Public Affairs Question and Answer about the new rating system. (Editing has been done on this to reduce redundancy) Q1. When will my EPR closeout? A1. All reports will be completed on a static closeout date (SCOD) based on current grade. CMSgt (May), SMSgt (July), MSgt (September), TSgt (November), SSgt (January), SrA and below (March). Q2. How soon prior to the promotion board meeting will my EPR closeout? A2. All EPRs will close out on a static closeout date, which is also the promotion-eligibility cut-off date for those Airmen who are promotion eligible. Q3. When will these changes take effect? A3. In November 2014, static closeout dates and the elimination of change of reporting official evaluations will be implemented. The implementation of the new enlisted performance reports will take effect in 2015. Q4. When will Airmen be rated using the new forms? A4. The new forms will be implemented beginning in May 2015 with the new CMSgt EPR, and continuing through March 2016. Q5. When will we get to see the new enlisted evaluation forms? A5. The new EPR forms will be published on Air Force e-publishing approximately 120 days prior to their implementation. Accompanying AFI Interim Change guidance will be available via e-publishing approximately 30 days prior to each grade’s static closeout date. Q6. Why did you create a new EPR form for chief master sergeants? A6. The CMSgt EPR form is intended to capture a chief’s overall performance and provide the opportunity to recommend the ratee for future roles, including command chief duty. The new form will serve as the senior rater’s tool to nominate chief master sergeants for the Air Force Command Chief Screening Board, replacing the current nomination process. Q7. Why is the CMSgt EPR form different than the other enlisted evaluation forms? A7. The new CMSgt EPR form serves a dual purpose in that it captures a CMSgt’s overall performance, and provides the opportunity for senior raters to recommend the ratee for future roles to include command chief duty. Senior raters will identify those CMSgts they feel are capable of serving with increased responsibility, those they feel should remain in their current duty/level of responsibility, and those they would not consider for roles with increased responsibilities. Q8. Why is the CMSgt EPR only 5 lines long? A8. The Rater and Senior Rater collectively may enter up to five lines, documenting the CMSgt’s duty performance and accomplishments during the rating period. The 5 line maximum consequently serves as the Senior Rater’s “push” for those CMSgts being nominated to the Air Force’s annual Command Chief Screening Board; replacing our current “5-Line” nomination process. Q9. Why have we chosen to eliminate CRO reports? A9. Over 36,000 CROs are accomplished annually. The elimination of CRO evaluations will ultimately save our Airmen’s time and will significantly reduce the workload placed on supervisors, raters, local commander’s support staffs, military personnel flights, and the Air Force Personnel Center each year. With all EPRs for each respective grade closing out at the same time (static closeout date), CROs will no longer be required. Q10. If we no longer accomplish CRO reports, what will happen when I have a change of reporting official? A10. Accomplishments occurring between annual EPR closeout dates will be captured via the AF Form 77; Letter of Evaluation (LOE) Q11. What is the purpose of having a static closeout date for EPRs? A11. Static closeout dates, provide specific dates for commanders to use when making forced distribution decisions and ensure each promotion eligible has a performance report on file reflecting their most recent performance when calculating WAPS points. In addition, this provides leadership, commander’s support staffs, and military personnel sections with an anticipated workload as all evaluations for a specific grade will close out the same date annually. Q12. How will I get promoted if I’m not stratified as one of the top ten percent of MSgts or top 20 percent of SMSgts? A12. Promotion to SMSgt and CMSgt is calculated by combining an Airman’s weighted promotion points with a evaluation board score. While stratification provides evaluation boards with a relative understanding of where an Airman ranks amongst his/her peers, it doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t deserving of promotion based on sustained superior performance. There will be a considerable number of Airmen promoted every year who are not stratified based on the fact that promotions selections are made by career field based on manning and projected vacancies. An entire career field could not be stratified and Airmen within that AFSC will still get promoted. Q13. What if I am on a 365-deployment or are a permanent party member in the AOR? A13. Airmen on 365 or ITDY deployment will have their evaluation completed by their administrative (home station) commander who is also their force distribution authority. Permanent Party (AOR) Airmen will have their evaluations completed by their AOR Senior Rater or Forced Distribution Command authority (i.e. AOR commander). Q14. What options does a commander have for Airmen who receive negative or derogatory information? A14. Commanders will have the option of completing a Directed by Commander (DBC) report, only for those individuals who receive a quality force indicator. Comments on DBC evaluations will be limited to only those areas that caused the initiation of the DBC report. Annual static closeout date reports will be required for Airman in addition to receiving a DBC evaluation. Q15. Will Directed by Commander evaluations receive promotion recommendations? A15. Promotion recommendations (forced distribution) only apply to annual static closeout date evaluations. Promotion recommendations are not authorized on DBC reports. Q16. How will EPR changes affect special duty assignment and developmental duty assignment selection? A16. Special duty and developmental duty assignment selection criteria will be adjusted in the future to accommodate forced distribution and forced stratification. Q17. How will the EPR changes affect PME selection? A17. With the exception of nominative Senior Service in-residence PME, PME selection will continue to be based on TIS, grade, promotion selection, and WAPS score for non-promotion selected Airmen. Q18. What does stratification mean? How will it work? A18. Stratification is the rack-and-stack process senior raters will accomplish with their promotion eligible master sergeants and senior master sergeants. Stratification by senior raters will be restricted. Senior raters will be limited to stratifying the top 10% of their master sergeant promotion-eligibles and the top 20% of their senior master sergeant promotion-eligibles. Those promotion-eligible SNCOs that do not receive stratification will have their evaluations closed out at the Deputy Evaluator (first O-6) or Intermediate Evaluator level (Unit/CC). Only those SNCOs who receive stratification will have their evaluation signed/closed out by the Senior Evaluator (Senior Rater). Q19. What does “forced distribution” mean? Specifically how are Airmen affected? A19. Forced distribution limits the number of promotion recommendations a commander is authorized to give to promotion-eligible Airmen. Q20. How is forced distribution calculated? A20. The total number of forced distribution quotas is based on the total number of promotion-eligible Airmen a commander has in a specific grade on the static closeout date/promotion eligibility cut-off date. Q21. Will I be compared against other AFSCs when it comes to forced distribution or stratification? A21. Yes. Forced distribution and stratification is completed by grade regardless of AFSC. All Airmen who fall under a commander (forced distribution) or senior rater (stratification) will be rank ordered based on grade peer group, not by AFSC. Q22. Will implementation be the same for the Air Reserve Components (ARC)? A22. Yes, the changes to the Enlisted Evaluation System are a total force initiative. The Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve will begin roll-out in May 2015 starting with the new CMSgt enlisted performance report. Following the CMSgt EPR implementation, the ARC will break-out on a two-year implementation schedule. Q23. Will enlisted members of the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard also have static annual and biennial EPRs? A23. Yes, static close out dates are a total force initiative. ARC AGRs will continue to receive annual evaluations and all other ARC statuses will continue to or begin to receive biennial evaluations. The Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard enlisted members [by grade] will have their evaluations close out on the same static close out date as their active duty counterparts, once the initial rollout dates have happened. Q24. Do the stratification restrictions (10% of SMSgts and 20% of MSgts) apply to the air reserve component (ARC)? A24. No, stratification restrictions will not apply to the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard. Q25. Does forced distribution apply to the air reserve component (ARC)? A25. No, forced distribution will not apply to the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 16:07:43 +0000
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