The Fiscal 2016 Army Competitive Category lieutenant colonel board that met in November generated a primary-zone select rate of 60 percent in recommending nearly 1,100 basic-branch majors for promotion.
Select rates for the Regular Army promotion review that included officers of the Operations, Operations Support and Force Sustainment functional categories were roughly the same as 2014 and 2015, but well below the 80 percent to 90 percent levels that were common during the Grow the Army campaign of several years ago.
Lt. Col. selection board results
The below-zone select rates for the 2016 board ranged from 3.3 percent to 3.6 percent, an improvement over 2015.
The above-zone rates for previously considered majors ranged from 19 percent to 20.8 percent, a marked improvement over the rates of 3.7 percent to 17.6 percent last year.
Average selection opportunity, a term used in the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act to track promotion flow, was 72 percent for the 2016 board, and improvement over the rate of 69.5 percent for the 2015 board.
The 72 percent figure is in line with the DOPMA standard of 70 percent for advancements to lieutenant colonel.
DOPMA selection opportunity is calculated by dividing the number of promotion candidates by the total number of above-zone, primary-zone and below-zone officers recommended by the board.
The new O5 nomination list must be confirmed by the Senate before the Army can schedule promotions. Ay 1 promotions will reduce the 2015 lists to 62 names for Operations officers, 52 or Operations Support and 40 for Force Sustainment.
