The Air Force has selected 525 airmen for promotion to chief master sergeant, the Air Force Personnel Center said Thursday.
There were 2,521 senior master sergeants eligible for promotion to E-9, resulting in a 20.83 percent selection rate. That is higher than the 2013 and 2014 selection rates of 19.77 percent and 18.97 percent, respectively, but lower than the 2012 selection rate of 22.92.
This increase in E-9 selection rates means all enlisted ranks saw noticeable upticks in their selection rates in 2015, reversing the downward slide of recent years.
The average overall score for airmen selected to advance was 529.21, compared with the overall average score of 462.83 for those passed over.
The career fields with the highest cutoff scores -- indicating the ones that had the fiercest competition -- include 4D0X0 diet therapy, 4T0X0 medical laboratory, 4A2X0 biomedical equipment, 3E7X0 fire protection and 1P0X0 aircrew flight equipment.
The career fields with the lowest cutoff scores include 8D000 strategic debriefer, 8M000 postal, 4M0X0 aerospace and operational physiology, 3E9X0 emergency management and 3N2X0 premier band musician, music arranger or audio and lighting engineer in the Air Force Band or the Air Force Band of the Rockies.
The list of airmen selected for promotion is available here.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
