Longer Waits for Reserve Promotions:

Air Force Reserve officers are facing more years in grade before becoming eligible for their next promotion. For instance, the time in grade for lieutenant colonels to be considered for promotion to colonel has increased from three years to four years, but AFRC plans to phase in this change over two years, so officers meeting the October 2008 board will only need 3.5 years TIG. And, AFRC plans to review records of captains and majors hoping to get a position-vacancy promotion only once at the five-year TIG point. According to Air Force Reserve Command boss Lt. Gen. John Bradley, a number of factors, including the shift to an operational reserve and Total Force integration, have driven these changes. He believes the policy changes will “help us develop better officers and increase our ability to deliver highly experienced personnel to the fight.” Bradley also noted that these promotion-eligibility timing changes were the last initiatives to be implemented from a 2006 promotion working group, since “we had to be extremely careful in making these TIG changes.” A subsequent group, formed last summer, developed the “phased implementation approach,” which he termed the “right thing to do for our force.” (AFRC release and memorandum)