Congressionally-imposed limits on the size of the Army officer corps, an extremely low turnover (resignations, retirements, and dismissals), and a "hump" of over-age officers in the middle grades caused by aborted provisions in the National Defense Act of 1920 caused a significant logjam in promotions during the interwar period.

[2] In the aftermath of World War II, Congress drafted legislation that attempted to address three (sometimes competing) objectives: create "uniform" rules for officer management between Army and Navy (and later Air Force), promote a "young and vigorous" officer corps, and retain the capacity to rapidly remobilize if necessary.

The retirement limitations were later repealed because of the military's assurance to Congress that the majority of career officers would elect to serve until they reached the 30-year mark.

[8] Congress desired "due course" officers (those selected in the primary zone) to be promoted within set windows based on time served in the current grade and cumulative years of service.

While not specified in the DOPMA, Department of Defense policy established targets for selection to the next grade as a percentage from the surviving cohort.

[9] Desired promotion rates and reporting requirements of service board results are regularly published by Department of Defense.

[10] Current promotion guidelines are as follows:[11] The DOPMA was designed to apply to "line" officers and made specific exceptions for military lawyers, doctors, nurses, and other professionals.

The DOPMA achieved Congressional goals to create uniform promotion outcomes, standardized career lengths across the services, and regulated the number of senior officers as a proportion of the force.

Since its inception, the services have repeatedly sought suspension of key provisions of DOPMA grade tables to manage drawdowns and force increases.

[15] According to author and economist Tim Kane, DOPMA is "the root of all evil in this ecosystem" and binds the military into a system that honors seniority over individual merit.

Regular officers no longer had tenure and were subject to future Reduction in Force (RIF) ejections from active duty.