Forum: Off-topic

How long would it take for a Second Lieutenant (O-1) (U.S. Army, Marine Corps or Air Force) to be promoted to full bird Colonel (O-6)?

On average, it would take 20-30 years, but wartime can dramatically accelerate the process.

Brig. Gen. Harrison R. Thyng became a colonel at just age 26! Very, very young by today's standards!

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[quote="skyhigh"]How long would it take for a Second Lieutenant (O-1) (U.S. Army, Marine Corps or Air Force) to be promoted to full bird Colonel (O-6)?

On average, it would take 20-30 years, but wartime can dramatically accelerate the process.

Brig. Gen. Harrison R. Thyng became a colonel at just age 26! Very, very young by todayAND......this is important why???

is this calculated to go anywhere/?

I don't think a page wide butter bar was necessary for us to realize what a 2nd LT insignia looks like.

skyhigh wrote:

How long would it take for a Second Lieutenant (O-1) (U.S. Army, Marine Corps or Air Force) to be promoted to full bird Colonel (O-6)?

On average, it would take 20-30 years, but wartime can dramatically accelerate the process.

Brig. Gen. Harrison R. Thyng became a colonel at just age 26! Very, very young by today

Couple of questions:
......this is important why???
Since you answered your own question, why the heck did you even post?

Quote:

I don't think a page wide butter bar was necessary for us to realize what a 2nd LT insignia looks like.

True, I'm fairly sure we don't need posts like this illustrated--especially since most of the posters are in-fact military, and most of the rest can quickly Google up an image of the insignia in question if we haven't yet seen one (as unlikely as it sounds).

Forum Veteran Joined: Dec 15, 2006 - 12:28 AM Posts: 760

ptplauthor wrote:

......this is important why???
Since you answered your own question, why the heck did you even post?

I think it's a form of addiction (OCD/obsessive-compulsive disorder). I think he's a kid with a young growing mind that has a lot of potential; for both good and bad. I think he is somewhat addicted to posting graphics, whether it be screenshots of video games, or toy models, pop culture (like movie posters), Photoshop and/or graphic art.

Though I'm no kid I also have this same slight tendency to a lesser degree, because my English and grammar skills are lousy I often use media aides as a crutch to help express myself. And like they say sometimes a photo is worth a thousand words.

I would suggest if he really wants these statistics he should visit his local recruiters. I seem to remember recruiters often carrying many of these charts to compare the rank structure and pay scale and typical advancement of different branches.

Advancing rank is largely based on your education, record (work, school, and legal) the ability to do your job, competency, morality, your ability to get along and luck. Generally it takes a long time and hard work; to work your way up the ladder, but it can only take a minor screwup or bad luck to knock you back down or put you on hold.

People with the right skills, at the right time, at the right place, with the right attitude, the right career field and posting and ability can advance quickly; whereas for most it is a long arduous process. Having the right connections and schmoozing sometimes can be beneficial. If you're a skater you'll probably go nowhere.

I think sometimes he posts things just as an excuse to post graphics. As you said he basically already answered his own question.

Basically anywhere between 22-24 years is the amount of time you can expect to go from O-1 to O-6. Look up the biographies of U.S. General officers. It has their dates of rank for each pay grade listed.

Obviously, wartime speeds up the process significantly. Pre-WWII build ups made for a lot of good opportunities and a dire need for more commanding officers of new units. With a good background, it also made it a little easier.

It was a different time though, I don't think advancement would ever reach that rate again for officers of any branch. It would probably take another global war or something of similar magnitude- and God help us all if something like that ever comes to fruition in this day and age.

StolichnayaStrafer wrote:

Obviously, wartime speeds up the process

Not anymore. Wartime is just another detail. The days of 24 year old LTCs is long gone.

ATFS Crash wrote:

Advancing rank is largely based on your education, record (work, school, and legal) the ability to do your job, competency, morality, your ability to get along and luck. Generally it takes a long time and hard work; to work your way up the ladder, but it can only take a minor screwup or bad luck to knock you back down or put you on hold.

People with the right skills, at the right time, at the right place, with the right attitude, the right career field and posting and ability can advance quickly; whereas for most it is a long arduous process. Having the right connections and schmoozing sometimes can be beneficial. If you're a skater you'll probably go nowhere.

Harrison R. Thyng being promoted to colonel at age 26 was one case I cited. I wanted the opinions of others, you know, open-minded.

StolichnayaStrafer wrote:

It was a different time though, I don't think advancement would ever reach that rate again for officers of any branch.

You mean the still-youthful colonels, you know, in their late twenties to mid thirties are from a bygone era?

Quote:

Harrison R. Thyng being promoted to colonel at age 26 was one case I cited. I wanted the opinions of others, you know, open-minded.

In my eyes, there are 4 things wrong with wanting our opinions:
1. It's in the past (what's done is done, it no longer matters what our opinions are, we probably weren't even alive when he was and they have since changed that policy)
2. Some may not even know of the guy--myself included
3. We may not care
4. Most of us--myself included--would rather spend our time talking about aviation (this is an aviation-related forum after all)

Quote:

You mean the still-youthful colonels, you know, in their late twenties to mid thirties are from a bygone era?

Yup, the US especially has no need for colonels that young. The US military has a ready supply of O-4s and O-5s that are ready to move into command billets.

TC wrote:

StolichnayaStrafer wrote:

Obviously, wartime speeds up the process

Not anymore. Wartime is just another detail. The days of 24 year old LTCs is long gone.

That's pretty much what I was getting at, TC. As most of us might remember, a war of attrition made advancement opportunities come fairly frequent. With a loss of somewhere around 50,000 aircrew members in the ETO alone back then, todays air losses appear miniscule during recent battlefields. Of course, losing 10 guys per heavy bomber makes for the majority of losses back then as well.

Thank God for how successful our SAR teams are these days, and for decent ejection systems. I bet our flyers feel pretty good about their chances of being extracted after a downing.

Forum: Off-topic

Promotion from Second Lieutenant to Colonel