Can I make OFP start up faster by getting rid of those CM and BIS credits splash banner screens?

Sure! To bypass the BIS and CM promotional splash screen displays at OFP startup, simply edit your OFP desktop shortcut's properties and append -nosplash at the end of the properties TARGET field, just after the program name. For example, this is what my OFP shortcut's TARGET field looks like:

    "C:\Program Files\Games\OperationFlashpoint\OperationFlashpoint.exe" -nosplash