§ Mr. Callaghanasked the First Lord of the Admiralty on what grounds instructor lieutenants, "non-dagger," are promoted after eight years average seniority, whereas instructor lieutenants, ex-schoolmaster, average 11 years' seniority before promotion.
§ Mr. J. P. L. ThomasThe regulations for the promotion of "non-dagger" instructor lieutenants were framed with the object of attracting officers with higher academic qualification than the ex-schoolmaster officers. In contrast with the ex-schoolmaster instructor officer, who has an assured career in the Royal Navy up to the age of 55, the post-1946 entrant to the Instructor Branch enters on a short service commission and only some of these officers are taken on to the permanent list. Even then, they are not assured of a career in the Royal Navybeyond the age of 48 years unless they are promoted to the rank of Commander.
Taken together, these reasons are considered to justify the somewhat better promotion prospects offered to post-1946 "non-dagger" officers, bearing in mind that, in 1946, the ex-schoolmaster officers were themselves given far better career prospects than they had any reason to expect when they entered the Service.