Promotion of Members of the National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) / Military Personnel Command (MILPERSCOM) Primary...

Topic

Promotion of Members of the National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) / Military Personnel Command (MILPERSCOM) Primary Reserve Lists (PRL)

Case number

• 2015-297 (F&R Date: 2016–04–06)

Description

Annually, in the fall, the Director Reserve Support Management (DRSM) sends the list of Primary Reserve List (PRL) members to the environmental commands and each environmental command proceeds to assess via merit boards their respective reservists. Then, each environmental command provides a selection list to the DRSM, who in turn, merges the different lists into the Combined Selection List (CSL). 

Canadian Armed Forces members employed on the National Defence Headquarters/ Military Personnel Command (NDHQ/MILPERSCOM) PRL must place high enough on the CSL (above the promotion forecast line) in order to receive a substantive promotion as of 1 April each year. Otherwise, Acting While so Employed (A/WSE) promotions are considered for those who perform duties at a higher rank. The establishment of the CSL is central to the promotion of reservists on the NDHQ/MILPERSCOM PRL and a firm timeline is associated with each step of the process.  Furthermore, there is no mechanism to consider promotions of individuals joining the NDHQ/MILPERSCOM PRL after the environmental command selection lists are submitted. This leads to unfair results as deserving reservists may have to wait a complete year before being included in the promotion cycle and be considered for substantive promotion even though they met all promotion criteria and would have been granted a substantive promotion by their environmental command.

Recommendation

The Committee recommended that the promotion practice and policy applicable to members of the NDHQ/MILPERSCOM PRL be amended to allow for the use of discretion and include a process to formally address situations where reservists join the NDHQ/MILPERSCOM PRL once the promotion cycle has been initiated or the CSL established.

Final Authority Decision

While the FA found that it was not a systemic issue, he felt that there was a need to address the process as recommended by the Committee. Accordingly, he directed that the promotion policy applicable to members of the NDHQ/MILPERSCOM PRL be amended to allow for the use of discretion and include a process to formally address situations where reservists join the NDHQ/MILPERSCOM PRL once the promotion cycle has been initiated. The FA also asked CMP to initiate a review and, as necessary, amend the policy associated with combining the Reserve Environmental selection lists with the NDHQ/MILPERSCOM selection list to ensure that the policy has sufficient flexibility to avoid any future situations as seen in this case.