AF changes release policy for promotion lists

  • Published
LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (ACCNS) --  Although transparent to most, a recent Department of Defense-level change now affects the way the Air Force Personnel Center manages the release of officer promotion board results.

The officer promotion board results for major through colonel will now be released no earlier than nine months prior to the first pin-on from the list.

The change makes public releases timelier in relation to when promotees actually start pinning on the rank, said Capt. Avis M. Resch, chief of Air Combat Command officer promotions and evaluations.

The change will have no affect on the majority of future promotion releases because Air Force boards are typically convened on a timeline where results are made public approximately six months prior to the first projected pin-on date, said Captain Resch.

However, one board that is affected by the changes is the latest 2004 majors list for line of the Air Force, judge advocate general, medical service corps and nurse corps. Two categories line of the Air Force and nurse corps will have their announcements delayed. The other two lists were released last month.

Based on the new policy, the line of Air Force list is now projected to be released in May, and the nurse corps list is expected to be released in July.

The policy revision resulted from a decision by the under secretary of Defense for personnel and readiness to change the time in which nominations are sent to the Senate for confirmation. This aligns with a new Senate Armed Services Committee policy to not take any action on an officer promotion nominee list if the first pin-on is in excess of nine months.

Before the change, promotion board results were briefed to the secretary of the Air Force and forwarded to the office of the secretary of Defense. Once approved, the results were released to the public within 7 to ten days, and the list was forwarded to the Senate for confirmation, regardless of the first pin-on date.

Under the new guidelines, the secretary of the Air Force will still be briefed on the promotion board results. However, now, the promotion package will be returned to the AFPC promotion board secretariat, where it will be held until 10 months prior to the first projected pin-on date. At that point, the board secretariat will forward the promotion package to the secretary of Defense for approval. Once approved, the results will be scheduled for release and forwarded to the Senate for confirmation.

AFPC officials expect that 2005 promotion boards results will not be affected because the boards are being scheduled in relation to projected start dates of the promotion increments.