Posted on 03/07/2015 2:48:54 PM PST by NKP_Vet
Secretary of the Air Force Deborah James has decided to celebrate Women’s History Month by announcing a set of nine initiatives to increase diversity and inclusiveness in the service. The most notable is a new requirement that unless those aspiring to leadership roles can demonstrate their commitment to diversity and inclusion, they will not be considered for promotion.
James first declared the changes on Wednesday during a “Women and Leadership in National Security” conference at the Center for a New American Security, and justified the new initiatives by proclaiming, “There’s simply no country in the world as widely diverse as the U.S.”
According to James, while there’s been some movement toward diversity in the past, it hasn’t been enough. This new strategy will ensure that the service is able to continue to attract the most talented and able minds. Career-field-development team chairs are now required to conduct analyses to figure out what is blocking “airmen from reaching their highest levels of performance,” as James put it, according to Air Force Times.
Out of all services in the military, the Air Force has the highest percentage of women at 18.9 percent, but the female attrition rate is twice that of the male attrition rate during “mid-career phase.”
One of the initiatives coming to the forefront will allow “top performers” to take up to three years off without risking prospects for future promotion. Additionally, James wants to see more women take up the role of pilot, as this job category is usually dominated by men. But because the exclusion occurs as a result of height requirements — that is, a standing height of 64 to 77 inches and a sitting height of 34 to 40 inches — James has elected to modify the waiver process. Previously, the waiver could only be offered to Air Force Academy Cadets, but James will expand the process to include Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets, meaning that 900 women will now be eligible to become pilots.
For James, women should constitute more than the 25 percent of the applicant pool thy already are. Instead, that rate should be boosted to 30 percent.
“This is not just about how we look. It’s about our readiness. It’s about our capabilities today and for the future. It’s about how we are going to perform as an Air Force… in this very uncertain geopolitical environment,” James stated at the conference.
“Oh Lord God we are in the hands of degenerates and crazies. I think God has abandoned America.”
From what I understand. God helps them who help themselves...
I was A.F., ‘63 - ‘67 and the highest I saw anybody go in 4 yrs. was E-4, with the only exceptions I knew of was the U.S.A.F. band Washington, D.C.
Band members entered the band as E-5s and very rapidly made rank. Not uncommon to see 20 year old E-9s.
I made E-4 in 4 years, while many, many got out after 4 years as E-3s.
I don’t argue with what you say. We have damned ourselves.
You could be right, I thought she was a sweet woman. But after all her time in the Military, (cook), she was easily walked all over. That could explain it especially if she didn’t stand up for herself like others would.
On the other hand after she was out and retired, she really blossomed, went to college and last I heard was doing quite well in the Accounting area.
Actually, America, from what I have heard on the news and have seen, abandoned God first. America told God that He was not wanted in its schools and other places, and He did.
That’s pretty much sop for all federal employees, and has been for several years now. No commitment to diversity, no promotion.
Agreed.
Well, they had incentives. I came out of Basic as an E-3 because of college. I got an early education in what the military would be like, so declined 2 or 3 chances to go before a below-the-zone board for early promotion, survived 2 or 3 suspended busts and got out a Sergeant.
Our ‘Cookie’ was a MS1 who’d been in the Army in Vietnam. Had a Silver Star and a Purple Heart. Used to smoke cigs in the kitchen; always considered myself lucky if I could blow the ashes off my meal (if was chili, we just had to mix it in with the half inch of grease on top).
<<<. “This is not just about how we look. It’s about our readiness. It’s about our capabilities today and for the future”. >>>
BS. It’s about Marxist ideology.
The Obama regime is truly the regime from HELL!
I have never heard of an E-4 retiring except medical. The current high-year-tenure is 10 years for E-4, 15 years for E-5, so you won’t see anyone retiring at that rank now. (HTY=if you don’t make the next rank by that time, you’re out.)
It’s almost impossible to have a spotless record and not make E-5. You need to have decent EPRs (4’s and 5’s on a very inflated 5 scale), pass your fitness tests, and take a test. By the 10-year mark, you can probably score high enough on the test by selecting all C’s on the multiple choice test. There have been times where making E-5 was pretty difficult, but that really hasn’t been the case since maybe 1990.
E-6 in 4 years is impossible, but some other branches of service have more downward rank mobility, too.
I guess you’ll have to be a member of the party next, just like in the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany.
Never knew an E-4 with a spotless record who could stay for 20 years in the Air Force. If I remember correctly, enlisted members had to reach E-5 by the 13 year point, or they faced involuntary separation.
The Air Force has long had the slowest promotions among its NCO Corps. Naturally, the needs of the service come first (as you learn from Day One of basic training). But the size of your career field/AFSC also plays a factor. If you’re in a small speciality or career field (in terms of manning) your advancement may come at a glacial pace.
I know this from personal experience. During my enlisted days, I was a unit historian, now the 3H0X1 career field. During my tenure, there were less than 150 airmen in the AFSC, and there were only two E-8 and one E-9 slot in our career field. Additionally, a number of us had our bachelor’s degrees, so everyone tended to do well on their promotion tests.
In other words, the Air Force didn’t need to promote very many historians to keep the career field balanced and it was a very competitive group. As a result, the cutoff scores for E-5 and E-6 were often 90-100 points higher than other career fields. Over the course of a typical year, it was common for a couple of individuals to make SSgt (E-5); one person made E-6 and another would advance to E-7 (MSgt). Typically, the historians who got promoted had the most time in grade, and you could determine where you stood on the list.
I was lucky; my test for E-5 came before I earned my five skill-level in the historian career field, so IAW Air Force policies, I tested only on the professional knowledge portion of the exam. Many of the questions were weighted to USAF history, customs, organization—topics everyone in the career field were intimately familiar with. As a result, I made E-5 in three years and nine months, which was meteoric by Air Force standards. After that, I made the decision to apply for Officer Training School and (fortunately) I was accepted. If I had remained in my enlisted career field, I faced a 6-7 year wait for E-6 and a similar wait (beyond that) for E-7.
By that tine,a lot of the fast burners in large career fields and low cutoff scores would have been pinning on SMSgt (E-8) or Chief Master Sergeant (E-9). My career advancement prospects as an officer were much better than as an enlisted historian, even though I loved the job and would have gladly spent my career in that vocation.
As a rule, Air Force enlisted promotions are slow, but in some of the very small AFSCs, the pace is snail-like.
It’s not just DOD.
Major Defense Contractors are asking this question in Management promotion interviews:
“What have you done to reward a subordinate for demonstrating a commitment to diversity?”
Well, now, it occurs to me that if you’re so bold as to DEFINE a specific person or group as being illustrative of “diversity”, you have just set yourself up to be accused of bigotry for noticing the “difference” in the first place.
I tried asserting that teams from 6 subcontractors were a “diverse group”, without being specific.
But the job went instead to a woman who had NEVER SUPERVISED, and therefore could NOT have had an answer for that question.
The simple fact is that the decision was made BEFORE THE INTERVIEWS.
This is a pattern, not an incident.
Never knew an E-4 with a spotless record who could stay for 20 years in the Air Force. If I remember correctly, enlisted members had to reach E-5 by the 13 year point, or they faced involuntary separation.
The Air Force has long had the slowest promotions among its NCO Corps. Naturally, the needs of the service come first (as you learn from Day One of basic training). But the size of your career field/AFSC also plays a factor. If you’re in a small speciality or career field (in terms of manning) your advancement may come at a glacial pace.
I know this from personal experience. During my enlisted days, I was a unit historian, now the 3H0X1 career field. During my tenure, there were less than 150 airmen in the AFSC, and there were only two E-8 and one E-9 slot in our career field. Additionally, a number of us had our bachelor’s degrees, so everyone tended to do well on their promotion tests.
In other words, the Air Force didn’t need to promote very many historians to keep the career field balanced and it was a very competitive group. As a result, the cutoff scores for E-5 and E-6 were often 90-100 points higher than other career fields. Over the course of a typical year, it was common for a couple of individuals to make SSgt (E-5); one person made E-6 and another would advance to E-7 (MSgt). Typically, the historians who got promoted had the most time in grade, and you could determine where you stood on the list.
I was lucky; my test for E-5 came before I earned my five skill-level in the historian career field, so IAW Air Force policies, I tested only on the professional knowledge portion of the exam. Many of the questions were weighted to USAF history, customs, organization—topics everyone in the career field were intimately familiar with. As a result, I made E-5 in three years and nine months, which was meteoric by Air Force standards. After that, I made the decision to apply for Officer Training School and (fortunately) I was accepted. If I had remained in my enlisted career field, I faced a 6-7 year wait for E-6 and a similar wait (beyond that) for E-7.
By that tine,a lot of the fast burners in large career fields and low cutoff scores would have been pinning on SMSgt (E-8) or Chief Master Sergeant (E-9). My career advancement prospects as an officer were much better than as an enlisted historian, even though I loved the job and would have gladly spent my career in that vocation.
As a rule, Air Force enlisted promotions are slow, but in some of the very small AFSCs, the pace is snail-like.
“It’s not just DOD.”
No kidding. I am trying to get hired teaching at a JC or university. All they care about is the “Diversity Statement.” In over 18 years, one question I have NEVER been asked when seeking a position in education is “What do you know.” Performance is so inconsequential to teaching; and we wonder whyy things are as they are.
I believe you. I met the lady back in 2002, if I remember correctly. That was her story to me. I knew nothing of her professionally, just dating.
I did work with a lot of other Air Force people though. Since I was an AF contractor it was all on a professional basis. Work and after hours life did not mix for the most part.
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