Joint Base Charleston, S.C.
Vol. 6, No. 24
Patriot Team Charleston – One Family, One Mission, One Fight!
Friday, June 26, 2015
C-130 unit helps Charleston mosquito population U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Jared Trimarchi
A pilot sits in the flight deck of a modified C-130 Hercules assigned to the 910th Airlift Wing, Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, June 19, 2015, at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina. The C-130 Hercules and crew sprayed to eradicate mosquitos on the Joint Base Charleston Weapons Station and is the only unit of its kind. The crew performed aerial spraying at night to increase the chances of eliminating mosquitoes while reducing the risk of contaminating bees.
Enlisted evaluation, promotion systems to use new EPR forms, forced distribution, stratification restrictions From Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
WASHINGTON – With static closeout dates for each rank in place, the Air Force announced it will update the enlisted performance report forms and utilize new forced distribution and senior rater stratification restrictions to round out the incremental changes to enlisted evaluation and promotion systems with performance as the driving factor in promotions. For technical sergeants and below, forced distribution limits the top-two promotion recommendations a commander is authorized to give to promotion-eligible Airmen. The restrictions under forced distribution are tied to historical promotion rates in each grade designed to ensure those Airmen receiving a top tier promotion recommendation have a distinct advantage for promotion. 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 SCOD. "The revised enlisted evaluation system provides ratees with meaningful feedback on rater expectations, a reliable, long-term cumulative record of performance and a clear indication of their promotion potential," said Lt. Gen. Sam Cox, the deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services. "With nearly 90 percent of Airmen receiving 'truly among the best' assessments, a better means of identifying the top performers was absolutely necessary." New regular Air Force promotion eligibility cutoff dates for promotions to master sergeant and technical sergeant took
effect this past fall to correlate with the new SCODs and in support of the master sergeant promotion process and forced distribution requirements scheduled for implementation beginning in November 2015. Airmen who are not eligible for promotion on their EPR static closeout date will receive an assessment of performance without a promotion recommendation. "This is one of the key steps we need to take to truly ensure performance counts and that the promotion system is about performance first," said Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Cody. "There has to be a level of discernment when it comes to promotions; this step gives us the tools to do just that." For senior NCOs, stratification restrictions will limit the number of stratifications a senior rater may give to their master sergeant and senior master sergeant promotion eligible populations. Endorsement by senior raters will be restricted beginning with senior master sergeant EPRs closing out in July 2015. Senior raters will be restricted to endorsing only the top 10 percent of their master sergeant promotion-eligibles for promotions to senior master sergeant, and the top 20 percent of their senior master sergeant promotion-eligibles for promotions to chief master sergeant. The forced distribution process was built with similarities to the senior airman below-the-zone promotion process. There will be large units, with enough Airmen to earn outright promotion allocations, and small units which will roll-up nominated promotion eligibles to an Enlisted Forced Distribution
Panel led by the senior rater. Once the EFDP selects the eligibles who will receive the top promotion recommendations, the remaining eligibles will receive outright promotes. Airmen receiving "promote" recommendations from the EFDP or directly from their unit continue to have significant opportunities for promotion as overall promotion percentages exceed the allocations controlled under forced distribution. Although changes to the EES are a total force initiative, the Air Reserve component will not enforce forced distribution across their junior enlisted promotion eligible grades; however, both the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard will utilize senior rater endorsement restrictions across the senior NCO grades. Three teams of personnel experts will be visiting Air Force bases worldwide to conduct town halls including leadership briefings and question and answer sessions on the enlisted evaluation and promotion system changes. The town halls began at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, June 11, with all team visits scheduled to be complete by late July. A team will visit Joint Base Charleston July 20, 2015 and the briefing will be held in the Base Theater from 1 to 2 p.m. Airmen with questions are encouraged to attend briefings at their installation or the installation nearest them. For installation briefing times and locations, contact the local military personnel section or public affairs office or visit the Air Force Personnel Center website or myPers.
Female enlisted Sailors selected for submarine service From Enlisted Women in Submarines Task Force Public Affairs
KINGS BAY, GA – With the release of NAVADMIN 142/15 "FY16 Enlisted Women in Submarines Selections",
Happy Fourth of July! The Patriot will not publish next Friday, July 3. We will resume publication on Friday, July 10.
INSIDE
the first group of enlisted female Sailors from across the Navy has been chosen to serve in the U.S. Navy's submarine force. Rear Adm. Charles "Chas" Richard, commander, Submarine Group 10 and Enlisted Women in Submarines Task Force Commander, said the interest to apply was impressive. "We couldn't be more pleased with the amount of interest shown by enlisted women in wanting the opportunity to serve in the undersea warfare domain. It's an exciting time in the
Former 17AS commanders reflect
A LOOK BACK
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submarine force, as we continue to move forward in shaping the future of our force, drawing from the best pool of talent possible." A strong response fleetwide was received in the call for enlisted female Sailors applying for conversion into submarine force ratings. Applications from women representing 31 different ratings from shore and sea commands worldwide were received for the initial application period to fill four chief petty officer (E7 paygrade) and 34 rating conversion positions in the paygrades of E6 and below across the two crews of the USS Michigan (SSGN 727). Michigan is one of the Navy's Ohio-class guided-submarines homeported in Bangor, Washington. Sailors from nearly every community throughout the Navy applied and the selections represented this diverse group of applicants, including junior Sailors who enlisted under the Professional Apprenticeship Career Tracks (PACT) program. The skills and experience they are bringing with them into the
Vietnam - Part II One man’s experience
FIRST DAY
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NHCC celebrates 117 years
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Page 8
submarine force will set the foundation for excelling in their new ratings. Based on the number of applications, the selection process was competitive and used an objective review and scoring of each application. Selections were made based on the Sailor's performance in their current rating, the Sailor's desired submarine rating assignment, the needs of the ship to fill billets of planned rotations where appropriate, and lastly the needs of the Navy for rating community health, both in the old and new ratings. Applications were scored on performance evaluations, warfare qualifications, commanding officer endorsements, sea service time, physical readiness testing, and similarity of current rating to desired submarine rating. "There were many exceptional candidates who we were unable to select in this rotation simply because we did not have enough positions open on the first two crews." said Capt. Rod Hutton, deputy commander for the Enlisted Women in See Femaile Sailors Selected, Page 2
WEEKEND WEATHER UPDATE for Joint Base Charleston, SC Partly Cloudy
Friday, June 26
(20% precip)
High 96º Low 76º
Saturday, June 27
PM T-Storms
AM T-Storms
High 89º Low 73º
High 89º Low 70º
(60% precip)
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MAGENTA-OAOO
YELLOW-OOAO
BLACK 01/29/08
Sunday, June 28
(40% precip)