This spring, junior airmen will get their first enlisted performance report later than they have in the past.
Until now, the Air Force has given airmen first class their first EPR at 20 months of service.
But in a September interview, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth Wright said that giving EPRs so early in an airman’s career doesn’t do much good, and only creates more paperwork for airmen and their supervisors.
So, in 2018, airmen will get their first EPR at 30 months.
Wright confirmed on Nov. 27 that was still on track.
“Essentially, they go in a file and we don’t ever use them again,” Wright said in September about the 20-month EPRs. “They’re not up for promotion, they can’t be used for senior airman below-the-zone consideration, they really can’t be used for any specific purpose. And so the question becomes, why write them?”
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.
