The first Air Force warrant officers in 66 years will join the force on Dec. 6 after an all-out sprint to stand up the program in just 296 days.
Personnel
The Air Force permanently stood up the new Air Force Accessions Center on Dec. 2, a move officials hope will improve coordination and consistency between the service’s various organs for bringing in new Airmen and Guardians, particularly officers.
The Government Accountability Office wants the Air Force to explain who will run bases when wings deploy under the service’s new force generation model along with several other unanswered questions, saying the concept is long on vision but short on details.
A recent watchdog report found that the Air Force has one of the best officer performance evaluation systems among the services, but it falls short in two key areas.
While promotion rates took off for the Space Force’s junior noncommissioned officer corps in 2024, their senior NCO counterparts weren’t as lucky, as the service released statistics and a list of those selected on Nov. 21.
Scores of different HR systems, a new model for how to handle promotions, and protections against conflicts of interest are all challenges the Space Force will have to resolve as it tries to bring part-time Guardians into the fold instead of a traditional Reserve component.
The Department of Defense hopes an “unprecedented investment” of about $250 million in the fiscal year 2025 budget will help boost suicide prevention efforts as the number of Active-duty military suicide deaths continues to rise over the past 12 years.
When President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, he could reverse policies regarding abortion and transgender service members, though recent pushes in Congress to improve military pay and quality of life will likely continue, according to a leading national security expert.
Just over 500 senior master sergeants are getting a promotion to chief master sergeant this year, the Air Force Personnel Center announced Nov. 7, as the promotion rate held relatively steady.