The Air Force does not expect any changes to its promotion testing schedule for staff sergeant and technical sergeant as the service reevaluates one of the key study materials for those tests.
“Although there are no testing schedule changes anticipated at this time, leadership teams will communicate any potential changes to impacted Airmen,” an Air Force official told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
On Jan. 29, the Air Force temporarily removed Air Force Handbook 1, a 628-page primer on the branch’s history, values, standards, structure, doctrine, and other fundamentals.
Airmen hoping to make staff sergeant or technical sergeant use the handbook to prepare for the Weighted Airman Promotion System (WAPS) promotion fitness examination (PFE), but the handbook was rescinded “as part of the ongoing efforts to implement and comply with all directives outlined in the Executive Orders issued by the President,” the Air Force wrote on its promotion study guide website.
“We understand this decision may impact your ability to study for the annual and supplemental promotion cycles,” the Air Force added. “We are diligently working to provide alternative study materials to support your professional development and career advancement and anticipate having these materials available to you by 15 Feb 2025.”
The promotion testing window for technical sergeant goes from Feb. 15 to April 15, while the window for staff sergeant is May 1 to June 30.
Air Force regulations say Airmen must have access to study reference materials at least 60 days before their test date. An Air Force official said study reference information laying out which parts of the handbook Airmen should review before their promotion fitness examination was released Dec. 1, 2024. That means 60 days had elapsed by the time the handbook was rescinded on Jan. 29, so the temporary removal still complied with regulations.
Any alternative study materials made available on Feb. 15 would not have new information for Airmen to study, the official said. The only changes would be the removal of any content not in line with the executive orders.
It was not immediately clear which specific Executive Orders the handbook may have conflicted with, but the 2024 version of the handbook included several mentions of diversity as an organizational value in the Air Force.
“Managing workforce diversity can result in higher productivity, improved performance, more creativity, more innovativeness, and reduced stress,” the handbook read. “Giving emphasis to diversity without threatening our unity is the proper way to strengthen the ties that bind a team together.”
Any offices, programs, training, or documents related to diversity and inclusion has become verboten under President Trump’s new administration. Within the Air Force, the social media pages and websites of such programs disappeared as the service began to implement the order.
Besides knowledge of the Air Force Handbook, the WAPS test includes “situational judgment questions” aimed at seeing how Airmen handle different scenarios and also specialty knowledge tests specific to each Airman’s career field.