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About 1,500 officers with the rank of commander or above would lose their tombstone promotions unless they retired by November 1. Fearing a flood of hasty retirements that would wreak havoc with overseas assignments, the Navy lobbied to postpone the deadline until July 2, 1960, but Cannon blocked any extension.
In the United States Navy, officers have various ranks.Equivalency between services is by pay grade.United States Navy commissioned officer ranks have two distinct sets of rank insignia: On dress uniform a series of stripes similar to Commonwealth naval ranks are worn; on service khaki, working uniforms (Navy Working Uniform [NWU], and coveralls), and special uniform situations (combat ...
1.1 Ranks. 1.2 U.S. Civil War (1861–1865) ... The following is a partial list of military tombstone abbreviations used in American ... NCO = Non-Commissioned Officer;
Combat citation promotions were colloquially known as "tombstone promotions" because they conferred all the perks and prestige of the higher rank including the loftier title on their tombstones but no additional retirement pay. The Act of Congress of February 23, 1942, enabled tombstone promotions to three- and four-star grades.
A tombstone promotion transferred an officer to the retired list with the rank of the next higher grade. From 1925 to 1959, Marine Corps officers could retire with a tombstone promotion to the rank but not the pay of the next higher grade if they were specially commended for the performance of duty in actual combat before the end of World War II.
Such honorary increases in rank at retirement were called tombstone promotions, since their only tangible benefit was the right to carve the higher rank on one's tombstone. [32] Tombstone promotions made James C. Breckinridge the first three-star Marine in October 1941, [21] [22] and Thomas Holcomb the first four-star Marine in January 1944.
The Officer Personnel Act of 1947 authorized only two lieutenant generals for the Marine Corps after 1 July 1948, except during war or national emergency. All active-duty ranks above major general were temporary and ex officio, so upon vacating an office carrying three-star rank, an officer reverted to his permanent two-star grade unless he ...
From 1944 to 1959, dozens of three-star officers in the Navy and Marine Corps, and one in the Coast Guard, retired with honorary tombstone promotions to the rank but not the pay of the next higher grade, having been commended for performance of duty in actual combat before the end of World War II. Tombstone promotions for combat citations were ...