JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas — The revised Air Force Form 910, Enlisted Performance Report (airman basic through technical sergeant); and interim change 3 to Air Force Instruction 36-2406, “Officer and Enlisted Evaluation Systems,” have been published on the Air Force e-Publishing website.
The interim change codifies forced distribution of promotion recommendations for technical sergeants and below (including staff and technical sergeant-selects), which will be implemented using Air Force Form 910 for the Nov. 30 technical sergeant and technical sergeant-select EPR static closeout date.
The new form and interim change, with the associated forced distribution process, are the latest significant changes to the Enlisted Evaluation and Weighted Airman Promotion Systems since the transformation began last summer. The promotion recommendation restrictions associated with forced distribution only apply to the regular Air Force.
For technical sergeants and below, forced distribution limits the top two promotion recommendations a commander is authorized to give to time-in-grade/time-in-service promotion-eligible Airmen. The restrictions under forced distribution are tied to historical promotion rates in each grade and are designed to ensure those Airmen receiving a top tier promotion recommendation have a distinct advantage for promotion while ensuring others remain competitive for promotion. The total number of forced distribution quotas is based on the total number of TIG/TIS promotion-eligible Airmen a commander has in a specific grade on the SCOD.
Airmen who are not eligible for promotion on their EPR SCOD will only receive a performance assessment without a promotion recommendation.
Promotion recommendations are in word-form now, rather than the numerical ratings. Recommendations include promote now, must promote, promote, not ready now and do not promote. Promote now can be awarded to the top 5 percent of TIG/TIS promotion eligible Airmen from senior airman through technical sergeant. Must promote is limited to the top 15 percent of TIG/TIS promotion eligible senior airmen and top 10 percent of TIG/TIS promotion eligible staff and technical sergeants. There are no restrictions on the remaining three promotion ratings.
Percentages will be awarded outright by large units — those with 11 or more TIG/TIS promotion eligible Airmen. Small units — 10 or fewer TIG/TIS promotion eligible — will submit their top performing Airmen for consideration by an enlisted forced distribution panel led by the senior rater.
Once the EFDP selects the Airmen who will receive the top promotion recommendations, the remaining Airmen will receive outright promote recommendations. All EPRs are returned to the appropriate commander for final signatures. Airmen receiving “promote” recommendations from the EFDP or directly from their unit will remain competitive for promotion as the overall promotion percentages are greater than the forced distribution allocations. Around 80 to 85 percent of TIG/TIS promotion eligible Airmen will receive a “promote” recommendation.
All technical sergeants and below will also receive a performance assessment. The new performance assessment categories include: performance in primary duties/training requirements; followership/leadership; and whole Airman concept.
Under those categories, Airmen will be assessed using one of five performance descriptions: not rated; met some but not all expectations; met all expectations; exceeded some but not all expectations; and exceeded most, if not all expectations. There are no associated restrictions on the five performance descriptions.
Additional guidance for completing the revised Air Force Form 910 is included in AFI 36-2406, interim change 3 on the e-Publishing website.
For more information about Air Force personnel programs, go https://mypers.af.mil. Individuals who do not have a myPers account can request one by following the instructions on the Air Force Retirees Services website.
