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Many promotions to senior airman delayed

If you’re an airman first class wondering what happened to your promotion to senior airman, you’re not alone.

A software glitch has prevented the Air Force’s personnel computer system from identifying hundreds of airmen who should have been promoted to senior airman.

The problem affects airmen who enlisted on six-year contracts, said Chief Master Sgt. Michael Hall, chief of the Air Force Personnel Center’s Enlisted Promotion and Testing Branch.

The software program in the Military Personnel Data System is unable to tell the difference between airmen who enlisted for six years and those who enlisted for four years, Hall said.

While personnel offices try to spot airmen with approaching promotion dates, some are missed. In February, the personnel center sent a reminder to personnelists to “be vigilant” and check records.

Airmen on six-year enlistments typically make senior airman once they have been in the Air Force for 28 months. Their counterparts on four-year contracts don’t earn senior airman stripes until they have been in the service for three years.

The quicker promotion is a reward for a recruit making a six-year commitment, Hall said.

The glitch surfaced in 2004 when airmen with six-year contracts weren’t promoted on schedule to senior airman.

With the computer system unable to pick out the airmen for early promotion, personnel specialists have had to sort through records, looking for six-year enlistees who are getting close to the 28-month mark.

In 2007, the personnel workers found 432 airmen first class whose promotions needed to be processed by hand. Of those cases, 28 promotions are pending, according to the personnel center.

Hall said that when the personnel center finds an eligible airman who wasn’t promoted at 28 months, the center can’t promote him on its own. Instead, the airman’s unit is contacted to make sure there isn’t another reason for the delay, such as disciplinary action.

If the unit doesn’t object, the airman is then promoted to senior airman, with a date of rank retroactive to when the airman should have sewn on.

The airman also gets senior airman’s pay retroactive to his correct promotion date. The pay difference for 2008 is about $160 a month in basic pay.

The long-term fix should come in 2009, when the Air Force goes to a new computer system to handle personnel matters, the Defense Integrated Military Resources System, said Paige Hughes, a spokeswoman for the personnel center. The switch is scheduled for February.

The Air Force had considered repairing the existing software glitch, then decided against that idea because DIMHRS would make the problem moot and it wasn’t worth the cost of rewriting software that was being phased out.

An airman concerned about his promotion date should speak with his unit personnelist or call the Air Force Contact Center at (800) 616-3775 and select option 1, 1, 2, Hughes said.

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