When it comes to getting promoted in the United States Air Force, we must consider the commissioned and enlisted sides of the house. This article will briefly cover promotion requirements for commissioned officers but will mainly focus on enlisted advancements.
Officer promotions in the Air Force are very similar to other branches of service. Advancement is normally based on several factors. These factors include time in grade, professional military education, and billets filled. Barring outstanding circumstances, to achieve the next rank an officer must hold his or her current rank for a certain amount of time. The amount of time needed depends on the rank. Next, to be seriously considered for promotion, an officer must complete the required professional military education for that rank. For example, captains must complete Squadron Officer School for any hope to reach the rank of major. Along with having the right education, an officer must also have the right experiences. These generally include a stint as an Executive Officer as a second lieutenant, but will also include joint, supervisory and leadership positions. Remember, officers are groomed to be leaders and must have the experience to back that up. There are other areas to consider in officer promotions, such as the career field and mentoring. Career fields with an excess of personnel may either reassign people to other fields or may entice them to leave the service, sometimes against their wishes. Career fields with shortages may pull volunteers or non-volunteers from other areas to fill their ranks. On an observational note, flying officers tend to be promoted farther and faster than desk jockeys. Also, civilians in professional fields such as medical, clergy or psychology will often receive their first commission at ranks higher than second lieutenant.
On the enlisted side, promotions are harder to obtain and not guaranteed in any way, with very few exceptions. Airman Basic (AB), Airman (Amn), Airman First Class (A1C) and Senior Airman (SrA) promotions are almost automatically obtained with good conduct and adequate performance. Basically, keeping one's nose clean will allow one to be promoted. The only requirement beyond this is obtaining the time-in-grade. Members must hold their rank for a certain amount of time before promotion consideration. An AB, for example, must complete six months at that rank in order to attain the rank of Amn. New recruits with prior college credits may be able to enlist with one or two stripes, however. New recruits who opt for an extended initial service period may also be eligible for immediate promotion after completing basic training. These “free” promotions end when members reach 36 time-in-service. Senior Airmen may remain in the Air Force for 10 years, and must either attain a promotion, a waiver for extension, or accept discharge. Waivers may be obtained for a high-year tenure of 12 years in certain circumstances.
From the point of SrA (E4) through Chief Master Sergeant (E9), the ability to attain promotions rests almost exclusively in the hands of the member. Promotions are obtained using the Weighted Airman Promotion System (WAPS). This system incorporates six distinct areas. These areas include time-in-grade, time-in-service, decorations, enlisted performance reports, a general Air Force knowledge test (PDG) and a career field skills test (SKT).
Members receive .5 points for each month they hold their current grade, up to a maximum of 60 points. Air Force personnel also receive 2 points per year, up to 40 point for time-in-service (at Senior Master Sergeant, or E8, the point structure changes slightly). Up to 25 points can be earned for decorations and medals, with the point amount depending on which medals have been earned. The two tests (PDG and SKT) are combined for up to 200 points total. The most convoluted part of this system is the enlisted performance reports (EPR). Members receive a maximum of 135 points for their current and prior performance reports. Each of the last 10 performance reports is converted to a certain amount of points, with reports being progressively worth less with age. This means poor performance now can harm your promotion ability for the next 10 years so weigh your actions carefully!
When yearly promotions roll around, members will be assigned dates to take their two tests. The results of these tests are combined with the point totals from all the other areas to give the member a total score. Every member competes for promotion with every other person of the same rank and career field. While all the scores are being tallied, Air Force headquarters personnel make projects on how many people will need to be promoted at each rank and career field. This process normally takes several months, in which eligible personnel must sit and wait anxiously for their results. This number is then turned into a percentage of testing members, creating a “cut-off score”. Members with scores above this number are promoted, while those with lower scores are not. The Air Force then promotes enough people to reach that quota. For example, say the Air Force determines than 22% of the E6s in the radio operator field need to be promoted to ensure a good balance in the ranks. The top 22% of eligible radio operators will then receive a promotion, while the remaining 78% must sit it out until the next test cycle and try it all over again.
Once members attain the rank of Master Sergeant (E7), the system changes slightly. Promotion to E8 and E9 use the “whole person” concept. Along with the point system stated earlier for lower ranks, personnel are also measured in other areas including base and community support, leadership traits and managerial skills. While promotion up to this rank is greatly determined by EPR and test scores, competition for the top two ranks becomes much more competitive and selective.
After its determined which people will get promoted, selected members are given a promotion sequence number that correlates to their time-in-service. During the next year, members will be promoted in monthly increments according to their line number. People that have been in a long time may be promoted as early as the first day of the next month after promotion results are released. Personnel with less time in service may wind up waiting for over a year before their promotion becomes effective.
There are, of course, some inherent problems with this system of promotion. EPRs are based on a supervisor's recommendation for promotion. This means the EPR system can be easily influenced by personal or professional bias, or supervisor incompetence. Also, members who are excellent performers may perform poorly during testing cycles. Test anxiety can easily hold back even the best of workers. Finally, some career fields are simply harder to get promoted in than others. Career fields with large populations often require lower “cut-off scores”. This means that two people who have the exact same numbers may not be promoted at the same rate because one may need to score 300 points while the other needs 360 points. Imagine needing to score 30 points higher on a test than the person next to you just to get the same grade! On the other hand, the Air Force system of promotions cultivates a mentality of constant study and improvement.
There are a few ways in which Air Force members can improve their chances of promotion. The first is to study. Study your Professional Development Guide (PDG) and your Career Development Courses (CDC). The biggest mistake people make is not studying for their promotion tests. With a potential 200 points on the line, its in your best interests to know the test material. Don't wait until the last few days, then attempt to learn everything in those last moments. Develop a structured study program and stick to it. Another way to boost your chances is to ensure your promotion reports are stellar. This means trying your best at any job given to you and continually seeking out challenges. Follow the rules and set a good example for fellow Airmen. Become technically proficient and be your units “go to guy”. In other words, be the expert at your job. Be an active member of the base, whether its with squadron activities or through volunteer opportunities. Prior to your test date, ensure your records are accurate and up to date. Pursue your education, whether its through off base courses or professional military education. The more you know, the greater asset you become to your work center. Finally, always act and perform as if you were already wearing that next stripe. Be a leader amongst your peers and let your abilities shine.
The five contenders for best drama picture are Avatar, Up In The Air,
Iraq War tale The Hurt Locker, Quentin Tarantino's Second World War
saga Inglourious Basterds and the Harlem drama Precious.
Clooney has a best actor nomination for best dramatic actor, along with Jeff
Bridges as a boozy country singer in Crazy Heart, Colin Firth as a
grieving gay academic in A Single Man, Morgan Freeman as Nelson
Mandela in Invictus and Tobey Maguire as a prisoner of war in
Brothers.
Up In The Air has been considered a comedy, but its inclusion in the
drama category could give it more weight as a potential favorite for the
Academy Awards, where dramatic films tend to dominate. Clooney's co-stars
Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick compete for acting honours and the film also
earned best-director and screenplay nominations for Jason Reitman.
Nine's five nominations include best musical or comedy and acting slots
for Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz and Marion Cotillard.
Also competing for musical or comedy are the romance (500) Days of Summer,
the bachelor-party bash The Hangover and two Meryl Streep films,
It's Complicated and Julie & Julia.
Streep had two nominations for musical or comedy actress, as chef Julia Child
in Julie & Julia and a woman in an affair with her ex-husband in It's
Complicated.
Sandra Bullock also had two nominations, as dramatic actress in the football
story The Blind Side and as a dragon-lady boss forcing her assistant
to pose as her fiance in The Proposal.
Matt Damon picked up two nominations as well, as musical or comedy actor
playing a whistleblower spinning wild fabrications in The Informant!
and as supporting actor playing a South African rugby star in Invictus.
Other dramatic actress nominees were Emily Blunt as the British monarch in her
early reign in The Young Victoria, Helen Mirren as the imperious wife
of Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station, Carey Mulligan as a 1960s British
teen in an affair with an older man in An Education and Gabourey
Sidibe as an illiterate, abused teen turning her life around in Precious.
Julia Roberts was a surprise nominee for musical or comedy actress as a
corporate spy in Duplicity, a box-office underachiever that generally
was not on the awards radar. Along with Roberts, Streep and Bullock,
Cotillard rounded out the category as the wife of an unfaithful filmmaker in Nine.
Daniel Day-Lewis, who played the filmmaker in Nine, scored a nomination
for musical or comedy actor.
Besides Damon, the category also includes Robert Downey Jr. as the London
detective in Sherlock Holmes, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a lovesick man
in (500) Days of Summer and Michael Stuhlbarg as a 1960s Jewish
academic besieged by crises in A Serious Man.
Up in the Air co-stars Farmiga, playing Clooney's frequent-flyer soul
mate, and Anna Kendrick, playing a smart but inexperienced efficiency
expert, are competing against each other for supporting actress. Also
nominated are Cruz as the filmmaker's insecure mistress in Nine,
Mo'Nique as a hateful welfare mother in Precious and Julianne Moore
as a grief-stricken professor's best pal in A Single Man.
Damon is joined in the supporting-actor category by Woody Harrelson as a
military man delivering bad news to next of kin in The Messenger,
Christopher Plummer as aging author Tolstoy in The Last Station,
Stanley Tucci as a serial killer in The Lovely Bones and Christoph
Waltz as a gleefully savage Nazi in Inglourious Basterds.
Hollywood's second biggest film honors after the Academy Awards, the Globes
are a key ceremony that sort out the prospects leading up to the Oscar
nominations on February 2.
The 67th annual Globes will be handed out January 17, six days before
nomination voting closes for the Oscars. Globe winners can get a last-minute
bump for an Oscar nomination, particularly on smaller films such as 1999's Boys
Don't Cry, whose Globe triumph for Hilary Swank helped put her on the
map for a best-actress win at the Oscars.
Last year's best drama winner at the Globes, Slumdog Millionaire, went
on to win best picture and dominate at the Oscars. Other Globe recipients
who followed with Oscar wins included Heath Ledger as supporting actor for The
Dark Knight and Kate Winslet, who won supporting actress at the Globes
for The Reader and best actress for that film at the Oscars.
The Globes are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group
of about 85 critics and reporters for overseas outlets.
Read the full list of nominations here.
'Up in the Air' nabs 6 Golden Globe nominations
AP
Last Updated:
10:14 AM, December 15, 2009
Posted:
8:45 AM, December 15, 2009
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — The recession-era tale “Up in the Air” led Golden Globe film contenders Tuesday with six nominations, among them best drama and acting honors for George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick.
Other drama picks were the space fantasy “Avatar,” the Iraq War tale “The Hurt Locker,” the World War II saga “Inglourious Basterds” and the Harlem drama “Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire.”
The musical “Nine” ran second with five nominations, including best musical or comedy and acting slots for Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz and Marion Cotillard.
Also competing for musical or comedy are the romance “(500) Days of Summer,” the bachelor-party bash “The Hangover” and two Meryl Streep films, “It's Complicated” and “Julie & Julia.”
“Up in the Air” generally has been considered a comedy, but its inclusion in the drama category could give it more weight as a potential favorite for the Academy Awards, where dramatic films tend to dominate.
Playing a frequent-flyer junkie in “Up in the Air,” Clooney had a nomination for best dramatic actor, along with Jeff Bridges as a boozy country singer in “Crazy Heart,” Colin Firth as a grieving gay academic in “A Single Man,” Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela in “Invictus” and Tobey Maguire as a prisoner of war in “Brothers.”
Streep had two nominations for musical or comedy actress, as chef Julia Child in “Julie & Julia” and a woman in an affair with her ex-husband in “It's Complicated.”
Sandra Bullock also had two nominations, as dramatic actress in the football story “The Blind Side” and as a dragon-lady boss forcing her assistant to pose as her fiance in “The Proposal.”
Other dramatic actress nominees were Emily Blunt as Britain's monarch in her early reign in “The Young Victoria,” Helen Mirren as the imperious wife of Leo Tolstoy in “The Last Station,” Carey Mulligan as a 1960s British teen in an affair with an older man in “An Education” and Gabourey Sidibe as an illiterate, abused teen turning her life around in “Precious.”
Hollywood's second biggest film honors after the Academy Awards, the Globes are a key ceremony that sort out the prospects leading up to the Oscar nominations Feb. 2.
The 67th annual Globes will be handed out Jan. 17, six days before nomination voting closes for the Oscars. Globe winners can get a last-minute bump for an Oscar nomination, particularly on smaller films such as 1999's “Boys Don't Cry,” whose Globe triumph for Hilary Swank helped put her on the map for a best-actress win at the Oscars.
Last year's best drama winner at the Globes, “Slumdog Millionaire,” went on to win best picture and dominate at the Oscars. Other Globe recipients who followed with Oscar wins included Heath Ledger as supporting actor for “The Dark Knight” and Kate Winslet, who won supporting actress at the Globes for “The Reader” and best actress for that film at the Oscars.
The Globes are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of about 85 critics and reporters for overseas outlets.