Emerging Options for Field-Grade Officer Promotions in the U. S. Air Force

The Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act established an alternative authority for conducting the promotion of officers in designated competitive categories. This legislation grew out of an interest in making military officer management more compatible with the expectations of contemporary workforces while meeting the needs of a modern force. The earlier and still-relevant Defense Officer Personnel Management Act standardizes the conventional overall framework for managing the careers of officers. The authors examine whether a shift from the conventional promotion construct to alternative promotion authority (APA) would be beneficial to the U.S. Air Force and how such a shift would be implemented to minimize negative effects on officers and the force. Many familiar policies under the conventional authority concerning promotion timing and opportunity either do not apply or apply in different ways to promotions under the alternative authority. The authors use simulation modeling to estimate the effects of various policy scenarios under conventional and alternative promotion processes for officers. In addition, they examine two related policy options-merit sequencing and lineal zone management-and the role they play in differentiating promotion timing under either conventional or APA.