Promotion and PRF Information

[Guardian]

Why are they doing this? Any theories?


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Doing what? Sorry. I missed it.


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[Bender]

Would be nice if they'd just say what the reason was. It's been too long that they simply have not had to.

People make organizations. Organizations make messes. People alone get into habits that are hard to get out of...messes do much worse for far longer.

They don't care, dude. Not even a little. I wish it was different.

It's not going to cost you money for the rest of your life, man. Because...you're going to make different decisions than you might have otherwise made.

You'll be just fine.

Bendy


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[bennynova]

AFPC is doing it because they don't want members being lt col selects for more than a year for the final line numbers.    And if you aren't going to pin on line number 1 until October/nov/dec of 2018, then why have board results come out in may?     As it stands now, the current batch of lt col selects have to wait until 1 Jan to start pinning on (unless they exhaust the remaining 270 from CY16 board quicker than 70 per month

[FlyinGrunt]

When the board results are released, it starts the DOPMA clock for those twice passed over.  Could be an attempt to keep the iron majors around just a little bit longer, especially given this anecdotal evidence that 11x continuation was not universal this past round.

Not saying I couldn't come up with a better plan, because I could, even blackout drunk.  (Come to think of it, some of my best ideas may have come that way.)  Just saying I may see their logic.

[ThreeHoler]

When the board results are released, it starts the DOPMA clock for those twice passed over.  Could be an attempt to keep the iron majors around just a little bit longer, especially given this anecdotal evidence that 11x continuation was not universal this past round.
Not saying I couldn't come up with a better plan, because I could, even blackout drunk.  (Come to think of it, some of my best ideas may have come that way.)  Just saying I may see their logic.

Of the three posted here apparently only one was real. The two I know were offered continuation to 24 when the paperwork SNAFU was fixed.

[FlyinGrunt]

That's good to hear.  The AF may want to come clean with a non-Sean Spicer press release soon though . . . the rumor mill may already be accelerating the run to the exits on this one.

[Craftsman]

Well I 7 Day opted out of T6's. thought I was safe just to find out the new cc said f u he traded upt slot only to give an altus slot cause I 7 Day opted that slot


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[HU&W]

2 hours ago, bennynova said:

AFPC is doing it because they don't want members being lt col selects for more than a year for the final line numbers.    And if you aren't going to pin on line number 1 until October/nov/dec of 2018, then why have board results come out in may?     As it stands now, the current batch of lt col selects have to wait until 1 Jan to start pinning on (unless they exhaust the remaining 270 from CY16 board quicker than 70 per month

I remember this argument.  That's right, it was when these exact same year groups were Capt's coming up on Major.  Long wait/delay/short wait/multiple boards in a year.  We're in phase II of the Lt Col round.

[Guest]

Well I 7 Day opted out of T6's. thought I was safe just to find out the new cc said f u he traded upt slot only to give an altus slot cause I 7 Day opted that slot


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Would you have taken the Altus slot? I believe you can rescind your DOS. Or you could VLRAD and get back in without having to deploy for 3 years


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[pawnman]

9 hours ago, Duck said:

Why are they doing this? Any theories?


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Well, the promotion increments have dropped to about half of what they were...so I assume it's to keep the same general timeline between the board and actual promotion dates.

[Termy]

Since this is the PRF thread, I have a couple PRF related questions:

1) Can you point me to anywhere that has examples, suggestions, etc? I am sure someone has made a "do's and don'ts" list.

2) I am still a little confused on what can an can't be put on there.  For example, I was an Army officer before I got tired of sleeping in the dirt-should I put a line or two highlighting that seven years?

Thanks in advance.  I do have two copies of successful PRF's  but both of those guys were way more accomplished than me.

[Guardian]

My buddy who was denied continuation is being told he isn't eligible for Tera.


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[3PAARO]

1 hour ago, Termy said:

Since this is the PRF thread, I have a couple PRF related questions:

1) Can you point me to anywhere that has examples, suggestions, etc? I am sure someone has made a "do's and don'ts" list.

2) I am still a little confused on what can an can't be put on there.  For example, I was an Army officer before I got tired of sleeping in the dirt-should I put a line or two highlighting that seven years?

Thanks in advance.  I do have two copies of successful PRF's  but both of those guys were way more accomplished than me.

See your Grp exec--every Senior Rater has different idiosyncrasies and techniques. Knowing these ahead of time would help cut down the edit time for everyone up the chain. It would be in your leadership's best interests to advertise such techniques for this very reason.

Good luck

 

[Chuck17]

1 hour ago, Termy said:

Since this is the PRF thread, I have a couple PRF related questions:

1) Can you point me to anywhere that has examples, suggestions, etc? I am sure someone has made a "do's and don'ts" list.

2) I am still a little confused on what can an can't be put on there.  For example, I was an Army officer before I got tired of sleeping in the dirt-should I put a line or two highlighting that seven years?

Thanks in advance.  I do have two copies of successful PRF's  but both of those guys were way more accomplished than me.

AF Portal A1 site has some stuff there, as does the AMC/A1K site.

If you can't find info there I'm 69% positive there's examples hung throughout this thread as painful as it is to reread so many pages... PM me with an email address and I will send you a couple of briefs I got over the last few years (if all else fails).

Writing PRFs can be a pain and a challenge but it's important. Personally I think it's a shame that we have "language" and "style" instead of just good ol fashioned narrative, but that's a different argument.

Chuck

[panchbarnes]

The NAF/MAJCOM should push down PRF guidance way before its due, as each GO has his/hers PRF preferences.  There are different approved formats depending on the strength of your records.  So look for that first.

Your supervisor *should* walk you through the process first and gets you started on the right path.  You'll probably have to do the dirty work yourself (annotations and text arrangements), but don't let the supervisor just toss you a couple of examples and a suspense.

Kind of like the OPRs, you are telling your story (sell your strength!) to the reviewers.

Btw, if you still have time, try to rack up some quarterly awards for the PRF.  At the squadron level, everyone are so busy that the execs oftentimes beg for self-nominations, so your chances of winning is pretty darn good.  Besides the strats on the left, the # of awards you've won helps your PRF stand out more (and the less words you'll have to pull from your OPRs).  *disclaimer* I've not been part of the MLR board.

 

[bennynova]

each Senior Rater has his own style for how they like their PRFs, based on their board knowledge, etc.

Top Line:  half Senior Rater comments, the other half highlighting you entire career, such as breadth of what you've done, # of #1 strats (if a lot and if not all used in the PRF), air medals, # deployments, flying hours, etc... just depends for each individual.  do not list duty titles as those can be seen in the surf and your OPRs and is a waste of space.   there is also room on top line for certain awards (if they don't fit on line 2).

Line 2:  reserved for awards, start out with DGs, school awards, then from left to right with importance... annual better than quarterly, wing better than group, etc.  denominators can be used too.  i.e. Wg CGOY (#1/102); etc.  if not everything will fit, then sometimes its appropriate to list them in lines 3 through 8...

Line 3 - 8:  annual strats should be to the left... with most important on the left.   Wg strats are usually better than Gps, better than Sq, etc.  just depends on the actual strat, who said it and what category it is.   i.e.  #4/20 Capts (Wg/CC) is probably better than #2/36 CGOs (Sq/CC).... but its a preference thing...  probably shouldn't go more than 3 strats deep per line.    oldest strats should be line 3, most recent strats towards line 8.    the right side of lines are used for OPR bullet material.  use Led XXmbrs, directed $XXB program, Commanded X member operation, etc.

Line 9:  Senior Rater comments...  the 2 best things to have on here are My X/XX Eligibles at the beginning... your CC can sneak in a current strat (if not on your last OPR) such as, currently my #4/54 Capts...   the end should also include school push, job push, and most importantly --Definitely Promote!.    even if you don't have DP checked below it.

 

 

[ThreeHoler]

My buddy who was denied continuation is being told he isn't eligible for Tera.


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If he will be >15 years of service before the mandatory DOS then he has a case based on a few prior boards. However, they don't have to offer TERA.

But a call to his Congressman would be in order if he wants TERA and not the single lump sum.

[soupafly06]

Have any passed over guys done the over the phone counseling with AFPC? If so, did you find it worthwhile or just a giant waste of time (like I suspect it probably is)?

[ThreeHoler]

Have any passed over guys done the over the phone counseling with AFPC? If so, did you find it worthwhile or just a giant waste of time (like I suspect it probably is)?

 

Everyone I know got a few tidbits out of it but it didn't help them for their APZ. Too many "leaders" have already written off once passed over dudes.

 

There were a bunch (30 ish?) of APZ with a P this year though which is a change.

[bennynova]

2 hours ago, soupafly06 said:

Have any passed over guys done the over the phone counseling with AFPC? If so, did you find it worthwhile or just a giant waste of time (like I suspect it probably is)?

Giant waste of time.  They'll tell you the obvious.   Either you have a huge discriminator or your record just isn't strong and was in the bOttom x %

[FourFans]

I have to laugh at this. I asked for an appointment to get AFPC feedback, I was told the next one is in august. Yeah. I'm sure I'll get highly important feedback if it can wait that long.


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[D_Vezencuando]

16 hours ago, soupafly06 said:

Have any passed over guys done the over the phone counseling with AFPC? If so, did you find it worthwhile or just a giant waste of time (like I suspect it probably is)?

Similar theme...

Are Non-Select and Continuation Letters available? Please PM if you have advice on this scenario.

[TnkrToad]

On 6/3/2017 at 5:42 AM, pawnman said:

Well, the promotion increments have dropped to about half of what they were...so I assume it's to keep the same general timeline between the board and actual promotion dates.

My guess is the slowdown in promotion increments is due to relatively low number of folks in the '97ish year groups.

Promotion increments (in this case for O-5) are based on backfilling O-5s who've retired/been promoted/separated/died. Also, changes in AF endstrength can change things. If AF end strength does increase (as it's theoretically supposed to, under this administration), there will be more total O-5 billets to fill--but as far as I know this hasn't yet begun.

Where we are now, If comparatively few even made it to the 20 year inflection point, then there will be few needing backfill as they retire (even if only a small proportion remain on AD). 

If my hunch is correct, increments will eventually start to increase again as larger year groups reach retirement eligibility and--due to improved economy/a-word hiring/frustration with the AF in general--depart the AF in larger numbers. AF expansion--again, if it happens--will drive increments even higher still.

This will pose a further problem for the AF. Right now, folks meet the O-6 board on time around the 20 yr point. This means the super-strivers who make O-5 and O-6 two below can be pinned on at 17 yrs--that's pretty stinkin' young. If folks get out in ever-greater numbers, this means Big Blue will have to either further increase promotion rates (quality control problem) or push boards even earlier in officers' careers (experience problem--smart striver types who have little to no background for the higher-level organizations/staffs they find themselves in). Regardless, not a recipe for long-term success. 

TT

  

[bennynova]

2 hours ago, D_Vezencuando said:

Similar theme...

Are Non-Select and Continuation Letters available? Please PM if you have advice on this scenario.

What do you mean are they available??   Available for you to see a generic version??

[jazzdude]

I also thought the call was worth my time. They'll go through your record to see if there are any glaring problems (depth/breadth of assignments, etc). They don't have notes from the board, but they have 10 records from the gray zone that were above the cut line to compare against yours. The two things I was told that they could guess as to why I didn't make it was no awards, and I didn't have the words "definitely promote" in my push line. I also talked with my senior rater afterwords- he didn't believe in putting "definitely promote" in a push line (there's a checkbox for that), and was somewhat surprised to hear that it was a common thing in the sample of records afpc had to brief from.

In the end, it all worked out and I made it on the next look.