Raising the Flag: Promotion to Admiral in the United States Navy

Abstract

A qualitative analysis of the salient considerations for selection to Rear Admiral (Lower Half) in the United States Navy was conducted. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 18 active-duty and retired flag officers. Overall, reputation and fitness report rankings were reported to be important factors in the promotion of flag officers. Contrary to expectations, commissioning source and letters of recommendation were reported to be not heavily weighted.Throughout seafaring history, commanding officers of a squadron or fleet (consisting of any two or more vessels) have traditionally been known as flag officers. This moniker stems from flying an identifying command pennant or flag atop a flagship (Reynolds, 2002). In the U.S. Navy today, flag officers refer to its admirals or those in the top officer pay grades (i.e., O7 to O10). As of 2003, there were 224 flag officers on active duty, constituting only 0.4% of all active-duty officers. Approximately 50% of flag officers are O7s (rear admiral, lower half), about 35% are O8s (rear admiral, upper half), and approximately 15% make up the top two pay grades, O9 (vice admiral) and O10 (admiral).The Navy officer corps consists of two divisions: restricted (RL) and unrestricted line (URL) officers. The RL includes medical corps, dental corps, and other officers who are ineligible for command at sea. The majority of flag officers are URL. These command-eligible surface warfare officers (SWO), pilots, naval flight officers (NFO), and submariners are the focus of this study.