Defense Department rules allow the services to frock up to three percent of their field-grade authorizations, but the defense authorization bill lowered this limit to one percent. In fact, the Air Force uses the procedure so sparingly that neither ceiling is a problem.
Over the last three years, it has frocked fewer than officers— to colonel, forty-one to lieutenant colonel, and eleven to major. USAF does not frock officers in company grades or in any enlisted grades, officials say, because they rarely hold jobs that would require it. In , the Enlisted Evaluation System Group did consider a proposal to frock all enlisted members when they are selected for promotion, but the policy was not adopted. Frocking and other devices have been used over the years largely to deal with funding problems or grade limitations.
During the Great Depression, for example, Congress froze the pay of government employees, civilian and military. For a time, service members could be promoted but could not receive the pay of the higher grades. Few Air Corps officers were affected by this involuntary frocking, however. Promotions were scarce for all service members.
Air officers, most of whom were younger than their ground-bound peers, stood low on the Army-wide promotion lists. Earlier, the Air Service used a variation of frocking to lure volunteers into the still-risky business of flying. Under laws passed in and , lieutenants and captains who were qualified for flight pay also temporarily received the rank of the next highest grade.
Unlike frocked officers, however, they also received the increased pay and allowances. One of those affected was Henry H. He had had only ten years of service when he was posted to Air Division headquarters in Washington, D. In , he reverted to his permanent rank but simultaneously was promoted one grade.
Such temporary wartime grades had been called brevet ranks. Some very high ones went to very junior officers. At the start of the Civil War, George Armstrong Custer was a twenty-one-year-old second lieutenant fresh out of West Point, where he had graduated at the bottom of his class. Given command of a volunteer unit two years later, he was breveted as a brigadier general and later to major general.
He had risen only to lieutenant colonel when he arrived at Little Bighorn. When Wood was promoted, Roosevelt took over the unit and colonelcy and led the charge up San Juan Hill. His total military service amounted to little more than one year.
World War II brought a surge of rapid advancements. The case of Jimmy Doolittle was one of the most dramatic. In , he resigned his regular commission as a thirty-three-year-old first lieutenant, took a new job with industry, and accepted a Reserve commission.
Ten years later, he returned to active duty as a major. In , he led the Tokyo Raid as a lieutenant colonel, was promptly bumped to brigadier general, and later made two more stars. General Doolittle kept his wartime rank, but many others lost theirs. He received a fourth star in as the result of a special act of Congress. During the war, enlisted members advanced even faster than officers, particularly when they served on aircrews. It gave especially skilled enlisted members the pay of higher grades without the military rank.
When the Air Force became an independent service in , it inherited a complex system of temporary and permanent promotions in regular and reserve grades. An officer might hold a permanent grade at one level and temporary grade one or more ranks higher. He might qualify for a reserve grade considerably higher than the one he held on active duty. These complicated rules grew out of service efforts to man units effectively while staying within Congressionally imposed strength ceilings and the legal grade limits for regular forces.
Where the service could not fill requirements with the allowed numbers of regulars in permanent grades, they fleshed out the force with regulars holding higher temporary grades and with reservists. This approach not only met the needs of the moment but provided the forces with fallback positions in case of strength cuts. In a drawdown, officers could be dropped from temporary to permanent grades, and reservists could be sent home while regulars remained aboard.
DOPMA discontinued temporary promotions and applied the same rules to all active-duty officers, regular and reserve. It standardized appointment, promotion, separation, and retirement rules for all services. For one thing, Air Force policy limits reserve officers to twenty years of active duty, while regulars may stay for up to thirty years, depending on grade. Reservists also are subject to reduction-in-force action, and many were forced out during the recent drawdown.
Air Force SNCOs are expected to set the highest standards of personal integrity, loyalty, leadership, dedication and devotion to duty, including upholding Air Force policies, traditions and standards. The master sergeant MSgt functions primarily as a craftsman while holding more advanced leadership positions.
MSgts hold a 7-skill level. This rank carries significantly increased responsibilities and requires a broad technical and managerial perspective.
The average servicewide, active-duty time for advancement to the rank of master sergeant is more than 17 years. Moving up the Air Force Ranks: The promotion process for master sergeant is identical to the process for promotion to staff sergeant and technical sergeant, except for the minimum requirements: eight years' time-in-serve TIS and 24 months' time-in-grade TIG requirements, in addition to achieving a 7-skill level.
The senior master sergeant SMSgt is expected to perform as a superintendent or manager. Broad management skills are essential to exercising the responsibilities of the higher leadership positions in which SMSgts serve.
The average servicewide, active-duty time for advancement to the rank of senior master sergeant is more than 20 years. Senior master sergeant and chief master sergeant promotions in the Air Force are made using both the WAPS points and a Central Evaluation Board that reviews promotion records.
Each year, once for senior master sergeant January and once for chief master sergeant October , the Air Force convenes the CEB, consisting of several three-person panels.
Each panel examines the promotion records for specific AFSCs jobs. This means that everyone within a given AFSC will have their records scored by the same panel. The panels examine the promotion records and score them by considering the following: performance, professional competence, leadership, job responsibility, breadth of experience, specific achievements and education level.
The rank of chief master sergeant is the highest Air Force enlisted rank, with the exception of the chief master sergeant of the Air Force. Chief master sergeants serve as managers and superintendents, advisers, enlisted force managers and provide senior enlisted leadership.
Following selection, CMSgts are assigned chief enlisted manager CEM codes and may fill any managerial-level position and perform all duties not prohibited by law or directive.
The average service-wide, active-duty time for advancement to the rank of chief master sergeant is more than 22 years. Command chief master sergeants serve as senior advisers to unit and base commanders. CMCs advise the commander on all enlisted matters, including all issues affecting the command's mission and operations, and the readiness, training, utilization, morale, technical and professional development and quality of life of all enlisted members in the organization.
This makes the competition for CMSgt promotions extremely tight. The holder of this rank and post represents the highest enlisted level of leadership in the Air Force and provides direction for the enlisted corps and represents their interests, as appropriate, to the American public, and to those in all levels of government. We can put you in touch with recruiters from the different military branches. Learn about the benefits of serving your country, paying for school, military career paths, and more: sign up now and hear from a recruiter near you.
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View more newsletters on our Subscriptions page. It's a first at Globe Life Field this weekend. The Air Force and Army football teams play in the A Major receives an automatic raise to their basic pay every one to two years.
Basic pay is only a small percentage of a Major's final compensation package. In addition to a monthly basic pay salary, a Air Force Major may be eligible for multiple types of allowances and bonus pay including food allowance, personal money allowance, and more. To learn more about the Air Force's rank structure, see our complete list of Air Force ranks. The Government civilian-employee equivalent of a Major is paid under the General Schedule payscale.
For more details, see this Air Force rank to GS grade conversion table. To see a list of military medals and decorations that can be earned by servicemembers in the Air Force and other branches of the military, see our list of military decorations and medals. Civilian Payscales. Military Discounts. Decorations In Order. Decorations By Class.
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