New spot promotion rules took effect Oct. 1 that expand eligibility for hard-chargers and create an annual time window for all command advancements — promotions that aren't based on passing the Navy-wide test.

While popular with the fleet, many Navy leaders blamed spot promotions for exacerbating overmanning — which led to the two 2011 Enlisted Retention Boards and the cutting of more than 2,946 mid-grade petty officers.

In fact, the command advancement program was in danger of being eliminated until Vice Adm. Bill Moran, the chief of naval personnel, stepped in to save it. He sought to bring the spot promotes inside the larger advancement system.

The rules set a three-month window for spot advancements and require the CO to get the OK for each individual selected, which triggers a records check.

The command advancement program only applies to commands classified as either sea duty or recruiting duty, which is known as one of the toughest shore duties.

Many reserve commands also have the authority to CAP sailors and the new rules apply to them, too. But don't look for any drilling reserve CAPs this year.

The reserve will have a "moratorium" in fiscal 2015 "due to strength reductions and changes in force structure resulting in multiple overmanned rates," according to the message. "This has negatively impacted advancement opportunity, resulting in enlisted community health challenges."

Moran spoke about these changes in July and hasn't been shy about urging COs to spot promote their best sailors, something many in the fleet have complained hasn't always been the case. All too often, sailors gripe, the CAP spots go to those facing high-year tenure limits rather than top performers.

"Why not make a call on your best and guarantee that sailor is going to advance?" Moran said. "It's going to open up quotas for those behind them, but you're ensuring your best and brightest advance."

As many as one in three CAP slots go unused each year, officials say. Moran says he would consider upping the number of CAP spots if all of them were being used.

Wider eligibility

Sailors with early promote evaluations — the top category on evals — are now eligible to be CAP'd up to a year early, provided they are otherwise eligible for advancement.

COs can already allow EP sailors to compete for the next rank on the Navy-wide cycle — and the CAP program should be no different, officials told Navy Times in August.

CAP season

Sailors can now only be spot advanced between July 1 and Sept. 30. The window puts CAP advancements between the spring and fall cycles and allows personnel officials to coordinate the quotas based on them, a move that will limit over- and under-manning problems. Most CAPs are issued in this time frame anyway, officials have said.

This year CAP also switched from a calendar year to a fiscal year — where quotas must be used by Sept. 30.

Stamp of approval

Though a CO can decide to CAP their sailors, final approval on advancement is out of their hands.

It's the bureau that gets the final say and must "validate" any request to CAP a sailor.

Before COs advance a sailor, they must send a certification letter to their immediate superior in command and the Enlisted Career Administration and Enlisted Boards.

The review involves scrubbing a sailor's records to ensure there's nothing the command missed that would render the sailor ineligible for the advancement, such as a security clearance lapse.

Quotas outlook

While eligibility has expanded, the number of CAP spots every year is about the same. Moran had been mulling an increase, but opted to see how the new rules play out before making more changes.

As with the old program, the number of sailors a command can CAP is based on its size. Overall, there are 2,371 quotas in fiscal 2015, spread between 950 commands — in the fleet and at recruiting commands. The policy sets maximum levels for E-6s and E-5s.

Of that total, a maximum of 1,142 can be advanced to E-6; 1,175 is the cap slated for E-5, though unused E-6 quotas can be used to advance to E-5. Unused quotas from either E-5 or E-6 can be used to advance to E-4, as there's no limit for that paygrade. Commands simply can't exceed their maximum.

Any sea duty or overseas sea duty commands off the eligibility list need to contact NPC and get approval before they spot advance anyone.

Under the existing rules, a command with between 50 and 100 enlisted billets can CAP two sailors: one to E-5 and one to E-6.

Commands with more than 100, but fewer than 1,000, billets, like an amphibious transport dock, get two E-5 quotas and one for E-6. Those between 1,000 and 2,000, like some big deck amphibs, get four E-5s and two E-6s. And commands like aircraft carriers, with 2,000 or more billets, can spot-advance six E-5s and two E-6s and average a total of 30 CAPs each year.

Navy Recruiting Command units, the main shore duty commands with CAP authority, get nine CAP slots each year. They can be a mix of E-6 and E-5, as long as they don't exceed the nine total. Most recruiters are E-5s, so the rules give them greater flexibility.

Spot promotions: The top 25

The number of spot promotions a command is authorized to make is based on the total number of sailors in the command. Although commands are limited in how many E-5s and E-6s they can advance, there are no such restrictions on spot promotions for E-4s, as long as the total number of promotions the command is allowed isn't exceeded. A look at the top 25 commands in terms of total quotas:

Command

Total

Max. E-6

Max. E-5

George Washington - CVN 73

31

2

6

Dwight D. Eisenhower - CVN 69

30

2

6

Carl Vinson - CVN 70

30

2

6

Theodore Roosevelt - CVN 71

30

2

6

John C. Stennis - CVN 74

30

2

6

Harry S. Truman - CVN 75

30

2

6

Ronald R. Reagan - CVN 76

30

2

6

George H.W. Bush - CVN 77

30

2

6

Nimitz - CVN 68

29

2

6

Abraham Lincoln - CVN 72

27

2

6

PCU Gerald R. Ford - CVN 78

25

2

6

Essex - LHD 2

11

2

6

Wasp - LHD 1

11

2

4

Kearsarge - LHD 3

11

2

4

Boxer - LHD 4

11

2

4

Bataan - LHD 5

11

2

4

Bonhomme Richard - LHD 6

11

2

4

Iwo Jima - LHD 7

11

2

4

America - LHA 6

10

1

4

Makin Island - LHD 8

10

1

2

Frank Cable - AS 40

9

1

2

Navy Recruiting District Ohio

9

9

9

Navy Recruiting District Michigan

9

9

9

Navy Recruiting District Los Angeles

9

9

9

SOURCE: CHIEF OF NAVAL PERSONNEL

About Mark D. Faram

Mark D. Faram is a former reporter for Navy Times. He was a senior writer covering personnel, cultural and historical issues. A nine-year active duty Navy veteran, Faram served from 1978 to 1987 as a Navy Diver and photographer.

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