Col. Mark
Weatherington |
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RESPONSE
Thanks for question and I understand your frustration. The Air Force does not merely look at total number of personnel to make these kinds of decisions, it must also work to maintain the right balance of Airmen, NCOs, SNCOs, and so on. We must maintain the right overall force makeup over the long term, and that currently requires force shaping in some specialties.
Currently there are 24 AFSCs on the CJR Constraint list (21 here at EAFB). When First Term Airmen in one of these AFSCs enter their retraining window (35th-43rd month TIS for a 4-year enlistee or 59th-67th month TIS for a 6-year enlistee), they are rank ordered amongst their peers to compete for a Career Job Reservation (CJR). Each AFSC has a different monthly quota, ranging from 1 (2R0X1, 2T3X2C, 4D0X1, 4J0X1) to 72 (3P0X1), with many other variations in between. When an AFSC has too many FTA to retain, the result is a constraint list.
Six different factors determine an individual's placement on the rank order list, including current grade, projected grade, date of rank, last 3 EPRs, and TAFMSD. Airman with an active UIF automatically go to the bottom of the list.
Once placed on the CJR constraint list, an Airman has 3 options:
1- apply and approved to retrain;
2- apply and approved for special duty;
3- disapproved for retraining or special duty or do nothing, separate on current DOS
All First Term Airmen should contact/go see the Career Assistance Advisor, MSgt Nancy Schrecengost (385-2367, Rushmore Center, Ste 2403) BEFORE requesting retraining to ensure eligibility requirements are identified and met.
Unfortunately, some excellent Airmen will be unable to continue their AF career. For some highly qualified Airmen who are willing to meet AF needs outside their current AFSC, the answer may be AF recruiting service or another retraining opportunity. There are many openings in hard to fill locations that just might extend a career, even if scheduled to separate in the next 90 days. Again, I highly recommend you meet with the Career Assistance Advisor as soon as possible.
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