> the US military follows something like that practice. It's called "up or out"

During my time as a DoD contractor, I saw this happen.

One particular case was a mid-range officer [I'm never good with ranks so don't bother asking] who was up for promotion; it was an open secret that if he didn't get it he'd retire into civilian [and presumably commercial//industry] life. He didn't get the promotion, retired from military, and was duly replaced.