The Air Force has delayed announcing which staff sergeants will advance to technical sergeant. The announcement had been scheduled for May 28.
The delay will not affect the promotion dates for the Air Force's newest tech sergeants, the Air Force announced in a Thursday news release, which did not say when the promotion dates will be released.
The Air Force needs more time to validate the promotion results because this year's tech sergeant promotion cycle is the first one to include the latest revisions to the Weighted Airman Promotion System, the news release says.
As part of the new promotion system, the Air Force will look at a staff sergeant's last three enlisted performance reports since he or she became eligible for promotion. Previously, the Air Force considered an airman's EPRs for the past five years.
The Air Force also increased the maximum number of points airmen can receive for the EPRs from 135 to 250, and the service has begun a three-year process to phase out points for time-in-grade and time-in-service.
The changes are so sweeping that the Air Force is testing "every aspect of the system to ensure accuracy," Lt. Gen. Sam Cox, Air Force deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services, said in Thursday's new release.
"Anticipated sew-on dates for this list will begin in August and therefore the delay will not affect actual promotion dates," Cox said. "Airmen who are selected for technical sergeant will still sew on based on their line number and in sync with the normal cycle."
