When that acceleration repeats itself multiple times, from major to lieutenant colonel to colonel, the Air Force ends up with highly talented officers with gaps in their experience. “Between the first time you get promoted below the zone and the next time, your time is compressed. They have less development time.” “Today, when you get promoted below the zone, you are instantly, from that point forward, on a very fast train,” Kelly said then. Brian Kelly, the Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel, and services, argued vigorously for the new system while discussing changes to the promotion system during a global tour of Air Force bases last summer. “They are going to have to make some tough life choices.” Some, he said, would choose to leave. “The people that might have been considered for below-the-zone promotions will be disincentivized by this approach,” predicted one lieutenant colonel when the concept was shared with him. Majors and lieutenant colonels interviewed on the subject expressed frustration at that aspect of the change. In financial terms, the impact of a year delay for a promotion ranges from about $7,200 to more than $12,000 a year. Over time, the change will mean officers will spend more time at each rank. The real difference will come as the new system is rolled out across all ranks. As a result, the net effect could be less than a year. Yet because of her superior performance, she might now expect to be among the first promoted in that cycle. Under the new system, by contrast, she would not have gotten a look from the O-5 promotion until 2020. That means that a high-performing officer who is junior to his peers can still be promoted first based on the board’s review of his performance, while a more senior officer may be promoted later.įor most, the net effect will be minimal, as the majority of majors in zone for promotion would be promoted to lieutenant colonel under both systems. But for the few who had anticipated a chance to be selected below the zone, the change will inevitably delay their march up the career ladder.Įxactly how much this could slow down promotions for fast-burners is difficult to determine. A major selected in 2018 two years ahead of her peers would not actually pin on that rank until the end of the 12-month cycle, meaning late 2019 that’s still well ahead of her peers, but last among the newest cohort of lieutenant colonels. Under the new “order of merit” system, however, precedence for who gets promoted first will be based on the same scoring system used by the promotion board to determine who is most deserving. Those serving the longest at a given rank advance first and those with the least time in grade bring up the rear.
In terms of promotion timing, below-the-zone selectees may be chosen up to two years early, but early selects are at the back of the line when it comes to the order of when each selectee pins on his or her new rank. That’s because below-the-zone selectees have to move more often and more rapidly than their peers. “Our current BPZ approach can also have adverse quality of life and retention impacts for both those designated and those not designated Below-the-Promotion-Zone.” “Under our current Below-the-Promotion-Zone (BPZ) approach, we often provide less time for our airmen to develop, particularly among those selected for early promotion ,” the talking points memo says. Until now, the Air Force has allowed about 2 percent of selectees to be chosen from “below the zone,” determined by the year group in-zone for promotion in each given year. But Goldfein wrote that the delay will not affect pin-on timelines for those selected. The service will delay the meeting of the 2020 lieutenant colonel promotion board by two months, until May, to ensure no one is surprised or rushed by the changes. The Air Force confirmed the memo’s authenticity and released four pages of talking points that evening.ĭoing away with below-the-zone promotions will effectively slow down advancement for the Air Force’s brightest stars but it could also better recognize the potential of officers whose record begins to shine a little later than their fastest-burning peers. David Goldfein that was posted on the unofficial Air Force AMN-NCO-SNCO Facebook page Dec. 16 and then announced generally across the Air Force immediately after, according to a letter to commanders from Chief of Staff Gen. The new system will be unveiled to commanders Dec.
The Air Force is about to unleash the biggest changes to the officer promotion system in decades, eliminating below-the-zone promotions and ultimately creating a five-year window for promotions at each grade without up-or-out limitations.
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