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I salute your service to our country.

I am a civillian and only 36, so this is all after my time and I never enlisted in the service. I don't know much about it so I am curious about it.

It really stuck out when I read Cleland's promotion in about 3+ years or so, during a war. My instinct was that it's hard to rise in officer rank at that level, and then becomes mostly politics after a certain point (Col?). I figured enlisted men could rise in rank quicker, but I am sure there is a certain point (some kind of Sgt?) where advancement is more for career types.

Just my instinct, which has been wrong before (my dad's fave saying about me is 'even a broken clock is right twice a day - so much for my instincts!). I appreciate your input, and anyone else's input, that can school me a bit on this. I appreciate it and again, thanks for posting.

My instinct was that it's hard to rise in officer rank at that level, and then becomes mostly politics after a certain point (Col?). I figured enlisted men could rise in rank quicker...

You have good instincts. Enlisted can rise quickly to Sgt then usually have to re-enlist to gain additional stripes.
Officers can usually get to Capt from 2nd Lt in a relatively short time and then, as you suggested, other forces have influence, especially the higher in rank they go. My understanding is making the leap from Col to Gen is quite a feat. Also, war time promotions are much more frequent than in peace time.

Interesting info:
In the Army, a purple heart give no promotion points. It is looked on as a hazard of the job, while a bronze star gets the soldier 8 promotion points, and a silver star is worth 12 points.