§14312 Delay of promotion: voluntary

Summary

An officer can ask to put off a promotion that came from a required or special selection board. The military department head may allow the delay for up to three years from the date the officer would have been promoted. The officer must ask for the delay before it can be approved. If a delay is approved, the officer stays on the promotion list while waiting. The officer can accept the promotion at any time during the delay or when it ends, and the promotion takes effect on the day they accept it, following the service’s rules. An officer’s name will be removed from the promotion list and, if the officer is below the grade of colonel (or captain in the Navy), it will count as a failed selection when one of three things happens: the service does not allow voluntary delays and the officer refuses the promotion; the service allows delays but the officer’s delay request was denied and the officer then refuses the promotion; or the service approved a delay and the officer refuses the promotion when the delay ends.