Posted on Jul 9, 2022
The Air Force is pumping the brakes on promotions for some enlisted airmen
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Airmen hoping to get promoted to staff sergeant, tech sergeant, or master sergeant may have to wait a while as the Air Force confronts record-high retention levels and an enlisted force that has too many inexperienced noncommissioned officers, the service said in an announcement on Thursday.
The Air Force is pumping the brakes on promotions for some enlisted airmen
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Posted 2 y ago
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our youngest just retired so there will be room for another Chief Master Sergeant
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."One possible solution to attract recruits away from the civilian sector could be to allow enlistees with specific qualifications to enter the service at a higher rank. An Air Force officer named Kelly McElveny wrote for War on the Rocks on Thursday that the Air Force already does this for Air Force Band members, who can enter at the rank of E-4 (senior airman), or for enlistees with a significant amount of college credits, who can enter as high as E-3 (airman 1st class).
“This approach fixes a long-standing problem of filling manning shortfalls in specific year groups,” McElveny wrote. “While the current approach hinges on building a replacement airman from scratch and then waiting years for them to develop, this approach allows the accession of an experienced enlistee to reach a noncommissioned officer rank in much less time.”
The Marine Corps considered letting technically-skilled recruits skip boot camp, though the Commandant, Gen. David Berger, appeared to walk back that possibility in May. Still, if the proposal picks up steam in the Air Force, airmen may find the race for higher ranks even more competitive. At the end of the day, the Air Force seems to be hoping that all the airmen selected for promotion are skilled both in their career fields and at leading people.
“As we continue to improve and revise our enlisted evaluation system and grade distribution, we must ensure members are ready to both take care of their airmen and are experts in their primary duties,” said Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller, deputy chief of staff for Manpower, Personnel, and Services, said in the Air Force press release on Thursday. “Our enlisted force must be poised and structured to be able to accomplish both of those key tasks.”
..."One possible solution to attract recruits away from the civilian sector could be to allow enlistees with specific qualifications to enter the service at a higher rank. An Air Force officer named Kelly McElveny wrote for War on the Rocks on Thursday that the Air Force already does this for Air Force Band members, who can enter at the rank of E-4 (senior airman), or for enlistees with a significant amount of college credits, who can enter as high as E-3 (airman 1st class).
“This approach fixes a long-standing problem of filling manning shortfalls in specific year groups,” McElveny wrote. “While the current approach hinges on building a replacement airman from scratch and then waiting years for them to develop, this approach allows the accession of an experienced enlistee to reach a noncommissioned officer rank in much less time.”
The Marine Corps considered letting technically-skilled recruits skip boot camp, though the Commandant, Gen. David Berger, appeared to walk back that possibility in May. Still, if the proposal picks up steam in the Air Force, airmen may find the race for higher ranks even more competitive. At the end of the day, the Air Force seems to be hoping that all the airmen selected for promotion are skilled both in their career fields and at leading people.
“As we continue to improve and revise our enlisted evaluation system and grade distribution, we must ensure members are ready to both take care of their airmen and are experts in their primary duties,” said Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller, deputy chief of staff for Manpower, Personnel, and Services, said in the Air Force press release on Thursday. “Our enlisted force must be poised and structured to be able to accomplish both of those key tasks.”
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