What should you know about Army Officer Vacancy Promotions? Let me start by telling you that one of the best kept secrets of the Army National Guard is the ability to get promoted quickly, via a vacancy promotion.
Here’s how it works. Once you’ve met the minimum time in grade requirements for your respective officer rank, you become eligible for promotion. If you do what most officers do, you will wait until you get notified by the Human Resources Command (HRC) that your packet will go before the DA Board. If you do this, you might end up spending an extra 2-3 years at your current rank. I’m not against going before a DA Board, but I do believe that vacancy promotions are a better idea.
If you are proactive, you can start looking for unit vacancies in your state ahead of time, preferably about six months before you are eligible for promotion. Assuming you have completed your military education requirements, you meet height and weight requirements and your personnel file in updated; you can position yourself for a unit vacancy promotion. Once you know all the vacancies in your state, you can start applying for these jobs. I recommend you network with your peers and apply to as many jobs as possible. This will improve your chances of getting selected for a position.
If you get selected for a unit vacancy, you can submit your promotion packet to your state G1 on the day you become eligible for promotion. In most cases, the selection process will take 2-4 months to work its way through the state and up to the Human Resources Command. Once it is approved, you will receive your FED REC Orders and will be promoted. As I mentioned earlier, if you follow this approach you can get promoted 2-3 years ahead of your peers.
To the best of my knowledge, the Active Duty and Army Reserve do not offer this option. This is why you will find many officers in the ARNG, who outrank their Active Duty peers that were commissioned at the same time. It’s a great program if you know how to use it effectively.
In summary, Army Officer Vacancy Promotions are an awesome way to get promoted ahead of your peers. Your key to success is to know how long you must stay at each rank and to make sure you complete your military education requirements ahead of time. After you do that, you simply need to keep your eyes and ears open and monitor the unit vacancies in your state. If you stay proactive, there’s a good chance you can get a vacancy promotion.
