In his first official missive to the field, the Air Force’s new top enlisted man, CMSAF Rodney McKinley, explains some recent changes the service has made to the senior NCO performance and rating process. He tells airmen that “stratification comments”—those that would rank an NCO against others at his or her base—have become “overused, vague, and subjective.” Consequently, the service has implemented some stringent rules. And, as McKinley writes, “The bottom line is less stratification is better.”
With a fresh directive from the president, the department could opt to repeat its unconventional—and potentially unlawful—move to pay troops using unused non-personnel appropriations.
