Defense Officer Personnel Management Act The Defense Officer Personnel Management Act ( DOPMA ) ( ) is a United States federal law passed in 1980 that for the first time standardized officer personnel management across the United States Armed Forces . DOPMA established ceilings on the number of field grade officers authorized to each service , created uniform regulations governing promotions , and codified rules regarding separation and retirement of officers . DOPMA created stable and predictable career paths , institutionalized relatively short careers compared to private industry , and mandated the military adopt an " up or out " personnel management strategy ( requiring officers who failed selection for promotion to be removed from the service ) . Although DOPMA accomplished many of its intended goals , many provisions and consequences of the legislation remain controversial . History . Interwar years and World War II . Prior to World War II , the US Army and US Navy had different philosophies governing the promotion and retention of officers . The army maintained a seniority system based on tenure ; promotions only occurred if there were vacancies at the next higher grade . Due to Congressionally imposed limits on the size of the army officer corps and extremely low turnover ( resignations , retirements , and dismissals ) , a significant logjam in promotions developed during the interwar period . In 1940 , army Chief of Staff General George Marshall ( with the permission of President Roosevelt ) purged the senior officer ranks to create vacancies for junior officers . Congress granted further authority to cull the ranks in July 1941 with the passage of the Army Vitalization Act . During World War II , Army promotions up to lieutenant colonel were de - centralized and delegated to commanders in the field . This was in contrast to the Navy , which first introduced an " up or out " system in 1916 . The Navy also instituted a centralized selection system , which it maintained even during World War II . OPA and OGLA . In the aftermath of World War II Congress drafted legislation that attempted to address three ( sometimes competing ) objectives : create " uniform " rules for officer management between Army and Navy ( and later Air Force ) , promote a " young and vigorous " officer corps , and retain the capacity to rapidly remobilize if needed . In 1947 Congress consolidated Army and Navy officer management legislation into the Officer Personnel Act ( OPA ) . With the encouragement of the Army ( notably by General Dwight Eisenhower ) OPA extended the " up or out " system across the military , requiring officers to go before promotion boards at set times based on cohorts ( normally based on year of commissioning ) . OPA also ended the practice of appointing Army officers into specific " branches " , giving the Army greater authority to move personnel to different functions and change organizational designs . OPA also authorized the services to grant voluntary retirement at 20 years of commissioned service . OPA ' s emphasis on remobilization capacity drastically altered the composition of the armed forces . In 1945 , there was approximately one field grade officer for every 208 enlisted personnel ; by 1950 , there was approximately one field grade officer for every 78 enlisted personnel . In response to this growth , Congress passed the Officer Grade Limitation Act in 1954 ( OGLA ) . OGLA established grade tables for the Army , Marine Corps , Navy , and Air Force limiting the percentage of officers who could serve in the rank of major ( and naval equivalent ) and above . OGLA also limited the number of voluntary retirements of senior officers at the 20 - year mark , concerned that there would be an exodus of officers once they met minimum retirement eligibility criteria . The retirement limitations were later repealed due to the military ' s assurance to Congress that the majority of career officers would elect to serve until they reached the 30 - year mark . Consolidation into DOPMA . By the 1970s , Congress desired to consolidate OPA and OGLA as well as clarify other legislation governing officer management . DOPMA , introduced by Senator Sam Nunn , combined many of the provisions of both OPA and OGLA . DOPMA established a " sliding - scale " grade table which authorized a relatively higher number of field grade officers during periods of personnel reductions . As such , promotion opportunities increase significantly during times of growth , but decrease more slightly during drawdowns . Rules governing promotion . The DOPMA " system " generally provides two opportunities to advance to the next rank . Officers typically will go before selection boards in cohorts based on the year they were commissioned . The majority of officers are promoted " in zone " ( or " primary zone " ) ; officers not selected will go before the next board ( " above zone " ) , typically held a year later . Officers who are not selected " above zone " ( twice fail promotion ) are required to separate from the service , retire if eligible , or by exception may continue to serve until retirement in their current grade ( but will never again be considered for promotion ) . At the discretion of the services a small number of promotions may go to exceptional officers ( " below zone " ) who are promoted one or two years ahead of their cohort . Congress desired " due course " officers ( those selected in the primary zone ) to be promoted within set windows based on time served in the current grade and cumulative years of service . While not specified in DOPMA , Department of Defense policy established targets for selection to the next grade . Desired promotion rates and reporting requirements of service board results are regularly published by DoD . Current promotion guidelines are as follows : Source : Congressional Research Service DOPMA was designed to apply to " line " officers and made specific exceptions for military lawyers , doctors , nurses , and other professionals . Non - line officers tend to be managed in significantly different ways based on custom requirements . Consequences of enactment . DOPMA ' s attempt to balance competing personnel objectives resulted in mixed success . DOPMA achieved Congressional goals to create uniform promotion outcomes , standardized career lengths across the services , and regulated the number of senior officers as a proportion of the force . It also created reasonable and predictable expectations of when an officer would be eligible for promotion . However , DOPMA also had unintended effects . The legislation has been criticized for creating a system that results in high turnover , frequent moves , and relatively short careers . Some of the assumptions underlying DOPMA have proven false ; for example , the services ' prediction that most career officers would elect a 30 - year career was more optimistic than reality ; by 1990 the average officer retired after 24 years of service at age 46 . DOPMA has also proven difficult to implement . Since its inception , the services have repeatedly sought suspension of key provisions of DOPMA grade tables to manage drawdowns and force increases . Others feel that changing conditions since enactment of the legislation require DOPMA reform . While the promotion system is predictable , it allows the services little flexibility to reward and manage its top performers . According to author and economist Tim Kane , DOPMA is " the root of all evil in this ecosystem , " and binds the military into a system that honors seniority over individual merit . Mr . Kane argues that the resultant inflexibility causes tremendous attrition in the officer corps since officers have little control over their careers , but has persisted despite numerous efforts towards reform . Perhaps the most controversial provision is the " up or out " policy . Even the sponsor of the bill , Senator Nunn , argued that it was needlessly expensive to force officers through the ranks and rid others unnecessarily . However , the Department of Defense and the House insisted these provisions were included . Other changes to DOPMA that have been recommended to Congress include adoption of an " up or stay " personnel policy , greater use of warrant officers , and decreasing the number of officer skills managed in the " line " category .