MCO 1400.31D - Marine Corps Promotion Manual, Volume 1, Officer Promotions (Marcorpromman,...

Scope

MCO 1400.31D is the Marine Corps Promotion Manual, Volume 1, Officer Promotions (MARCORPROMMAN). It governs officer promotions from eligibility through the statutory selection board process to warrant execution. The manual opens with the promotion philosophy quoted below.

a. Officers are selected for promotion for their potential to carry out the duties and responsibilities of the next higher grade based upon past performance as indicated in their official military personnel file. Promotions should not be considered a reward for past performance, but an anticipation of excellence in the next higher grade.

Quoted from the document's opening section.

Audience

• Marine officers preparing for statutory selection boards.
• Commanders ensuring unit officers understand the statutory board framework.
• S-1 officers and promotion clerks processing officer promotions, warrants, and Page 11 routing.
• MMPB-10, the HQMC Manpower and Reserve Affairs section administering officer promotions.

Content scope

Repo evidence names no chapter numbers for this revision. Portal pages sourced to the order describe the statutory selection board framework, officer eligibility criteria, the above zone, in zone, and below zone construct, convening message procedures, and officer correspondence to the board president.

Operative content

• MMPB-10 administers officer promotions at HQMC Manpower and Reserve Affairs, coordinates with statutory selection board members, and publishes the officer board schedule and convening MARADMINs.
• Officer promotion is competitive. Officers are selected for their potential to serve in the next higher grade, not as a reward for past performance.
• Officer photos are still required for some boards. Refer to the specific convening MARADMIN.
• Enlisted promotions run under the companion manual, MCO P1400.32D, Volume 2.
• Portal S-1 pages route officer adverse information withholds, promotion delays, removal from list actions, and frocking through the promotion manual while citing the prior C revision. Confirm paragraph mapping against this D revision before processing.

Connection to higher policy

• 10 USC Chapters 35 and 36. Statutory officer promotion authority. Grades requiring confirmation promote on the President's authority with Senate advice and consent.
• SECNAVINST 1400.1B. Department of the Navy officer promotion and selection board procedures.

Connection to Marine Corps doctrine and lower policy

• MCO P1400.32D. Enlisted Promotion Manual, Volume 2, the companion volume.
• MCBul 1400. Officer lineal precedence, dated 2023-08-01, cited beside the manual on selection board pages.
• MMPB schedule and convening MARADMINs, including MARADMIN 209/26 and MARADMIN 634/23 on selection board preparation pages.
• MARADMIN 431/06, signed 2006-09-13. Revision message for the predecessor MCO P1400.31B.

Status

Signed 2021-10-28. The MCPEL lists MCO 1400.31D as Current. Lineage in the repo runs from MCO P1400.31B, revised per MARADMIN 431/06, through MCO 1400.31C, still cited on portal S-1 pages, to this D revision. Source PDF on file from the 2026-04-28 archive snapshot, and the external link opens the PDF on marines.mil. Verify revision-specific paragraph cites, the S-1 pages written against the C revision predate this one.