Why is the stated opportunity of selection (OOS) always higher than the actual OOS announced with the board results?
For a given board, the stated OOS is simply the total number of officers to be selected divided by the number of officers in zone. The actual OOS is the number of officers selected in zone divided by the number of officers in and above zone. The actual OOS is usually lower because some officers may be selected from above and below the zone. The difference between stated and actual OOS is best illustrated in an example. For the 2001 LCDR promotion board the G-W memo announced the following: # to be selected = 203 # in zone = 231 therefore, the stated OOS was 203/231 = 88% In making their decisions, the board actually selected: 17 (above zone) 185 (in zone) 1 (below zone) Therefore, the actual OOS (for those in zone) was 185/231 = 80%. As is usually the case, the actual OOS was lower than the stated OOS.
