Developmental teams get voice in officer PME selection

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RANDOLPH AFB, Texas (AFPN) --  More than 1,100 officers will get the chance to attend intermediate or senior developmental education schools thanks to the Developmental Education Designation Board held at the Air Force Personnel Center here in October.

The board combined inputs from the central selection promotion boards and development teams for the first time. Development teams are groups of senior leaders within specific career fields. Development team recommendations gave each career field direct input into their field-grade officers' selection for school.

Both selection lists are available on the personnel center's PME Web site at: www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/pme.

"It makes sense to give the career fields a voice in who is selected to attend school and where," said Col. Tim Cashdollar, chief of the force management and analysis division at AFPC. "Senior people who know the demands of their career field are having a direct effect on the development of their officers.

"The development teams know what is best for the health of their career field over the long run."

Development teams rank ordered the school candidates based on officer records, Air Force Form 3849 officer worksheet submissions, transitional officer development plans, timing issues, leadership potential and career field dynamics before submitting names to the board, said Lt. Col. Kirk Mays, AFPC’s deputy chief of assignment programs and procedures.

The board then took a corporate look at the development teams’ recommendations, integrated the lists and placed the officers into a school slot, he said. The schools that candidates received matched the recommendations at a rate of 94 percent for IDE and 89 percent for SDE.

The candidates used a Web-based AF Form 3849 officer worksheet to annotate their school preferences and received a recommendation from their senior rater on the same form.

"Another important form all officers should have on file is a transitional officer development plan," said Colonel Cashdollar. "It's crucial that each officer has a current (plan) on file at AFPC."

The plans are mandatory forms outlining an officer's desired career progression. They are the officer's main voice in the assignment process and can be completed on a military-restricted site at https://afas.afpc.randolph.af.mil/AMSWeb/master.cfm.

Twenty-seven intermediate and 36 senior developmental education programs are offered. These include schools and fellowships from the Air Force, other services and other countries. The complete list of schools is available on the center’s PME Web site.

For more force development information, visit: www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/fdso/. (Courtesy of AFPC News Service)