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Background
While the Secretary of the Air Force administers the promotion program through the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, HQ Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC) implements the program “through a fair and equitable process to ensure the officer corps has confidence in the integrity of the selection process.” Typically you can read all of the details about any Air Force program in the applicable Air Force Instructions (AFI), but with officer promotions most of the details are actually found in a PSDM pushed out annually by AFPC. Here are the highlights from the governing instruction, AFI 36-2501, Officer Promotions and Selective Continuation to include what you need to know from the PSDM.
AFI 36-2501, para:
1.3.1. Officer Promotions (HQ AFPC/DPPPO). Determines when officers are eligible for promotion as outlined in Attachment 2, manages the quarterly captain selection process, conducts pre-board support for officer promotions, and:
1.3.1.2. For promotion to captain, prepares and dispatches a memorandum each October providing a comprehensive overview of the captain promotion process and instructions for all pre- and post-selection actions. This memorandum will supplement the guidance provided at Attachment 2 [of AFI 36-2501].
Most Air Force officer promotion processes are managed annually but the Captain process is managed quarterly. The source document for all of the details regarding the promotion is outlined in the memo that they push out each October in the form of an PSDM. PSDM stands for Personnel Services Delivery Memorandum and they can be found on a site called MyPers. They are actually insanely informative. When I get bored at work I learn a ton by browsing through all of the PSDMs.
Attachment 2 – Promotion Eligibility Criteria
A2.2. Eligibility for Promotion to Captain. Promote IPZ first lieutenants on the ADL selected for promotion to captain after completing 24-months time-in-grade computed from their CGDOR as a first lieutenant,
A2.2.1. Effective calendar year 2003, captain selections for all competitive categories are made quarterly by the officer’s respective Management Level on a fully qualified basis. IPZ officers are considered during the appropriate quarter, a year prior to attaining 24 months time-in-grade. For example, a first lieutenant with a CGDOR of 22 Feb 02, without a nonselection, is considered for promotion to captain during the A-cycle (see below) in 2003, for promotion to captain 22 Feb 04.
You are eligible for “In-the-Promotion-Zone” to Captain after 24 months Time in Grade as a First Lieutenant. Since 2003, Captain promotion selections are made quarterly, one year prior to the promotion date. Here are the DORs of someone who commissioned from TFOT 19-01:
- Second Lieutenant: 9 November 2018
- First Lieutenant: 9 November 2020
- Captain: 9 November 2022
The quarterly cycles are as follows:
- A2.2.1.1. A cycle begins 1 Jan and closes out 31 Mar, for promotion to captain Jan-Mar the following year.
- A2.2.1.2. B cycle begins 1 Apr and closes out 30 Jun, for promotion to captain Apr-Jun the following year.
- A2.2.1.3. C cycle begins 1 Jul and closes out 30 Sep, for promotion to captain Jul-Sep the following year.
- A2.2.1.4. D cycle begins 1 Oct and closes out 31 Dec, for promotion to captain Oct-Dec the following year.
For this example this officer would be part of the “D” cycle. This means they would be considered for promotion during the “D” cycle of 2021.
PSDM 17-78 – CY2018 Quarterly Captain Selection Process
If I graduated from OTS on 16 April 2015 my First Lieutenant Date of Rank would be 16 April 2017. Given the above Table 1 my IPZ would fall within the range for the AFPROMS ID P0318B. Knowing that we can assess the entire schedule for that quarter by using the table on Attachment 3. The first major date is the Accounting Date. This is the date which identifies who is responsible for for overseeing my promotion process. In other words, whoever my Senior Rater was on 2 Mar 18 was responsible for recommending me for promotion in accordance with the above timeline.
I’m not a personnelist but I think the way this works is the Military Personnel Flight (MPF) logs into the system called AFPROMS on or after 2 Mar 18 (Day -66). They pull the list of eligibles called a Master Eligibility List (MEL) for P0318B on behalf of the Senior Rater who is usually the wing commander. The wing would then task each subordinate unit commander to review the list and recommend/non-recommend each Lieutenant on the list for promotion to Captain. The go-to method to document a promotion recommendation is an Air Force memorandum. Per the PSDM, a Promotion Recommendation Form (PRF) will not be completed. This process must be completed prior to Cut-Off Date, which is when Senior Raters must sign the MEL. This process may take place completely in the background and invisible to the member, depending on your unit.
PSDM 17-78, Attachment 2, para 5. PRFs. Since the captain promotion opportunity for all competitive categories is 100 %, PRFs will not be completed on officers recommended for promotion by their Senior raters. EXCEPTIONS: Senior Raters will prepare PRFs on officers being recommended for a DNP recommendation.
The rest of the table is fairly straight-forward. At some point the Senior Rater will be authorized to notify each member that they have been selected for promotion to Captain. That person will then be eligible to pin on Captain on their First Lieutenant DOR plus 24 months.
Summary
This selection process really isn’t much of a selection process unless a commander non-recommends an officer for promotion. The reason I chose to do a post about it is because it provides a ton of insight into what happens in the background. This process is very similar to the Maj – Col process, which I will post about in detail in the future. Another reason I did this post is to allow all members to know when big things are happening in the background on their behalf. For example, perhaps we find out we are not on the MEL when we know we are supposed to be. This can help us get ahead of problems before the consequences are locked in.
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