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Promotion block for senior navy officers
Last updated at 12:52pm on 06.01.07Promotions for senior Royal Navy officers are to be frozen for five years.
Reports says all promotions to the rank of lieutenant commander and above will be halted for five years.
• Half of our warships 'to be mothballed'
The Ministry of Defence today confirmed there will be a "temporary reduction" in promotion opportunities for officers.
The Daily Telegraph it has seen an official document stating a temporary halt on promotions is needed to "rebalance in favour of the front line".
An MOD spokesman said: "The Royal Navy is working hard to be more efficient in how we command, manage and support sailors; so that we can focus more of our resources on the front line.
"As a result, we have warned our people that there may a temporary reduction in a few promotion opportunities, particularly for senior officers in headquarters posts."
Conservative defence spokesman Julian Lewis told the Telegraph: "You can't mortgage the future of the Armed Forces by cutting them to pieces in order to pay for a current campaign."
The rank of lieutenant commander is the equivalent of an Army major and holds a salary of between £42,000 and £50,000 a years, with officers typically aged in their early to mid thirties.
Reader views (1)
I am a retired Lt Cdr. I think the move to stall promotion to Lt Cdr is outrageous. Central to an Officer's role is the manitaintenance of high morale amongst the ratings and others under his care. With what will now be less appealing career prospects, it will become increasingly difficult for the officer corps to maintain their own levels of motivation. My own promotion to Lt Cdr (some 30years ago) was also frought with disappointment and frustration in that I had to wait 10 years as a Lt while my colleagues only had to wait 8. All this because I 'singed up' at age 20 rather than 18. So, it would appear that things don't change. Given the heightened pressures of today's operations I would feel 'to say the very least' let down by my seniior Officers if they rewarded my years of loyalty with reduced chances of promotion. It could have been a better move to freeze appointments for 5 years. Imagine the removal costs that would have been saved!
- Dan Nicholson, Poole, Dorset
