EDS: Use MSgt insignia as art. Facebook words: A NEW WAY TO PICK E-7s: First master sergeant board convenes next month.
The first promotion board to select new master sergeants will convene May 27, and last until July 2, Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Brooke Brzozowske said Wednesday.
The new master sergeant board is a major component of the Air Force's broad overhaul of how enlisted airmen are evaluated and promoted. The board will be structured like the already-established boards for senior and chief master sergeants, except only the top 60 percent of eligible technical sergeants in each career field will meet the master sergeant board. All eligible airmen are considered by the senior and chief's boards.
The first phase in the master sergeant board process will determine which tech sergeants meet that 60 percent cutoff. Under the first phase, which is underway now, tech sergeants who were eligible for promotion as of the Nov. 30 cutoff date will complete their specialty knowledge tests and promotion fitness examinations. Those test scores will be combined with other weighted factors, such as time in grade, time in service, decorations and enlisted performance reports, to set their initial score.
The Air Force will then sort the scores by Air Force specialty code and move the top 60 percent of airmen in each career field to the second phase — the promotion board that convenes May 27.
The testing for most eligible tech sergeants took place in February and March, Brzozowske said. The Air Force is also trying to include as many tests from out-of-cycle tech sergeants as possible to include them in this board process, to decrease the number of techs who have to be considered under a supplemental promotion board. The supplemental board process That what does "that" refer to -- supp boards or ??//sl yes, clarified is what already happens for airmen who are deployed or serving in a temporary duty assignment location who are unable to test during the normal cycle.
Brzozowske said it will take some time to finalize the records, but the first phase is expected to be done by mid-May.
Because the first phase has not been finished, Brzozowske said the Air Force cannot yet say how many tech sergeants will meet the board.
But if the board had been was held in 2014, about 13,600 of the eligible 22,673 tech sergeants would have met the board.
because of the 60% cutoff? mh//sl yes TBecause of the 60 percent cutoff, that's about 1,200 fewer less than the 14,823 master sergeants who were considered for promotion to senior master sergeant last year.
In a December interview on the master sergeant board process, Brig. Gen. Brian Kelly, the Air Force's director of military force management policy, said the board would be overwhelmed if it tried to see all eligible tech sergeants, which is why they are limited to the top 60 percent. what proportion of techs were promoted under the old process?mh
The only exception will be for small Air Force specialty codes with 15 or fewer eligible. In those situations, all eligible airmen will move on to the evaluation board, as long as they meet the minimum SKT and PFE scores.
But in all other ways, the master sergeant board will be identical to the senior and chief master sergeant boards.
The board will review the selection folder containing each airman's evaluation brief, EPRs closing out within 10 years of the promotion eligibility cutoff date, and all decorations received over the airman's entire career. Any Article 15 received within two years of the cutoff date and recommended for placement in the selection folder by a commander will also be considered.
The evaluation board will calculate a score for each airman's record, which will replace the weighted EPR points from the first phase in the process. The board score will then be combined with the remaining Weighted Airman Promotion System scores from the first phase to create a final overall score. Those overall scores will then be racked and stacked by AFSC to create an order of merit.
Finally, the Air Force will apply the promotion quota to each AFSC's order of merit to decide who will be promoted to master sergeant. expected date for this?mh//sl they haven't yet said when they will make the announcements
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
