Carter wants changes to promotion system

WASHINGTON -- U.S. military troops may be able to sidestep the Pentagon's entrenched, 100-year-old "up or out" promotion system under sweeping new proposals unveiled Thursday, aimed at keeping high-tech experts or other specialists on the job.

In announcing the plan, Defense Secretary Ash Carter marked the third -- and most dramatic -- installment in his campaign to modernize the military's antiquated bureaucracy. The proposals are aimed largely at making it easier for the military services to attract and retain good quality people and keep them in jobs where they excel.

Carter's plan won't abolish the traditional system that forces service members to leave if they don't get promoted within a certain period of time. Instead, it will allow the services to bypass those rules for people when they feel it's needed.

The current promotions system does not give credit for experience and training that occurred along slightly different timelines, even if it benefited the military.