If not selected for promotion
If you did not select for promotion, you will continue to be looked at for promotion as an above zone eligible each year until promoted or your status in the Navy changes (e.g. retirement, resignation, release from active duty, lateral transfer, etc.) This applies to both in zone and above zone officers that do not select for promotion.
For officers who have not selected for promotion 2 or more times, the Secretary of the Navy will publish continuation policy each year towards the end of December. For more information on continuation and the current year’s continuation policy please view the following page: Continuation. To determine if you have been selected for continuation, log onto your Bupers On Line (BOL) account. Continuation board selection results, as applicable, will be posted under the advancement link in your BOL account. If you have been offered continuation in the past, your continuation status will not be affected by this year’s continuation policy unless your continuation period is expiring.
For failure of selection (FOS) counseling, active duty and full time support (FTS) officers should contact their detailer. Reserve officers should contact their respective community manager listed at the following website: Reserve/SELRES OCMs.
Other information for non-selects
Sanctuary
Active duty officers in the grades of Lieutenant Commander and below who have not been selected for promotion 2 or more times, and are within two years of qualifying for retirement on the first day of the seventh month following approval of a promotion board's results, will be retained until retirement eligible per 10 U.S.C. § 632 : US Code - Section 632. This circumstance is informally known as "sanctuary."
Please note that officers in the grades of Lieutenant Commander and below who have failed of selection for promotion to the next higher grade for the second time, and whose name is not on a list of officers recommended for promotion to the next higher grade shall, if eligible for retirement under any provision of law (most commonly 20 years of active service), be retired under that law on the date requested by the officer and approved by the Secretary of the Navy. The officer may request a retirement date up to but not later than the first day of the seventh calendar month beginning after the month in which the President approves the report of the board which considered him for the second time. For further information on officer retirements please contact PERS-83, Officer Retirements, at 901-874-3180
Resign and Re-Enlist IAW CNO Policy Memo
Active duty Lieutenant and Lieutenant Junior Grade officers with prior enlisted service that have twice failed of selection for promotion to Lieutenant Commander or Lieutenant may be eligible to resign and re-enlist (informally called "reversion") in order to reach retirement eligibility. These officers must have at least 16 years, but less than 18 years of active military service on the date they would be separated, to be eligible for reversion. For further information on eligibility requirements for officer reversion please read the CNO Policy Memo (13 Sep 2018). To verify your eligibility contact PERS-451, Officer Resignations, at (901) 874-2085/2095 or e-mail resignations.fct@navy.mil.