New in 2017: Officer promotion overhaul to gather steam

The Air Force will continue its just-begun overhaul of how it evaluates and promotes its officers in 2017.

The officer performance system revamp is likely to be a major undertaking over the next few years. It follows — and is likely to echo — the wide-ranging reform of the Air Force’s enlisted performance system.

Lt. Gen. Gina Grosso, the Air Force’s personnel chief, announced the officer promotion overhaul in October, and called it a “cradle-to-grave look” at every part of the system to see what needs to be updated “for the 21st century officer.” That could include the process for evaluating officers, deciding on promotion recommendations, and stratifying officers.
Grosso suggested that one reform enacted for enlisted airmen — moving all airmen of the same rank to a unified static closeout date — could also be a part of the new officer system. Previously, airmen’s enlisted performance reports were staggered throughout the year, meaning they were being evaluated on different time periods. But throughout 2015, the Air Force began closing out all EPRs for airmen of the same rank at the same time of year, coinciding with their promotion eligibility cutoff date.

Grosso said that once the enlisted static closeout date system was established, her office began getting frequent requests to do the same for officers.