To ensure senior airmen selected for promotion to staff sergeant do not meet the enlisted retention board, the Air Force will move the testing window up from May 1-June 15 to April 1-May 16, Air Force Personnel Center officials said today.

"We have assured Airmen selected for promotion that they will not meet the ERB," said Chief Master Sgt. Michael McGuirt, of AFPC enlisted promotions. "Moving the testing window up will allow individuals to test and allow us time to process scores, run selects before the ERB board begins and remove selects from the ERB eligible list."

Changing the testing window for the promotion cycle could prevent as many as 10,000 records from being unnecessarily reviewed by the ERB, McGuirt said.

"We've coordinated with all the affected organizations to ensure study references are available and test booklets will be printed and delivered to testing locations in time for the April 1 start date," he said.

The enlisted retention program is one of several fiscal 2014 expanded force management programs that have been or will be implemented this year, said Lt. Col. Rick Garcia, the AFPC retirements and separations branch chief. The board will review records of senior airmen in overmanned career fields who have a Jan. 1, 2013, or earlier date of rank. 

Senior airmen must have three years time in service and six months time in grade to be eligible to test for promotion to staff sergeant, so some of the Airmen eligible to meet the ERB will also be eligible to test for staff sergeant. Approximately 36,000 senior airmen are eligible to test for staff sergeant in the spring test cycle. 

For more information about promotions, force management programs and other personnel issues, visit the myPers website at https://mypers.af.mil.