by Chris Messner

Created on: August 11, 2008   Last Updated: November 21, 2011

In the Air Force, for both officers and enlisted personnel, there is almost nothing they can do to speed up their first few promotions. They just have to wait.

I retired from the Air Force as a Master Sergeant in 1995. I'm sure the promotion system has changed since then, but probably not drastically.

For commissioned officers, Second Lieutenants must wait 2 years to be promoted to First Lieutenant. The promotion is automatic. First Lieutenants must wait 2 years to be selected for Captain. Most, but not all, First Lieutenants are selected for Captain. The few that are not selected must leave active duty. Those that wish to remain in the Air Force may have the option of enlisting.

Captains that want to become Majors must then let their duty performance, additional education and extra-curricular activities speak for themselves. After a certain amount of time in grade at Captain, a Captain's records are considered by a promotion board for selection to Major. Captains that are not selected for Major by a certain time (I think it's about 14 years' service) must leave active duty. Again, they may have the option of completing their military careers in the enlisted ranks. I've seen it happen.

Professionals, such as medical, dental, and legal officers, and also chaplains, fall outside these rules. Depending on how badly the Air Force needs them, the service may simply award a professional a beginning rank as high as Captain. They are considered for promotion in competition only with other officers in their profession. These officers are said to "have rank without command", meaning, for example, that an Air Force lawyer or dentist has no authority to direct the mission activities of, say, an enlisted flight crew member.

For enlisted members, the Air Force is well known to offer the slowest enlisted promotions of all the services, up to grade E-6. Airmen starting out as E-1s (Airman Basic) must wait 6 months for promotion to E-2 (Airman). Ten months later comes promotion to E-3 (Airman First Class), and 20 months after that, promotion to E-4 (Senior Airman). Each promotion includes a pay raise.

The Air Force does offer new enlistees some incentives: Based on college credits, an airman may be promoted to either E-2 or E-3 upon graduation from Basic Military Training. An enlistee with no college credit may be promoted to E-2 upon graduation from BMT if he or she enlists for 6 years, as opposed to the minimum 4-year enlistment.

Once attaining the rank of Senior Airman,

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