Is it possible to get promoted this quickly in the Air Force? Is this typical for band members?

Rank is earned, through years of dedication and hard work...the key word here being years. How much leadership experience does she have....might I say...none! Thankfully I am retired; because the rank given to this girl, just for being able to sing, is offensive and certainly would have made me question my decision to join the Air Force.

Jealous? Apply and join the band.

Wow, a lot of people with their feelings hurt. I am an Army bandsman and don't think for one second that I didn't go through the same promotion boards, take the same PT test, attend the same leadership schools, qualify on the same weapons as other job specialties. We serve as group leaders, operation NCO's, training NCO's, and Squad leaders just like any other military unit or organization.

One would think that a SMSgt would have enough intelligence, training, education, and understanding to understand this special career field and that the pay increase is compensatory for the significant amount of time and personal money goes into maintaining their skills and equipment even before being allowed to audition for the Air Force Band. Not to mention the high degree of training and education in that skill set they require before being able to make it to their levels. How much training, years of experience and schooling, did YOU do before you were allowed to enlist at a beginner skill level of with ZERO experience in your career field? Oh none? Maybe you should work on your own educational skills as well as understand how other career fields operate before opening your mouth and proving without a doubt that being a Senior NCO indeed does not mean you know what you're actually talking about.

TSgt (Verify To See) Why give $50 bonus? You may or may not know that the Air Force does give bonuses monthly depending on AFSC. For an example, Pilots and some air crews get flight pay. Because flying aircraft may be hazardous, who knew? E.O.D. gets hazardous duty pay. Because working with explosives might be hazardous, again who knew? But did you know that fighting fires in buildings and on the same hazardous aircraft that the pilots are flying is not hazardous. That's RIGHT. According to the Air Force it's not in a pilots job decription or E.O.D. job description that's why they get flight pay or hazardous duty pay. But since it is in the Fire Protection Specialist job description to enter hazardous buildings, Aircraft or hazardous materials situations, Fire Protection Specialist are NOT entitled to hazardous duty pay or any other bonuses for performing their duty.

SFC (Join to see) -

Wow, someone who gets it!!! I am a Bandsman, although Army. We are now given the rank of E-4 upon graduation of our training school. Yes, every point you made is valid and accurate. I personally spent ten years practicing through school programs and private lessons to acquire enough skill to pass the incoming audition. How many other job specialties in the Military can say that? And you are on point as far as further promotions. It is a very small field and very tough to advance.

SSgt (Join to see) - There ARE Airmen that get thousands of dollars in bonuses for specific career fields and having specific skill sets. They have years of experience required in their field before they're even allowed to audition for the job. How much experience did you require before you enlisted into the bottom skill level of your field? None. Just like the rest of us.

The band is a part of every military, it's part of its history and traditions. Not only would you get rid of a part of the military traditions, you would not save much money. The military's budget is in the hundreds of billions and the band's budget is in the is in the hundreds of thousands. A drop in the bucket and not much of a savings compared to over all budget.

CPT (Join to see) - I wholeheartedly agree with you regarding electronic Taps! As I stated in an earlier reply, a cheap Walmart boom-box and a CD was issued to me for military funeral honors and I found it disgraceful, disgusting and unacceptable. With that being said though, if your position on cutting bands rests primarily on the two points you mentioned, allow me to address them both.
Point 1: I don't think that anyone enlists in the Army band (or any other service's band) to "hide out and avoid the rigors of real military service". I have spent time in both combat arms units and a brief period with an Army band unit at Fort Bragg and I can assure you that band members are held to the same military standards as any other soldier. Let me also say that when the 82nd Airborne Division deployed their band to a combat zone in 2009, they didn't bring their clarinets and trombones... they brought their M4 and M240B.
POINT 2: If budgetary concerns are a driving force behind your opinion, there are numerous ways in which to cut massive costs outside of the military bands. You may remember the Packard Commission from 1986 which discovered the DOD regularly paid $435 for a hammer, $600 and $7,000 for a coffee pot. Overpaying for procurement is still an issue nearly 30 years later. How much money was wasted in the Army alone by changing the uniform 2 times in 10 years? We switched from the BDU to the ACU to the Multicam at a cost of Billions of dollars. The switch from the BDU to the mint green digital pattern ACU cost an estimated 5 BILLION DOLLARS! Did the switch improve combat readiness? No. Did the switch improve concealment on the battlefield? No. How many of those officers who were released early might have been allowed to stay with an extra $5 BILLION available in the budget by NOT implementing a worthless uniform pattern only to change it yet again at massive cost just a few years later?

LCDR. Sir I disagree with you. The military has has bank forever. Plus I had 2 friends in a AF band and I would not want their work schedule. I do understand they do give rank out to certain members of a bank. I know there is a lot of strips out there.

LTC (Join to see) - Ask a group of airmen why they joined. I bet many will cite the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels as inspiring them as a kid. Far fewer will say "well, I saw someone in an Air Force uniform singing, and I knew then that I wanted to be a pilot."