# Pilot Promotion



## shogun506 (8 Dec 2013)

So I'm here on Phase I flight training in Southport and there have been 2 Phase 3 courses that have graduated to wings while I have been here. On the first, everyone was promoted from 2Lt to Captain. On the second, some people were promoted to Lt and some were promoted to Captain. By the CO's comments regarding "there being some Lt promotions because the training system is working" I get the impression that whether you become a Captain or an Lt depends on how much time you have in when you graduate to wings. So does anyone know what the threshold between Lt and Capt for pilots is?


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## Zoomie (8 Dec 2013)

Reaper-1 said:
			
		

> ... does anyone know what the threshold between Lt and Capt for pilots is?


Most of those Lt's will be promoted within 6 months.  You must be an Lt for 2 years before auto-promotion to Captain.  Those insta-Captains spent over 3-4 years in the training system as a 2Lt.  I was commissioned 2Lt in Dec'99 - presented Wings and Captain rank in Jan 2004.


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## bradley247 (9 Dec 2013)

3 years after commissioning to get auto-captain. Most of the Lts you see graduating these days are ROTP guys, pretty soon though we will start seeing DEOs being winged as Lts.

It took me 5 years from commissioning, I'm jealous of all the guys these days going to PFT straight out of BMOQ. The training system isn't completely fixed though, all that's happened is the backlog has shifted to the OTUs, which can't keep up with how many pilots are coming out of the training system. I know a lot of guys these days are waiting over a year after wings for their OTU...I'd much rather sit and wait with a captains salary and a proper posting than as a 2Lt though.


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## MissMaegan (16 Jan 2014)

DEO guys.. And girls


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## matthew1786 (16 Jan 2014)

bradley247 said:
			
		

> 3 years after commissioning to get auto-captain. Most of the Lts you see graduating these days are ROTP guys, pretty soon though we will start seeing DEOs being winged as Lts.
> 
> *It took me 5 years from commissioning*, I'm jealous of all the guys these days going to PFT straight out of BMOQ. The training system isn't completely fixed though, all that's happened is the backlog has shifted to the OTUs, which can't keep up with how many pilots are coming out of the training system. I know a lot of guys these days are waiting over a year after wings for their OTU...I'd much rather sit and wait with a captains salary and a proper posting than as a 2Lt though.



So, what exactly took 5 years?


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## MJP (16 Jan 2014)

matthew1786 said:
			
		

> So, what exactly took 5 years?



His training, the pilot training system for years was horribly back logged.


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