine Corps (SJA to CMC), the Director, Personnel Management Division (Dir, PMD), Deputy Commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs (DC M&RA) and the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps (ACMC).

Upon adjournment of a promotion board, a review of investigative files is conducted for any adverse information contained in a selected officer’s record. The AMAB makes recommendations to the Commandant on whether or not the officer’s nomination should be withheld pending further review. The final decision making authority is the Secretary of the Navy.

The SJA to CMC prepares a synopsis of the adverse material found in each selected officer’s record and forwards the information to the remaining members of the AMAB for their recommendations. The AMAB may make three possible recommendations, withhold from nomination, support the promotion and report the information to SecNav, or declare the information as not adverse. SecNav makes the final decision to support the promotion or to withhold from nomination to the Secretary of Defense, the President, or the Senate, as appropriate. Upon release of the board results, the officer’s chief of staff will be notified that the officer was withheld. The officer will subsequently be notified in writing and will be afforded the opportunity to comment regarding the adverse matter. A final decision will be made to either promote or remove the officer’s name from the promotion list.

The Officer Lineal Precedence listings is published annually on 1 July, it is referenced in selection board convening MARADMINS. The Lineal Listings, enclosures (1) through (3), are updated on 1 Dec each year and are viewable until 1 Jul of the following year.

To publish lineal precedence information on officers in the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. This bulletin should be used to determine promotion eligibility and relative seniority.

You can access the Officer Lineal Precedence on the Resources and Documents tab on this page.

MMOA has the responsibility for Officer Frocking.  

Link to Order Your OMPF

Sample Promotion warrants are located on the Resources and Documents tab on this page.

There are no statutory or regulatory guidelines on either the requirement for a ceremony, or how any ceremony must be conducted. Section 626 of 10 U.S.C states that an officer is considered to have accepted the promotion unless the officer expressly declines. This section further states that an officer is not required to take a new oath upon being promoted, if the officer has served continuously since last taking the oath. Therefore, there is no requirement for any type of ceremony in order to be promoted. However, traditionally, promotion ceremonies are conducted by an officer senior to the one being promoted (again, this is not a requirement). Typically the sequence of events is as follows:

Attention to Orders

Promotion Warrant read

New insignia placed on uniform

New Oath administered

“I [Officer’s name] do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

The Officer Oath of Office can be downloaded and printed by going to Sample Forms on the right side of this page.

Read Before You Proceed!

The Manpower Plans and Policies Division (MPP) is responsible for maintaining the authorized strength, by grade, for officers in the Marine Corps. To maintain the authorized strength, MPP provides the Officer Promotion Section the numbers projected to promote for that grade based on vacancies in that grade. Projections are based on anticipated vacancies derived by attrition such as, approved retirements, separations, and resignations or by declinations of promotion. The numbers projected may be increased as additional attrition or declinations occur. Projections may also be decreased as a result of accessions such as inter-service transfers, augmentations, redesignations, and re-appointments or by special selection board selections. This also includes modifications to retirement, separation, or resignation dates. In addition, because so many transition situations occur, the numbers promoted or projected to promote will not always add up to the select numbers shown.

Officers are advised that promotion projections are only an estimated date of promotion and are subject to change. Officers are further cautioned to not make any promotion plans or incur any financial obligations for promotion ceremonies or travel arrangements for family members until their name appears on the monthly promotion MARADMIN.

Limited Duty Officers (LDO) and chief warrant officers are promoted when vacancies exist in their MOS. MPP will provide the Officer Promotion Section projections for these grades when the promotion lists are approved. LDOs and CWOs may contact the Officer Promotion Section for their projected promotion dates.

The numbers provided, on the right, reflect the number and select numbers of the Active and Reserve officers scheduled to be promoted, as of the date indicated, to the grades of colonel, lieutenant colonel, major, and captain.

Original appointments (WO1 and 2nd Lt) can only be replaced by the office that originally issued the certificate. To replace these certificates, contact Officer Appointments at: COM: (703) 784-9440 or DSN: 278-9440.

For all other grades, please fill out the Officer Promotion Warrant Reprint Request form found on the Resources tab of this page.

By using this link:  MMPB-23

This will take you to the website hosted by MMPB, the Records and Performance Branch of Headquarters, USMC. The Promotion Section has no control over this site’s contents and/or availability. Please refer questions to MMPB-23 at DSN: 278-0066 or Comm: (703) 784-0066.

When update material is submitted to MMPB-10 through our Portal, there is no further action on your part.  If there are no problems with your update material and it arrived by 2359, 10 calendar days prior to the convening date of your board, it will be processed and provided to the president of your board.  If there are problems with your update material, it will be sent back to you with the corrective action required in order for us to accept it.  You can also upload your update material to our Portal. Questions should be directed to officerpromotions@usmc.mil.

The Officer Promotion Section (MMPB-10) only handles officer promotion boards. Check the MARADMIN messages, which can be found here, announcing the board you are looking for to find the sponsor.

The following table shows which organizations sponsor the most asked-about boards:

Return to the Officer Promotions home page and go to the Promotion Boards section.

The Officer Promotion Board Section web pages only provide information on Statutory Boards (Selection Boards governed by Title 10, U.S.C.).  If the board you are interested in is not listed, then it is not sponsored by Promotion Branch. Check the convening message (MARADMIN) to find the sponsoring organization, and contact them for further information.

Reserve Qualification Summary (Version 05-02)

Send in your request to the address listed below or send it to officerpromotions@usmc.mil.

Commandant of the Marine Corps (MMPB-10)
Headquarters, United States Marine Corps
Harry Lee Hall
17 Lejeune Road
Quantico, VA 22134-5104

A Sample Cover Letter can be located on the Resources and Documents tab on this page.

Special Selection Boards are authorized under sections 628 and 14502 of title 10, U.S. Code, and SecNavInst 1401.1B. The SSB’s purpose is to provide relief to officers who believe they did not receive fair and equitable consideration before a regularly scheduled selection board.

An officer must be on the active-duty list, Reserve active-status list, retired or a former officer to be eligible for consideration. Officers on the inactive status list are not eligible for consideration by an SSB.

The officer must have been considered, or should have been considered, by a regularly scheduled selection board, and not selected

Officers have a duty to review their records periodically to ensure their records are complete and accurate. An officer’s request must detail the steps the officer took to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the official record prior to the convening of the board which considered, but failed to select, the officer.

The officer must demonstrate that the action of the board was contrary to law, involved material error of fact or involved material administrative error. For example:

–Contrary to Law – A board member sitting on back-to-back boards, which considered an officer for promotion to the same grade twice.
–Material Error of Fact – A fitness report in error considered by a board or a missing fitness report a board was not able to consider.
–Material Administrative Error – Failure of Headquarters Marine Corps to submit the record of an otherwise eligible officer to the promotion selection board.

You will have the choice of continuing the SSB process for the Secretary of the Navy to determine if a date of rank adjustment is warranted or petition the Board for Correction of Naval Records for a date of rank adjustment.

All requests, upon receipt, are staffed through necessary agencies for verification purposes. After staffing responses are received, requests are staffed through Staff Judge Advocate, Manpower Management, Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Commandant of the Marine Corps, and Navy Judge Advocate General and finally to the Secretary of the Navy (SecNav) for a final decision.

SSB requests, barring extenuating circumstances, such as a heavy caseload, shall be processed to a decision by the SecNav within 180 days. A special selection board, barring extenuating circumstances, shall be convened and the results made known to the affected officer within 180 days after SecNav determines than an SSB is warranted.

–MARADMIN 502/04 Updated to Approval Process for Posthumous Promotion of Officers and Staff Noncommissioned Officers
–MARADMIN 304/04 Posthumous Promotion of Officers and Enlisted Marines