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Each officer on the ADL is grouped in a competitive category for promotion as authorized in Title 10 USC and prescribed in DOD Directive 1320.12. Competitive categories are established to manage the career development and promotion of certain groups of officers whose specialized education, training, or experience, and often relatively narrow utilization, make separate career management desira­ble. Officers in the same competitive category and Career Field will compete among themselves for promotion. There are nine competitive categories: the Army Competitive Category includes all branches and functional areas other than the special branches; Chaplain and Staff Judge Advocate are in separate categories; and the Army Medical Department has a category for the Medical and Dental Corps and a category for all other Medical Department branches.

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Above information derived from Army Pamplet 600-3