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Marine Corps Lieutenant ColonelO-5 Field Officer, U.S. Marine Corps |
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Marine Corps Ranks » Lieutenant Colonel Rank • LtCol Pay • LtCol Rank History • Promotion Information
Marine Corps Promotion to O-5 Lieutenant Colonel
A Lieutenant Colonel is a Field Officer in the United States Marine Corps at DoD paygrade O-5. This page describes how the Marine Corps determines who is eligible for the promotion list to Lieutenant Colonel.
Like an Officer's promotion to Major, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel is competitive, with only 70% of Majors progressing forward. The Officer must submit an application, once eligible, to an approval board. They must qualitatively demonstrate a history of strong leadership in assignments both teaching and leading. They must have significant operational experience within their profession and are eligible at 15-17 years of service. Since promotion boards meet annually, Officers have a limited number of chances to promote -- if they fail to promote, they hit "high year tenure" and are forced to resign at 20 years of Oommissioned service, which is the ordinary retirement length of service. High year tenure for O-5 varies periodically, and is usually around 25 years.
Want to learn more? Read about the Marine Corps' Lieutenant Colonel rank on Military-Ranks.org.