How long would it take to become a colonel or brigadier general in the US Army on average?

Question

How long would it take to become a colonel or brigadier general in the US Army on average?

Answer 1

On average Lt. Colonel is 20 years depending on your career field. Infantry etc can be faster. General staff usually longer.  

Answer 2

colonel?about 16 years if you have an impeccable military record,maybe less if you're a good soldier,but why worry about that,before you can be a good leader you must learn to follow,try the enlisted ranks for a bit,it's a proven fact mustangs make better officers

Answer 3

When your Hair starts turnung grey. lol

0-2  18 months  18 months  Fully qualified (nearly 100 percent)

0-3  4 years 2 years  Fully qualified (nearly 100 percent)  

0-4  10 years  3 years  Best qualified (80 percent)  

0-5  16 years 3 years  Best qualified (70 percent)  

0-6  22 years  3 years  Best qualified (50 percent)  

You can get more "political" than promotions to general officer (also known as "Flag Officer"). General Officers (Flag Officers) are those in the paygrades of O-7 through O-10. Fewer than one percent of career officers will ever be promoted to Flag Rank.

O-7 - One Star. Brigadier General. Rear Admiral (Lower Half) in the Navy/Coast Guard

O-8 - Two Stars. Major General. Rear Admiral (Upper Half) in the Navy/Coast Guard

O-9 - Three Stars. Lieutenant General. Vice Admiral in the Navy/Coast Guard

O-10 - Four Stars. General. Admiral in the Navy/Coast Guard

General officers are nominated for promotion by the President of the United States, and confirmed by the Senate. You can't get more "political" than that. The services hold in-service promotion boards to recommend officers for general officer promotion to the President. When vacancies occur (a general officer gets promoted or retires), the President nominates officers to be promoted from these lists (with advice from the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the applicable service, and the Service Chief of Staff/Commandant).

Like the other commissioned officer ranks, Congress limits the number of General Officers that can serve on active duty. Active Duty General Officer (Flag Officers)

Grade Army Air Force Navy Marine Corps Total DOD

O-7      150 139 110 40 439

O-8       99 83 72 24 278

O-9       43 38 30 13 124

O-10      9 13 8 4 34

Total Flag Officers 301 273 220 81 875

Total Commissioned Officers 64,502 69,466 52,249 16,388 202,605

Total Active Duty Size 481,266 362,330 381,901 172,741 1,385,849

Percent of Commissioned Officers in Flag Rank 0.46% 0.39% 0.42% 0.49% 4.3%

  

To be promoted to O-7, an officer must first complete a full tour in a Joint-Duty-Assignment (this is an assignment to a unit that is comprised of members from two or more of the services). This requirement can be waived, in some instances (10 USC, Sec 619a).

The mandatory retirement age for all general officers is 62 (this can be deferred to age 64 in some cases). Under the law (10 USC, Sec 635), an officer who has been promoted to O-7, but is not on the recommended list to O-8, must retire five years after promotion to O-7, or 30 years of active duty service, whichever is later.

An O-8 must retire five years after being promoted to O-8, or 35 years of service, whichever is greater (10 USC, Sec 636).

The Secretary of the Service Concerned (ie, Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Air Force) or the President of the United States, can defer the above mandatory retirements, up until the time that the officer reaches the age of 62 (10 USC, Sec 637).  

Answer 4

first you need to go to the military school then it takes you like 20 years but less if you get some experience