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A Limited Duty Officer (LDO) is an officer in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps who was selected for commissioning based on his/her skill and expertise, and is not required to have a bachelor's degree. They are employed in situations where it is desirable to have an officer with strong, specific technical knowledge and seasoned leadership. Per Title 10, US Code, an LDO is a permanent commissioned officer appointed under section 5589 in a permanent grade above chief warrant officer, W-5, and designated for limited duty.
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LDOs perform similar tasks as those of the Warrant Officer (WO), but the formal definition differences are subtle and focus on the degree of authority and level of responsibility, as well as the breadth of required expertise. The term "Limited Duty" refers not to an LDO's authority, but rather the LDO's career progression and restrictions. Historically an LDO, prior to World War II, could only advance as far as Lieutenant (O-3E). In later years, an LDO could be promoted to Commander (O-5) and, in the Marine Corps, the senior LDO rank remains Lieutenant Colonel (O-5). In the 1990s the ceiling in most U.S. Navy LDO communities was raised to Captain (O-6).
The LDO/WO motto is "sursum ab ordine" which means "up from the ranks" to underline a distinction between them and officers commissioned directly from collegiate programs such as the U.S. Naval Academy, Naval ROTC, and similar post-collegiate pre-commissioning officer candidate programs of the Navy and Marine Corps.
Unlike their Unrestricted Line Officer (URL) brethren, most LDOs cannot aspire to command a major warship, combat aviation squadron, or auxiliary vessel, although for a select few in the right communities this is now a possibility. In the U.S. Marine Corps, some Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) permit LDOs to be commanding officers. Many LDOs have qualified for command ashore of certain shore activities, ranging from small activities such as Navy Operational Support Centers (formerly "Naval Reserve Centers") at the Lieutenant Commander and Commander level, to large activities such as the Naval Air Technical Training Center at the Captain level.[1] In other words, LDOs may succeed to command activities which have a primary function corresponding to the Navy officer designator or Marine Corps Military Occupational Speciality (MOS) of the officer concerned.
LDOs will only be assigned to billets that are in their designator or MOS and that are designated as LDO billets. LDOs may not be assigned to billets designated for U.S. Navy Unrestricted Line Officers or their U.S. Marine Corps counterparts. This does not preclude an LDO from being assigned additional duties as deemed appropriate, including Joint duty.
In the U.S. Marine Corps, only warrant officers (WOs) can become LDOs. LDOs are experts and leaders in the Navy enlisted rating or Marine Corps MOS from which they came. LDOs are considered more the officer and less the technician than the WO. In the Marine Corps, WOs with less than 20 years of active duty service are eligible for the LDO program. This program is managed within the Recruiting Command because it is an accession board not a promotion board.
In the U.S. Navy, LDOs and CWOs are former enlisted technicians (petty officers or chiefs). They are experts and leaders in the technical specialty enlisted rates from which they came. In the Navy, First Class Petty Officers (E-6) and Chief Petty Officers (E-7) in the Navy with more than 8 but less than 16 years of service are eligible for the LDO program, while chiefs with 12 or more years of service, senior chief and master chiefs usually are selected in the CWO program. However CWOs can, and do, move into the LDO program, but do so as a Lieutenant, junior grade (O-2E). This is because CWOs rank "with but after" Ensigns (O-1).