The Air Force is delaying until 2017 a policy making non-commissioned officers ineligible for promotion or re-enlistment if they don't finish the distance learning portion of their professional military education within a year.
The Air Force last June launched its new Course 15 system, the distance learning course that is a prerequisite for attending the NCO Academy, and started notifying tens of thousands of airmen about the requirements. In a May 23 release on the delay, the Air Force said roughly 50,000 airmen have enrolled in distance learning. The release said that the delay also applies to senior NCOs taking the similar Course 14 system.
But as the one-year deadline approached for the first group of Course 15 airmen, bumps in the program became apparent, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force James Cody said in a May 23 Facebook post.
"As we communicate with airmen, we're recognizing that we need more time to validate notification and acknowledgment procedure and ensure test centers have the time and capacity to meet the requirements," Cody said.
Cody also agreed with a commenter on his Facebook post who said the Course 15 materials were riddled with an inappropriate amount of errors.
"You're absolutely right[,] the errors are unacceptable," Cody wrote. "The course developers have gone through and corrected many of the errors, and continue to respond to feedback they hear from airmen completing the course."
In an all-call meeting with airmen May 23, Cody said the Air Force doesn't have enough facilities to test airmen, and there are testing backlogs of three to four weeks. This is another reason for the deadline delay; because some airmen may have actually finished the course, but haven't had the opportunity to take taken the test yet.
Cody also said that some airmen may not have even been notified that they were supposed to start distance learning.
"That number is fairly small, but we're not going to hold any airmen accountable for not completing within 12 months ... that [have]has not been notified," Cody said.
Cody said the re-enlistment and promotion policy deadline will now go into effect Jan. 1, 2017.
Senior Master Sgt. Lee Hoover, Cody's spokesman, said in an email this means that anyone who is required to finish their distance learning course by Dec. 31, 2016, and fails to do so, will become ineligible for re-enlistment and promotion the next day.
"It's still a 12-month course, and we expect airmen to complete it in that time unless they receive an approved extension[,] which commanders can recommend," Cody said. "We do firmly believe in our [enlisted professional military education]; it is critical to our development as leaders in the profession of arms. But we also recognize we need to get this right as we transition, and we will."
Some airmen commenting on Cody's page approved the delay.
"Excellent, chief," one commenter said. "I know that I was in the first round of airmen last June, so it's good to hear that it is getting updated."
Others questioned the point of Course 15 entirely.
"Course 15 was a waste of time and resources," another commenter said. "It serves as a wash-out course. It seems its sole purpose is to threaten a person's enlistment and career."
This isn't the first time Course 15 has experienced troubles. The Air Force also had a problem in late 2014 with hard copies of outdated study guides being sent to airmen enrolled in the program.
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.
