History Main / FieldPromotion

** And in ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', Devious Collarbone finds himself field promoted from university researcher, to doctor, and then again to professor, in the span of a few minutes. Mainly because a civilian tried to gainsay him in the presence of Unseen University's Archchancellor, Mustrum Ridcully, a firm believer in Retaliation By Promotion.

* A variation on this trope is the [[https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Army_of_the_United_States Army of the United States]], the conscript (read: draft) force of the United States. When activated (thus far, it has only happened in WorldWarII, TheKoreanWar, and TheVietnamWar), many of the officers are initially drawn from the regular Army and the Reserves, where they receive promotions to deal with the increased number of men they will be leading. Once the war ends, and the AUS is stood down, the officers go back to their previous jobs... and their previous ranks, since the Army of the United States is a separate organization from the Regular Army and the Army Reserves. [[hottip:*: Of course, depending on how long they were serving in the AUS, they may have received promotions in the Regular Army anyways, though not necessarily to the level where they served in the AUS).

* AudieMurphy started as an [[ChildSoldiers underaged]] private, and was field promoted to Sergeant and later Lieutenant in a combination of his heroic actions and YouAreInCommandNow.

** Also the case in the WWI German armed forces. Manfred von Richthofen (a.k.a. The RedBaron) had a command and duties that would normally have been a lieutenant-colonel's but, due to a regulation stating that a son could never outrank his father while the father was still alive and the fact that daddy von Richthofen was a Major in the army reserve, he never made it past Captain.

** And in the Season 4 opener. Picard is [[spoiler:assimilated by the borg. Riker, who has just refused a third potential command, is field-promoted to Captain in his place.]]

** And in the Season 4 opener. Picard is [[spolier:assimilated by the borg. Riker, who has just refused a third potential command, is field-promoted to Captain in his place.]]

* In David Feintuch's 1994 science fiction novel novel ''Midshipman's Hope,'' as the last surviving ship's officer after an attack, the title mIdshipman is promoted to command.

* During NeverwinterNights2 the player is promoted from squire to knight in quick succession. When one of the other knight objects he is reminded that he was knighted in the mud surrounded by an army or orcs.

** In real life, Lois Mc Master Bujold served for many years as a logistics officer in the U.S. Army. ''This Troper'' believes that anything Bujold writes in a military context would be very realistic and possibly based on actual experience. If Bujold were to get something wrong in a military story, the error would be more embarrassing for her than for a civilian author.

A commanding officer -- who may be [[YouAreInCommandNow in comand now]] or may hold the correct rank for his position -- sorely lacks in senior officers. Perhaps they're TrappedBehindEnemyLines. Or communications are shot to hell. Or he's piecing together something resembling a unit out of the shattered remains of an army. Any suitable disaster to remove them will do.

[[AC:{{ComicBooks}}]]
* The titular ''[[{{Comicbook/SgtRock}} Sgt. Rock]]'', of course, started out as a buck private, and while many of his actions were considered worthy of promotion, Easy Company's TO was apparently full. Until a certain battle, whereupon as fatalities accumulated, he was promoted to PFC, Corporal, and finally Sergeant in short order. Not how he would have preferred to earn his stripes, to say the least.

* One of Darth Vader's trademarks in ''[[StarWars The Empire Strikes Back]]''. In one scene, he chokes the idiotic Admiral Ozzel, and immediately addresses Captain Piett as Admiral Piett, [[YouAreInCommandNow putting him in command right then and there]]. And with the previous Admiral ''still choking in the background'', there's a very tacit reminder of the consequences of messing up.

* Variation in ''KingdomOfHeaven'': Balian actually knights every single soldier in Jerusalem right before the final battle. [[spoiler:Which they lose, so it probably didn't help...]]

* In World War 2, [[BandOfBrothers Dick Winters]] started as a 2nd lieutenant. By the end of the war, he was ''Major'' Dick Winters. At least one of his promotions was a FieldPromotion (1st Lieutenant to Captain).

* In LoisMcMasterBujold's ''The Warrior's Apprenctice'', Miles Vorkosigan accidentally finds himself Admiral of a fleet, during which he puts all his original companions in high positions whether they can handle it or not. In ''The Vor Game'', he assigns his personal bodyguard to the emperor; when the man says he hasn't been trained for it, Miles can only say that it's a common problem in the situation.

* The titular {{Sergeant Rock}}, of course, started out as a buck private, and while many of his actions were considered worthy of promotion, Easy Company's TO was apparently full. Until a certain battle, whereupon as fatalities accumulated, he was promoted to PFC, Corporal, and finally Sergeant in short order. Not how he would have preferred to earn his stripes, to say the least.

** B'Elanna Torres is made Starfleet lieutenants on Captain Janeway's authority (despite being a member of a rebel group known as the Maquis) as her skills in engineering means she needs to be chief engineer.

* In ''GirlGenius'', a Lampshade Hanging, when Gil [[spoiler:destroys the attacking Clank Army with a lightning rod,]] the [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071207 following exchange takes places:]]

'''THOK'''
'''Dimo:''' Hoy! [[spoiler:So, who else vants to be promoted?]]