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AF announces new EPR system, establishes static closeout dates

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Meredith A. H. Thomas
  • 315th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. --  Reserve enlisted Airmen assigned to the 315th Airlift Wing here will soon find themselves falling into the same performance review cycles as their active-duty counterparts of the same rank due to recently announced, total-force adjustments to the enlisted evaluation system.

The changes, which were announced July 31 in a letter to Airmen from Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Cody, will occur in stages, starting with implementation by regular Air Force began last month. The Reserve and National Guard components will begin their transition to the new system starting in May 2015 with completion expected by early 2016.

"The purpose of the enlisted evaluation system is to accurately document duty performance so we can have honest performance-based discussions with our Airmen," said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III. "Unfortunately, over time the system has become inflated and a great majority of Airmen have become 'firewall five,' which makes it difficult to differentiate our very best performers."

Officials hope that the changes will help to establish job performance as the main focus in an Airman's career. The new system also aims to combat the problem of evaluation inflation by giving supervisors and commanders the tools to more accurately measure the performance of their Airmen.

Starting in November, all Airmen of the same grade will have their performance reports due on a fixed or static closeout date. After implementation, the Reserve SCODs will mirror those of the active duty, which have been delegated based on Regular Air Force promotion eligibility cut-off dates for each rank.

Annual EPR static closeout dates have been established as follows:
  • Chief Master Sgt. - May
     
  • Senior Master Sgt. - July
     
  • Master Sgt. - September
     
  • Tech. Sgt. - November
     
  • Staff Sgt. - January
     
  • Senior Airmen and below - March
The implementation of SCODs will enable raters and support staff to plan for the additional workload inherent with performance reviews. The SCODs will also ensure that all Airmen of the same grade are evaluated for duties completed during the same period of time, thus alleviating bias and score inflation.

"When all Airmen in a unit are assessed for accomplishments during the same time frame, factors like special events or increased workload will not unfairly favor one Airman over another," said Will Brown, Air Force Personnel Center Evaluation and Recognition Programs Branch chief. "Quality of performance then becomes the primary focus."

The Air Reserve components will implement the SCOD changes over the next 30 months. Reserve Airmen will continue to receive biennial evaluations under the new system.

"This is the most comprehensive update to enlisted evaluations and promotions in nearly 45 years," said Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Cody. "Our enlisted leaders have worked closely with the Air Staff and (major command) commanders to design a system that truly recognizes and rewards Airmen based firmly on their performance."

Additional changes to the enlisted evaluation and promotion systems will be announced at a later date.