Is there any way to get more than one military promotion per term during character generation?

Question

My understanding of the quickest possible promotion through the military ranks during character generation is that officer 01 can earliest be achieved at age 22, either by doing no pre-career education and going straight to a military career and succeeding with your commission roll at the end of your first military term. You get the same result, rank wise, by doing a pre-career education and succeeding the commission roll upon entering your military career immediately after completing your education.

After that you can succeed on a promotion roll at the end of every term, which promotes you one rank. Which would give you the earliest possible promotion as follows: Rank - Navy title - Earliest possible age

1. Ensign, age 22
2. Sublieutenant, age 26
3. Lieutenant, age 30
4. Commander, age 34
5. Captain, age 38
6. Admiral, age 42

Is there any way to skip ahead or get two promotions in a term so that you would obtain the rank of captain earlier than age 38? Have I gotten anything wrong in my promotion/rank summary above? I'm using the MGT rules published in 2016.

Answer 1

No.

Your math is correct, in that pre-career education does nothing to change your "timeline," it simply alters the constellation of skills and attributes you might have entering your 22-26 year-old term. Notably, you may have an easier time earning a commission after pre-career education than after a first term in-career.

Except, maybe?

As @Sgfit and you have noticed in comments, the 66 roll on events in military careers grants you a promotion in response to "display[ing] heroism in battle." (Pp. 23, 31, 35)

The problem is that there's inconsistent wording: the Naval events table makes it clear that your bonus accrues to your next promotion roll, not that it allows you an additional advancement roll. So in your example of a naval officer, there's definitely no way to advance faster than you've already detailed.

But in the army and marines the wording simply says "you may gain a promotion or a commission automatically," giving rise to the possibility of a "battlefield promotion" . There are two interpretations:

1. This inconsistent wording is unintended, and the army/marines wording should be interpreted as meaning "you get an automatic promotion/commission when you would normally roll for one." Under this reading, all is as in the navy, and you cannot advance any faster than you've already described.
2. This inconsistent wording is intentional, and the army/marines wording should be interpreted as meaning "you get an automatic promotion/commission right now and proceed with the rest of your term as usual." Under this reading you can advance faster in the army/marines than in any other career through heroism. In fact, with a string of highly-improbably rolls you could advance through the ranks double-time!

For what it's worth, over at Citizens of the Imperium there are two mentions I can find of this matter: one doesn't weigh in, one explicitly describes the 66 roll in the army as providing an additional promotion.

To one young Sergeant Mal Reynolds.

And I'm happy playing in that universe =)