Thanks. If you're right (and I have no reason to doubt it) that he was selected for O-3 before '72, then it would be a second passover for O-4 (LCDR). Should have happened in FY'77, but conceivable due to bureaucracy his file missed the FY'77 promotion board and got into the FY'78 board, or that he was nonselected by the FY'77 board and it wasn't until '78 that the Navy got the paperwork done.
I agree there are other inconsistencies, and persistent rumors of a less than full Honorable Discharge, but the Sherlock Holmes in me says we must eliminate all other possibilities, and this is a fairly plausible one.
Thanks. If you're right (and I have no reason to doubt it) that he was selected for O-3 before '72, then it would be a second passover for O-4 (LCDR). Should have happened in FY'77, but conceivable due to bureaucracy his file missed the FY'77 promotion board and got into the FY'78 board, or that he was nonselected by the FY'77 board and it wasn't until '78 that the Navy got the paperwork done. I resigned my commission in 1972 as an O-3 and was placed in the Standby Reserves. I received my Honorable Discharge on Feb 16, 1978 (same date and letter as Kerry) with no action for or against on my part and I was listed as an O-4 (LCDR). I doubt that Kerry was discharged because he was passed over. He, like myself, just went through the normal reserve administrative process, which transitions officers out of the service.