Army Officer Ranks and Promotions

Promotion rates for active duty commissioned officers are intended not to vary greatly between the military services (although it will still vary based on need). Learn the roles and responsibilities of the Army officer ranks below as well as typical promotion timelines for active duty Army officers. For those not familiar with the Army promotion system, you may wish to learn more about TIS and TIG.

Army Officer Ranks and Promotion Requirements

2nd Lieutenant (2LT)

1st Lieutenant (1LT)

Lieutenant Colonel (LTC)

Brigadier General (BG)

Major General (MG)

Lieutenant General (LTG)

Time in Service / Time in Grade

Army promotions are controlled by time in service (TIS) and time in grade (TIG). Time in service is the total accumulated military service and time in grade is the amount of service in the current paygrade. For officers, TIG requirements are set by federal law (United States Code: Title 10) while TIS can fluctuate based on needs of the Army.

Army General Officer Promotions

General officers are known as Flag Officers. Promotion to Flag Officer is extremely competitive with less than 1 percent of career officers ever advancing to become a Flag Officer.

The President of the United States nominates General officers with confirmation by the Senate. To help facilitate the process, the Army holds promotion boards to recommend officers for promotion to O-7 to O-10. As there are set limits for the general officer ranks, vacancies usually occur only when a general officer gets promoted or retires. When that happens, the President nominates officers for promotion from the list of recommendations provided by the Army (with advice from the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Army, and the Army Chief of Staff.

Article Last Modified: September 6, 2010