Re: [Phys-l] Smart Students

[Jack Uretsky <jlu@hep.anl.gov>]

	I don't know why you say, "not so"; you are not disagreeing with 
me.  The are many considerations that go into promotion other than having 
good fitness reports.  I addressed only the consequences of mediocre 
fitness reports early in a career.



On Tue, 30 May 2006, Hugh Haskell wrote:

> At 20:27  -0500 5/30/06, Jack Uretsky wrote:
>
> > Only true for the junior grades where the statutory attrition is
> > negligible.  So the rule for grading junior officers actually makes some
> > practical sense because a bad fitness report at the beginning of a career
> > can make the whole career a dead end.
>
> Not so. Unless they have changed the system a whole lot since I
> retired in '78. I consistently had marks on my evaluations that were
> in the best column, except for one or two in the next best column. It
> still wasn't good enough to get me to screen for command or get
> promoted to Captain.
>
> In retrospect, they did me a favor. I've had a much better career
> since I left the Navy than I would have had if I had stayed in. But
> it didn't feel that way at the time. Officers with a PhD but limited
> combat experience were not looked upon favorably. Unlike the other
> services, the Navy has never looked very favorably on those who are
> not in the command track, regardless of their evaluations, or other
> qualifications.
>
> Hugh

--
"Trust me.  I have a lot of experience at this."
		General Custer's unremembered message to his men,
		just before leading them into the Little Big Horn Valley