The deadline for some noncommissioned officers to finish their professional military education distance learning is approaching fast -- and those who don't get it done might be ineligible to re-enlist.
The Air Force is urging airmen who may be affected to check the date they were notified about their distance learning requirement, and plan to get it done in time.
The Air Force last June told about 61,000 airmen to enroll in the distance learning courses for the NCO and Senior NCO academies, and gave them one year to finish the course. If they didn't finish, the Air Force said, airmen could be ineligible for promotion or re-enlistment.
But by May, shortly before the deadline, it was apparent there were problems. Some course materials were riddled with errors, there were lengthy testing backlogs, and the Air Force didn't have enough facilities to test airmen. So the service said airmen would have until Jan. 1, 2017, to finish distance learning before losing promotion or re-enlistment eligibility.
Despite the deadline delay, many airmen still haven't finished their distance learning courses, according to an Aug. 30 release from the Air Force. Airmen who are projected for promotion, but who still haven't completed the course by New Year's Day will lose their projected line number -- for good -- even if they later finish the course.
"If an airman is projected for promotion prior to their suspense date, they will be allowed to promote," said Master Sgt. Lisa Fleck, enlisted promotion policy superintendent, in the release. "If the same airman fails to complete the course by the suspense date, the promotion sequence number will be placed into withhold status."
Fleck also said some airmen have been confused by the Air Force's use of the terms "course extension" and "course deferment." An extension is used by Air University to track how long an airman has been enrolled in a course -- but it does not extend the deadline by which they must finish the course.
But the course deferment allows commanders to delay the deadline if there are extenuating circumstances that prevent airmen from finishing the course in 12 months, as required.
"Our enlisted professional military education is critical to our development as leaders in the profession of arms," said Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force James Cody in the release. "We're also certainly aware of mission demands and extenuating circumstances in our airmen's lives. Commanders have the ability to request an extension and should certainly do so if it's in the best interest of their airmen."
The Air Force began moving to a blended learning model for PME, including both an online distance learning course and in-person classes, in 2014. The first part of this change was the establishment that year of an updated distance learning course and a revamped in-person "Advanced Leadership Experience" course at the SNCO Academy. And in 2015, the NCO Academy followed with its own transition to a distance learning course, and then an "Intermediate Leadership Experience" course.
"The in-resident portions build on what airmen learn in the distance learning model," Cody said. "It goes beyond the books and the tests. It builds on the roots planted in the distance component by combining scenarios, exercises and interaction with fellow airmen. It's not duplicative. It's designed to be a leadership experience."
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.
