A year after transitioning to standardized “static” closeout dates for officers’ performance reports, the Air Force will align its promotion boards with the change in 2024, the service announced Aug. 23.
With the move, officers will have a performance report within six months of promotion boards—the same as enlisted Airmen. To make that transition happen, some ranks will have two promotion boards scheduled in 2024, while others will have none.
Promotions boards for most major Line of the Air Force categories will shift back from the end of 2024 to January and February 2025, meaning those categories will have no boards in 2024.
Conversely, all lieutenant colonel categories will have their boards moved from the spring of 2025 to November 2024. For both majors and lieutenant colonel boards, the shift in schedule will not affect eligibility based on dates of rank and projected pin-on dates, a service release noted.
“Maximizing alignment of promotion boards to SCODs represents a strategic step toward enhancing our talent management decisions,” deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel, and services Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller said in a statement. “This also provides transparency and consistency that are cornerstones of our promotion and evaluation system.”
The Air Force announced the move to static closeout dates (SCODs) in February 2022 and implemented them starting in October of that year:
- Colonels by Feb. 28
- Lieutenant colonels and majors by May 31
- Captains by Aug. 31
- First and second lieutenants by Oct. 31
The service similarly cited the importance of predictability and transparency in moving to SCODs. Miller’s predecessor, Lt. Gen. Brian T. Kelly, said it would give officers a “more complete understanding of their performance assessment, their strengths and weaknesses, and where they stand amongst their peers.”
The Air Force transitioned to static closeout dates for the enlisted force back in 2014, with officials saying at the time that they would ensure a level playing field for Airmen and free up time for raters. As far back as 2018, leaders said they were contemplating a similar change for officers.
The shift in schedule is just the latest change in the Air Force’s officer promotion boards—in January, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall announced a move to “unmask” advanced degrees for prospective majors and lieutenant colonels. The decision reversed an eight-year-old policy that hid those details from promotion board members. In a memo explaining the change, Kendall cited the value of advanced expertise in countering growing military threats from China and Russia.