Air Force Staff Sergeant Promotions Lowest in Years, Part of Bigger Slowdown

Katherine L. Kuzminski, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security think tank who researches military culture, said the Air Force was previously putting a lot of emphasis on technical skills instead of experience, leading many newly enlisted airmen to rapidly rank up.

"The Air Force in particular values technical expertise, and have given airmen a chance to prove it and promote faster than usual," Kuzminski told Military.com in an interview. "But they may have not had the experience to lead at the echelon they are being promoted to."

From 2010 through 2021, promotion percentages to staff sergeant hovered anywhere from a high of 51% to 25%, typically well above this year's rate.

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