U.S. airmen attending the 20th Force Support Squadron Senior Master Sgt. David B. Reid Airman Leadership School stand in formation inn Sumter, S.C., Nov. 11, 2017. The Air Force is throwing out performance evaluations for airman of the ranks first class and below, the service announced Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018. (Kathryn R.C. Reaves/U.S. Air Force)
U.S. airmen attending the 20th Force Support Squadron Senior Master Sgt. David B. Reid Airman Leadership School stand in formation inn Sumter, S.C., Nov. 11, 2017. The Air Force is throwing out performance evaluations for airman of the ranks first class and below, the service announced Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018. (Kathryn R.C. Reaves/U.S. Air Force)
A senior airman takes notes during an enlisted performance report writing course at RAF Mildenhall on July 17, 2012. The Air Force is throwing out performance evaluations for airman of the ranks first class and below, the service announced on Jan. 4, 2018. (Jerilyn Quintanilla/U.S. Air Force)
The Air Force is tossing out formal performance evaluations for its least experienced airmen.
The service announced Thursday that Enlisted Performance Reports are no longer required for all active-duty airmen until they reach the rank of senior airman or have served for 36 months, regardless of grade. For reservists, EPRs will be required for senior airmen and above. The change is effective immediately.
The move is part of a larger effort by Air Force senior leaders to reduce the administrative burden on airmen and give them more time to focus on the mission, officials said.
“While the Air Force values the contributions of all enlisted personnel, the requirement to document performance in a formal evaluation prior to the grade of senior airman is not necessary,” Lt. Gen. Gina Grosso, deputy chief of staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services, said in a statement.
The removal of EPRs before promotion to senior airman will give airmen more time to learn their primary skills and duties before their performance is formally documented, Grosso said.
Under the policy change, commanders still have the option to document substandard performance for airmen first class and below after the 20-month-in-service mark.
The Air Force didn’t say how many evaluation reports the policy change would eliminate. Airmen previously were required to get their first evaluation after at least 20 months in uniform.
Thursday’s announcement brings to fruition a plan that Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth Wright had talked about this fall at the Air Force Association’s annual conference.
Wright said at the time that he was working with senior leadership and the Air Force Personnel Center to reduce the burden enlisted performance reports have on schedules, particularly in the maintenance squadrons, according to Air Force Magazine.
The Air Force uses EPRs to evaluate the performance of enlisted personnel both on and off duty, typically on an annual basis. The reports, normally written by the member’s supervisor with input from other unit leaders, are often time-consuming and cumbersome to complete.
Under the change, all active-duty airmen will receive their initial evaluation upon reaching their first March 31 static close-out date after either promotion to senior airman, or after completion of a minimum of 36 months’ time-in-service, regardless of grade, whichever occurs first, officials said.
Enlisted reservists will receive their initial evaluations as a senior airman.
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