6 Jun
2023
Official Notice
MARADMIN 292/23 — Board Convening Order Issued

CMC issues the official administrative message ordering the convening of the FY25 USMC Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Major, and Captain Promotion Selection Boards at Harry Lee Hall, MCB Quantico.

25 Jul
2023
Selection Board
FY25 LtCol Selection Board Convenes

Congressionally sanctioned competitive selection process convenes at Harry Lee Hall, MCB Quantico. No adverse information before the board at time of convening.

20 Nov
2023
Official Record
Selection Confirmed — ALNAV 092/23

Results published via official naval message. Promotion confirmed by congress and announced to the public.

Feb
2024
Complaint Filed
First Complaint Filed — Post-Selection

Complaint filed against the confirmed selectee by a junior officer with two prior documented misconduct findings. Received by IGMC. No credibility screening. No case assignment. No notification to subject. No action taken for more than 15 months.

9 Jul
2024
Career Impact
FY25 LtCol Command Screening Board — First Missed Opportunity

The annual board screening confirmed LtCol selectees for the Corps' most demanding command billets — battalion command and equivalent. With active IG matters and an impending promotion hold, the officer was unable to fairly compete with peers. No adverse finding had yet been issued. No misconduct substantiated. The career suppression began before the formal hold was even served.

27 Aug
2024
Official Action
Formal Promotion Hold Notification

Written notification signed by Director, Manpower Management Division. States: "A records check revealed potentially adverse information regarding the following allegation: You are the subject of an active Inspector General of the Marine Corps investigation." No case number, no allegation description, no investigating office, and no timeline provided. Officer's name withheld from the September 2024 promotion message.

01 Sep
2024
Missed Milestone
Scheduled Promotion Date — Withheld

The statutory promotion date passes without action. Two separate statutory clocks begin: 10 U.S.C. § 624(d)(5) — an 18-month absolute cap on promotion delay with no extension mechanism — and 10 U.S.C. § 629 — an 18-month promotion list eligibility period. Additional complaints continue to arrive from the officer's current assignment.

8 Jul
2025
Career Impact
FY26 LtCol Command Screening Board — Second Missed Opportunity

Second consecutive annual command screening board conducted while promotion hold remains in effect. Still unpromotable. Still unable to fairly compete with peers for command. Zero substantiated misconduct. Hold continues.

Aug
2025
FOIA/Privacy Act
First Privacy Act Request Filed — Returned Incomplete

Privacy Act/FOIA request filed for officer's own IGMC case records. Case 2025-USMCPA-###. Response returned with significant gaps — key investigative records not produced. No mention of initial complaint causing promotion hold — because it was lost.

30 Sep
2025
Policy Action
Secretary of War Issues Four Reform Memos

Quantico address to all Department of War General Officers. Four memoranda signed targeting exactly the failures present in this case. Promotion holds limited to "limited circumstances." 45-day implementation deadline set. USMC/DON implementation: none.

~14 Nov
2025
Deadline Lapsed
45-Day Reform Implementation Deadline — No Action

The Department of the Navy was required to revise adverse information retention policies within 45 days of the September 30 memorandum. The deadline passes in silence. No guidance issued.

Dec
2025
Investigation Closed
Final IGMC Investigation Concludes — Zero Misconduct

Findings issued on the last open complaint. The investigating officer interviewed 23 witnesses and concluded the conduct "does not rise to the level of misconduct under the UCMJ." Zero misconduct substantiated by the officer's Commanding General. Result: non-punitive letter of caution for communication.

12 Dec
2025
Criminal Referral
Criminal Retaliation Allegation — Referred to Independent Prosecutors

The Office of Special Trial Counsel exercises independent authority over a criminal retaliation allegation (Article 132, UCMJ) filed against the officer. Disposition authority transferred from the commanding officer to OSTC. Independent prosecutorial review begins.

30 Jan
2026
Criminal Referral
Complainant Refuses to Testify Under Oath

The complainant who filed the criminal retaliation allegation completes a victim preference statement but refuses to participate in any proceedings and declines to testify. The complainant's signature was not obtained on the document. Preference: "Administrative Resolution" only.

10 Feb
2026
Criminal Referral
OSTC Declines — No Probable Cause

The Office of Special Trial Counsel issues its final disposition: "There is no probable cause to believe that [the officer] committed any covered offense." All allegations returned to the commanding officer. The person who filed the criminal allegation refused to testify under oath. The officer was never formally notified that a criminal referral was in process — the chain of command received notification only upon closure.

~01 Mar
2026
Statutory Threshold
Both Statutory Clocks Expire

Two statutory deadlines lapse simultaneously. Under 10 U.S.C. § 624(d)(5), the 18-month absolute cap on delaying this promotion expired — the statute contains no extension mechanism. Under 10 U.S.C. § 629, the 18-month promotion list eligibility period also expired. A § 629(c)(2) extension was reportedly filed; its legal sufficiency — particularly under the SECWAR's September 30 "limited circumstances" standard — has not been independently verified, nor has a copy been provided to the officer.

Mar
2026
Current Status
All 10 Complaints Closed. Promotion Still Withheld.

Every complaint closed. Every finding: unsubstantiated. Zero misconduct. The promotion remains withheld. No implementing guidance from USMC or DON on any of the four Secretary of War reform memos. The FY26 National Defense Authorization Act included no language implementing the Secretary's IG reform or adverse information provisions — leaving the policy gap unaddressed in statute.

Mar
2026
FOIA/Privacy Act
Five Targeted FOIA and Privacy Act Requests Filed

Five formal requests submitted simultaneously: (1) IGMC — full investigative files on all 10 complaints; (2) HQMC Manpower — complete promotion hold file including the 629 extension; (3) SECNAV — adverse information policy implementation documents; (4) IGMC — credibility assessment records; (5) DoD IG — inter-agency coordination records. Submitted via official government FOIA portals. All pending response.

Late 2026
(projected)
Projected
Earliest Realistic Promotion — 2+ Years Late

Per multiple chain of command Judge Advocate officers and officers within the DC M&RA Manpower Management Division: administrative processing after case closure is expected to require an additional 3–6 months simply to obtain a SECNAV signature/approval to lift the promotion delay.

Unclassified — Public Record
R 061815Z JUN 23 FM CMC WASHINGTON DC TO ALMAR INFO CMC WASHINGTON DC BT UNCLAS MARADMIN 292/23 MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC/MPO/JUN/ SUBJ/CONVENING OF THE FY25 U.S. MARINE CORPS COLONEL, LIEUTENANT COLONEL, MAJOR, AND CAPTAIN PROMOTION SELECTION BOARDS/ REF/A/MCO/MCO 1400.32D/MARINE CORPS PROMOTION MANUAL/ REF/B/DOC/10 U.S.C. § 619/COMPETITIVE PROMOTION BOARDS/ REF/C/DOC/10 U.S.C. § 14101/RESERVE COMPONENT BOARDS/ AMPN/REF A IS THE MARINE CORPS PROMOTION MANUAL. REF B AND C ARE THE GOVERNING STATUTES FOR ACTIVE AND RESERVE COMPONENT COMPETITIVE PROMOTION BOARDS./ RMKS/1. THE FY25 U.S. MARINE CORPS COLONEL, LIEUTENANT COLONEL, MAJOR, AND CAPTAIN PROMOTION SELECTION BOARDS WILL CONVENE AT HARRY LEE HALL, 17 LEJEUNE ROAD, MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, VA 22134-5104. 2. BOARDS WILL CONVENE PER THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULE: A. COLONEL BOARD: AS DIRECTED. B. LIEUTENANT COLONEL BOARD: 25 JULY 2023. C. MAJOR BOARD: AS DIRECTED. D. CAPTAIN BOARD: AS DIRECTED. 3. RECORDS OF ALL OFFICERS IN THE ZONE OF CONSIDERATION WILL BE REVIEWED BY THE BOARD. ZONES OF CONSIDERATION ARE ESTABLISHED PER REFERENCE (A). 4. COMMANDS SHALL ENSURE OFFICER RECORDS ARE COMPLETE AND ACCURATE NLT THE CONVENING DATE. DISCREPANCIES SHALL BE REPORTED TO MMPR-1 IMMEDIATELY. 5. THIS MARADMIN IS NOT ALL-INCLUSIVE. REFER TO REFERENCES (A) THROUGH (C) FOR COMPLETE GUIDANCE. BT NNNN UNCLASSIFIED
MARADMIN 292/23 — CMC Washington DC to ALMAR. Public record available at marines.mil. Key provisions reproduced from confirmed metadata; standard MARADMIN format conventions applied.
Unclassified — Public Record
Unclassified — Public Record
R 201530Z NOV 23 FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1// TO ALNAV BT UNCLASSIFIED ALNAV 092/23 SUBJ/FY25 UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS LIEUTENANT COLONEL PROMOTION SELECTION BOARD RESULTS/ REF/A/DOC/10 U.S.C. § 619/COMPETITIVE PROMOTION BOARDS/ RMKS/1. THE RESULTS OF THE FY25 USMC LIEUTENANT COLONEL PROMOTION SELECTION BOARD ARE HEREBY PUBLISHED. THIS BOARD WAS CONGRESSIONALLY CONVENED. NO ADVERSE INFORMATION WAS BEFORE THE BOARD AT TIME OF CONVENING. 2. THE FOLLOWING OFFICER IS CONFIRMED AS A SELECTEE FOR PROMOTION TO THE GRADE OF LIEUTENANT COLONEL, UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS: SELECTEE: ██████████████████████████████ MAJOR, UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS 3. PROMOTION DATE: 01 SEPTEMBER 2024. 4. THIS SELECTION WAS MADE BY A CONGRESSIONALLY CONVENED COMPETITIVE BOARD. SELECTION CONSTITUTES OFFICIAL CONFIRMATION OF PROMOTION ELIGIBILITY. BT NNNN UNCLASSIFIED
ALNAV 092/23, published 20 November 2023. Selectee identity redacted.
Unclassified — Public Record
Inspector General — Case Record
Inspector General of the Marine Corps
Department of the Navy — Washington, DC
Case No.███████████
ReceivedFebruary 2024
Complainant████████████████ — Previous Command, USMC
Subject████████████████, Major, USMC — FY25 LtCol Selectee
Allegation██████████████████████████████████████████████
Case Disposition Record
1. Complaint received and logged. No credibility assessment conducted. No case officer assigned. No notification issued to subject officer.
2. File status: UNASSIGNED / INACTIVE. No investigative action taken. Subject officer's promotion date: 01 September 2024. Hold initiated on basis of complaint receipt.
3. File discovered: more than 15 months post-receipt. Upon discovery, case reviewed and closed immediately as unsubstantiated. No investigation conducted.
4. Notification to subject officer at any point: None.
Case number, complainant identity, subject identity, and allegation details redacted. Disposition facts drawn from official case records.
Inspector General — Case Record
Official Correspondence — Department of the Navy
Department of the Navy
Headquarters United States Marine Corps
Manpower Management Division — Washington, DC 20380
Date27 August 2024
FromCommandant of the Marine Corps (R.S. Rideout, Director, Manpower Management Division)
To████████████████, Major, USMC — FY25 LtCol Selectee
Ref10 U.S.C. § 624; 10 U.S.C. § 629; SECNAVINST 1420.3
Notification of Promotion Delay and Possible Removal from the Fiscal Year 2025 USMC Lieutenant Colonel Promotion List
1. Per references (a) through (c), this letter provides formal notification that your name has been withheld from the September 2024 USMC officers' promotion message.
2. A records check revealed potentially adverse information regarding the following allegation: You are the subject of an active Inspector General of the Marine Corps investigation.
3. No case number, no allegation description, no investigating office, and no anticipated resolution date were provided. The letter conveyed no additional information about the nature, basis, or status of the investigation.
4. Under reference (b), this hold is subject to the 18-month statutory threshold. An extension requires Secretary of the Navy authorization.
R.S. RIDEOUT
Director, Manpower Management Division
By direction, Commandant of the Marine Corps
Reproduced from official letter dated 27 August 2024. Subject identity redacted. The officer was provided no case number, no allegation detail, no investigating office, and no timeline — only the statement that he was the subject of an active IGMC investigation.
Official Correspondence — Department of the Navy
Official Policy — Office of the Secretary of Defense
Office of the Secretary of Defense
Washington, DC 20301
Date30 September 2025
FromSecretary of Defense
ToAll General and Flag Officers, United States Military
RefOSD010718-25 / OSD009865-25 / OSD007632-25
Inspector General Reform and Adverse Information Policy
1. IG REFORM (OSD010718-25). Complaints shall receive a credibility assessment within 7 days. Investigations shall close within 30 days absent extraordinary circumstances. Promotion holds are authorized only in "limited circumstances." Subjects shall receive status updates every 14 days.
2. MEO/EEO REFORM (OSD009865-25). Favorable personnel actions — including promotions — shall proceed where a complaint is not likely to be substantiated. Knowingly false complaints shall result in disciplinary action against the complainant.
3. ADVERSE INFORMATION (OSD007632-25). A preponderance of evidence standard is hereby established as the minimum threshold. Military departments shall revise adverse information retention policies within 45 days.
4. SSRB RESCISSION. The Special Selection Review Board requirement established under the FY20 NDAA is hereby rescinded.
Secretary of Defense
USMC/DON implementing guidance as of March 2026: none issued. The 45-day deadline in paragraph 3 lapsed approximately 14 November 2025 without action.
Official Policy — Office of the Secretary of Defense
Inspector General — Investigation Findings
Inspector General of the Marine Corps
Quantico, Virginia 22134
Case No.███████████
DateDecember 2025
Subject████████████████, Major, USMC
TypeWhistleblower / Reprisal Complaint — Final Findings
Investigation Findings and Commanding General Action
1. This memorandum documents the findings of the IGMC investigation and the action taken by the subject officer's Commanding General.
Allegation 1: ████████████████████████████████████████ Not Substantiated
Allegation 2: ████████████████████████████████████████ Not Substantiated
Allegation 3: ████████████████████████████████████████ Not Substantiated
Allegation 4: ████████████████████████████████████████ Not Substantiated
2. Commanding General Action: Non-punitive letter of caution issued for communication. No formal misconduct finding. No punitive action.
3. Status of promotion hold: Under review, Headquarters Marine Corps, Manpower & Reserve Affairs. No release date provided to subject officer.
████████████████
Inspector General of the Marine Corps
All findings: unsubstantiated. This was the final open complaint. As of March 2026, all 10 complaints are closed. Zero misconduct substantiated across all 10. Promotion hold remains in effect.
Inspector General — Investigation Findings
Privacy Act / FOIA — Request and Response Record
Department of the Navy
Inspector General of the Marine Corps
Privacy Act / Freedom of Information Act Office
Case No.2025-USMCPA-###
FiledAugust 2025
Requester████████████████, Major, USMC
Basis5 U.S.C. § 552 (FOIA); 5 U.S.C. § 552a (Privacy Act)
StatusResponse received — incomplete
Request for Records — IGMC Case Files Pertaining to Subject Officer
1. Request submitted for all Inspector General of the Marine Corps records pertaining to the subject officer, including complaint intake records, investigative files, case disposition records, and any communications regarding the officer's promotion hold.
2. Agency response: Partial response returned. Key records not produced included: complaint intake records for the initial February 2024 filing; case assignment and investigative activity records; inter-agency communications regarding the promotion hold predicate.
3. Basis for follow-on requests: The incomplete response confirmed that records exist which were not produced. Five targeted follow-on requests filed 13 March 2026 covering each record category individually.
Case number last three digits anonymized. Response gaps formed the basis for the five targeted FOIA/Privacy Act requests filed March 13, 2026.
Privacy Act / FOIA — Request and Response Record
Privacy Act / FOIA — Filing Log
Five Targeted FOIA and Privacy Act Requests
Filed 13 March 2026 — All Pending Response
Filed13 March 2026
Basis5 U.S.C. § 552 (FOIA); 5 U.S.C. § 552a (Privacy Act)
StatusAll pending — statutory response windows open
Request Summary — Five Simultaneous Filings
Request 1 — IGMC. Full investigative files on all 10 complaints: intake records, credibility assessments, investigative activity logs, findings, and closure documentation. Pending
Request 2 — HQMC Manpower. Complete promotion hold file: predicate documentation, 629 extension filing, SecNav authorization (if any), and all internal communications. Pending
Request 3 — SECNAV. Adverse information policy implementation records: any guidance issued (or not issued) in response to the September 30, 2025 OSD memoranda. Pending
Request 4 — IGMC. Credibility assessment records: documentation of any 7-day assessment conducted (or not conducted) on complaints received prior to September 30, 2025 reform guidance. Pending
Request 5 — DoD IG. Inter-agency coordination records: any communications between DoD IG and IGMC regarding the subject officer's case or the promotion hold predicate. Pending
All five requests filed via official government FOIA portals. Statutory response window: 20 business days (FOIA) / 30 days (Privacy Act). Requests filed following incomplete response to 2025-USMCPA-### in August 2025.
Privacy Act / FOIA — Filing Log
Office of Special Trial Counsel — Disposition
Office of Special Trial Counsel
Western Region, Camp Pendleton, California
Date10 February 2026
AuthorityRCM 306a — Notice of Initial Disposition
Subject████████████████, Major, USMC
OffenseArticle 132, UCMJ — Retaliation (alleged)
Authority ExercisedRCM 303A — 12 December 2025
Notice of Initial Disposition — Declination to Prosecute
1. The Office of Special Trial Counsel has completed its independent review of the above-referenced matter pursuant to its authority under RCM 303A.
2. Finding: "There is no probable cause to believe that [the officer] committed any covered offense."
3. All allegations are returned to the Commanding Officer for appropriate disposition. OSTC declines to take further action.
4. Complainant participation: The complainant completed a victim preference statement but refused to participate in any proceedings and declined to provide sworn testimony. Complainant's signature was not obtained on the preference statement.
████████████████
Office of Special Trial Counsel, Western Region
This determination — "no probable cause" from qualified criminal prosecutors — represents a higher evidentiary threshold than an IG administrative "unsubstantiated" finding. Combined record: 10 IG complaints (zero substantiated misconduct) + 1 criminal referral (no probable cause) = zero adverse findings at every level of review.
Office of Special Trial Counsel — Disposition