Officer’s promotions rate and time in Air Force vs Navy

[2025!!]

Not sure if this would be a good spot to most this question, but here we go. I know that there are numerous careers, paths, and tracks that would affect promotions and rate of promotions. I have been told by some family and friends that are current or retired Naval Officers that during their careers they felt that many times they were pasted up for promotions because they did not “play the social game” or rub shoulders with the right people even though they had put in the work and time. They seemed to feel that if the right person didn’t necessarily like you, then no matter how much time or work you’ve put in you might not get that promotion.
I have been told that in the Air Force the promotions come quicker and are more based on the time and work put in not necessarily being the best brown noser at the moment. I have read that by retirement in these two branches no matter what the career path, on average Air Force retirees leave at a higher rank then their fellow Naval Officers after serving the same time.
Going into the Academy decision USNA or USAFA with a career in mind this seems like an important factor as far as rank, monetarily, and just overall moral. Once again I am sure that there are specific career paths that move along quicker than others, but from a general promotions rate are these descriptions I’ve been told accurate?
Any one that would have actual experience in both services? Or family than has been in each and vice versa?
I know ALL of the academies will provide the very best of education, but the career after graduation is the most important. Thanks in advance for any input. I apologize if this has been addressed before. I searched as much as I could, but really didn’t know what to search for.

 

[SF_DAD]

I was a Senior NCO in the Army before becoming an Officer. I have worked with both Enlisted and Officers from every branch. I can tell you that at some point in every branch it becomes somewhat political, however, it is not better or worse in any branch. Sometimes it’s a specific field that seems to get all the breaks, whether it’s Infantry guys in the Army, Seals in the Navy, fighter pilots in the Air Force, or even successful counter drug boat drivers in the Coast Guard... sorry USMC but you guys have it rough on both the Officer and Enlisted side of the house (In my opinion it’s the most difficult branch regarding promotions).

Bottom line is regardless of branch you have equal opportunity to succeed. Do your job to the best of your ability, hope that you picked a job that has positions at higher levels in future years, and don’t be the guy/girl with the wrong reputation. Yes, your reputation will precede you. The longer you stay in, the more others will know of you. You will have a reputation and it will determine how far your career will take you. It’s the same for all services.

 

[EEBTTF]

Agreed -

sorry USMC but you guys have it rough on both the Officer and Enlisted side of the house (In my opinion it’s the most difficult branch regarding promotions).

Agreed - the things in life that are most worthy are most difficult to achieve!

 

[nrotcmid23]

At least for the Navy what promotions look like depends very much on the community you're in. Larger communities have more available billets, but also more competition. Smaller communities like SEAL or EOD have less high ranking billets, but there are less people overall competing for them. Also, rank isn't everything. I know individuals who happily retired as an O4, and wouldn't have had it any other way.

 

[OldRetSWO]

Not sure if this would be a good spot to most this question, but here we go. I know that there are numerous careers, paths, and tracks that would affect promotions and rate of promotions. I have been told by some family and friends that are current or retired Naval Officers that during their careers they felt that many times they were pasted up for promotions because they did not “play the social game” or rub shoulders with the right people even though they had put in the work and time. They seemed to feel that if the right person didn’t necessarily like you, then no matter how much time or work you’ve put in you might not get that promotion.
I have been told that in the Air Force the promotions come quicker and are more based on the time and work put in not necessarily being the best brown noser at the moment. I have read that by retirement in these two branches no matter what the career path, on average Air Force retirees leave at a higher rank then their fellow Naval Officers after serving the same time.

There is only one "right person" who matters for Navy Promotions and that is the officer who signs your Fitness Reports which is generally your Commanding Officer. Promotion Boards use the Fitness Reports and record of service to determine "Best Qualified" for promotion. Promotion Boards are absolutely not allowed to use personal knowledge or community reputation as part of this, it is what is in the record. Being able to get along with and work with others is not ignored in all of this and it should not be. One of the 2017 ship collisions in particular had a TAO and an OOD who were apparently not on speaking terms and their non-communication while on watch had deadly consequences.
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Putting in "The work and the Time" is not enough and that goes for all of the services. By the time you've reached the O4 level, the folks who don't put in the work and even work extra have almost all dropped away but there is still going to be a decent number of O4s who don't make O5 even though they are good, competent and go above and beyond what is expected. For SWOs, the typical small to medium size ship will have O4s (and senior O3s) as Department Heads and there will generally be 4 Department Heads who are line officers. From a numbers standpoint, try to understand that those 4 are each hoping to become an XO and then a CO and there are 1 off each on the ship. Typically, of those 4 Department Heads, 1 or 2 will end up making the cut to become a CO at some point.
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All of the services operate under similar grade "pyramids" and once you get above the first couple of ranks, just about all will be putting in the work and the time.

 

[raimius]

So, for officers there are basically 3 potential career segments. As a company grade officer (O1-O3), your promotions are based on time in grade and not getting in legal trouble. For field grade (O4-O6), there are usually promotion boards that will look over your performance reports, medals, career assignments etc. This is where having the "right" assignments, doing good work (and being able to communicate it via short bullet points), and having supervisors who approved of your work (awards, better performance reports, etc) helps. For general officers (O7-O10) it gets political and I don't have good info on that process (not something I foresee needing to know much about).