Defense Officer Personnel Management Act

Defense Officer Personnel Management Act

Acronyms (colloquial)	DOPMA
Enacted by	the 96th United States Congress
Effective	December 12, 1980 (1980-12-12)
Citations
Public law	Pub. L. 96–513
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate as S. 1918 by Sam Nunn (D–GA) on October 22, 1979 Committee consideration by Senate Armed Services Passed the Senate on November 30, 1979 (Yeas: 87; Nays: 0) Passed the House on November 17, 1980 (On Suspension) Signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on December 12, 1980

The Defense Officer Personnel Management Act (DOPMA) (Pub. L. 96–513) is a United States federal law passed in 1980 that for the first-time standardized officer personnel management across the United States Armed Forces. It established ceilings on the number of field grade officers authorized to each service, created uniform regulations governing promotions, and codified rules regarding separation and retirement of officers.^[1]

The DOPMA created stable and predictable career paths, institutionalized relatively short careers compared to private industry, and mandated the military adopt an "up or out" personnel management strategy (requiring officers who failed selection for promotion to be removed from the service).^[2] Although it accomplished many of its intended goals, many provisions and consequences of the legislation remain controversial.^{[3]: 16–23}