When I was active duty (80-88), not having a masters degree was a sure way to not get promoted. When I went to Squadron Officers School in residence (86), it was even brought up during some of our seminars that not having a masters degree was the proverbial "kiss of death" if you wanted to get passed over. I saw it myself plenty of times. That was one of my biggest gripes with the military.....it didn't matter what your job was, if you didn't have the upper level education squares filled, you didn't get promoted, period. I guess if your dad was a SGT, he didn't have to worry about being passed over for major, did he? I guess to make it simple, if you're a flight attendant, you don't have to worry about busting your captain upgrade either..........