The Air Force said Friday that 530 airmen have been selected for promotion to chief master sergeant.
There were 2,529 senior master sergeants who were eligible for E-9, resulting in a selection rate of 20.96 percent. That continues the decline in E-9 selection rates from 2016, when it reached a high of 23.82 percent.
But because there were more eligible E-8s, there were also more selectees than last year, when 479 were chosen for E-9.
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The Air Force Personnel Center said in a release that the list of selectees will be posted online the morning of Nov. 25. Commanders will start to be notified which of their airmen were selected starting Nov. 18, so they can give them the good news first.
Selectees will be promoted beginning Jan. 1, according to their promotion sequence number.
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.