When will I get a date of rank?

Soon after the release of selection board results, the favorite question of “When will I get a date of rank” arises. Since we select officers over a year prior to promoting them, determining a date of rank (DOR) is somewhat of a calculated guessing game. However, here is the process flow from estimate to actual DOR:

Rule of Thumb: Over the years, this rule of thumb has proven to be quit accurate. As most know, the Naval Reserve is connected to active duty promotions by the statutory running mate system. Since active duty promotes to vacancies, this means when a active duty officer is promoted to fill a vacancy, a Naval Reserve is also promoted via the running mate system regardless of whether there is a vacancy in the Naval Reserve. When (timing) does active duty fill vacancies? Historically, active duty fills (or promotes) the first 40% of selectees in the first 8 months of the FY year (Oct through May). The remaining 60% are filled (promoted) evenly in the last 4 months of the FY year ( June, July, Aug and Sept each at 15%). Therefore if a particular board selected 100 officers, the most senior 40 would be promoted between Oct and May with the remaining 60 being promoted at a rate of 15 per month for June, July, August and September. If you were #80 of 100 selects, based upon an equitable distribution of seniority among selectees, you could estimate receiving a 1 August DOR.

Date of Rank Authority: Authority to issue a DOR is promulgated via a monthly ALNAV message that is normally sent out the last week of a month for the following month. When promulgated, the ALNAV message can be viewed on the Association’s web site and on the BUPERS site. This is the official authority for the promotion of Naval Reserve officers.