---

United States Air Force

Regulation 4. Promotions, Demotions and Discharges

---

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Administrative Authority

Section 1 - Promotion, Demotion & Discharge Authority

 

Chapter 2 - Promotions

Section 1 - General Requirements

Section 2 - Enlisted Promotions Requirements

Section 3 - NCO Promotions Requirements

Section 4 - WO Promotions Requirements 

Section 5 - CO Promotions Requirements

Section 6 - Promotion Procedure

Section 7 - Time in Grade (TiG)

 

Chapter 3 - Demotions

Section 1 - General Information

Section 2 - Procedure

 

Chapter 4 - Discharges

Section 1 - Honorable Discharges

Subsection 1.1 - Discharge Requirements

Subsection 1.2 - Resigning / Retiring

Subsection 1.3 - Returning following Honorable Discharge

Section 2 - Dishonorable Discharges

Subsection 2.1 - Discharge Requirements

Subsection 2.2 - Returning following Dishonorable Discharge

Section 3 - General Discharges

Subsection 3.1 - Discharge Requirements

Subsection 3.2 - Returning following General Discharge

Section 4 - Never Rehire

Subsection 4.1 - Returning following Never Rehire

 

CHAPTER 1 - ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITY

Section 1 - Promotion, Demotion & Discharge Authority

The table below details which paygrade a rank may administrate up to. If a rank is absent in this table, it holds no promotional authority. This table also details any adjustments to the range certain positions hold.

 

 

CHAPTER 2 - PROMOTIONS

Section 1 - General Requirements

The following requirements are in place and must be met for a promotion for any rank group:

• The service member being promoted must have met their Time in Grade (TiG)
  • Members of Air Staff may authorize a 25% reduction.
  • The CSAF may authorize this to be exempted.
• Promotions must be completed in client with both users present.
  • Should this not be possible, exemptions may occur on a case-by-case basis.
  • Ceremonies are an exemption to this requirement.
• Commissioned Officers have priority on promotions. Other ranks with ranges are to recommend people to officers for promotions rather than enacting them themselves.
• Personnel being promoted must be on Active Duty.
• Personnel being promoted must not have any outstanding promotion locks in place.

 

Section 2 - Enlisted Promotions Requirements
The following requirements are in place and must be met for a promotion for personnel ranked between E1 to E3:

• Personnel ranked E1 to E2 must be promoted via 1 to 1 Attention in HQ.
• Personnel ranked E3 must be promoted utilizing the procedure laid out in Section 6 - Promotion Procedure.
• The service member must have obtained the following Technical Trainings (TTs):

 

Section 3 - NCO Promotions Requirements
The following requirements are in place and must be met for a promotion for personnel ranked between E4 to E9:

• Personnel promoted above the rank of E6 must have completed their background check.
• Personnel being promoted above the rank of E6 are required to have completed the Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Advancement Course (SNCOAC).
• Personnel being promoted above the rank of E7 are required to be a member of a MOS.
• The service member must have obtained the following Technical Trainings (TTs):

 

Section 4 - WO Promotions Requirements
The following requirements are in place and must be met for a promotion for personnel ranked between W2 to W5:

• Personnel being promoted above the rank of E9 into Warrant Officer Corps are required to have completed the Warrant Officer Advancement Course (WOAC).
• The service member must have obtained the following Technical Trainings (TTs):

 

Section 5 - CO Promotions Requirements
The following requirements are in place and must be met for a promotion for personnel ranked between O1 to O10:

• Personnel being promoted above the rank of O0 are required to have completed the Air Force Academy (AFA).
• Personnel being promoted above the rank of O3 are required to be a member of a MOS. 
• Personnel being promoted above the rank of O4 are required to hold a command position (minimally AS-6).
• The service member must have obtained the following Technical Trainings (TTs):

 

Section 6 - Promotion Procedure

The majority of promotions will take place in the official headquarters of the United States Air Force. In the event of this, the following procedure must be followed. Minor deviations are authorized, providing they remain professional.

1. The promoting member will call for "Attention!" in HQ.

   1. If the promoting member is not a commissioned officer, they should seek authority. If not, they may proceed with "Front Row, Attention!".

   2. Only those required to be at the attention spot where the member will be reporting should be there.

2. The person being promoted will be called to report by the promoting user, with support being given via whisper if the person being promoted does not know how to report.

3. The promoting member will list the reason for the promotion before issuing the person their new rank.

4. The promoting member will then dismiss the promoted person, allowing them to return to their attention spot.

5. The promoting member will once again congratulate the person encouraging the HQ to congratulate them.

6. The promoting member will call for the headquarters to be At Ease.

   1. If a commissioned officer requests that the attention be passed to them, this should be followed.

 

Section 7 - Time in Grade (TiG)

The following table details the Time in Grade that should be spent in each rank before a promotion is eligible. Just because a member has met their time in grade does not mean they should be promoted. If a rank is absent in this table, they do not have a time in grade and are promoted based on performance alone.

 

 

CHAPTER 3 - DEMOTIONS

Section 1 - General Information

Demotions are a level of punishment given to personnel for violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) at the discretion of the punishing officer. The procedure outlined below is to be followed in full by the administrating officer. Should a member wish to appeal a punishment against them they should utilize the Punishment Appeal Form (PAF).

 

Section 2 - Procedure

This procedure is followed in full by the administrating officer to allow for a seamless process and to ensure that all information is readily available in case of an appeal or review conducted by the Senior Command team.

 

Once an officer decides that they are going to be demoting someone, they are to inform the person detailing the reason why they are going to be demoted, under which articles, and how they can appeal the demotion. Throughout this, the officer should ensure they are documenting responses and remaining professional.

 

Once the officer has informed the person they are being demoted they should action it on the Personnel Tracking System (PTS) and complete a Discipline Report Form (DRF), which will be reviewed by the Director of Security Forces (DSF).

 

NOTE: If the person from their demotion loses access to the Discord Server and Forums, a member of the Air Staff should be contacted ASAP to handle deactivation.

 

CHAPTER 4 - DISCHARGES

Section 1 - Honorable Discharge

Honorable discharges are issued to personnel who have chosen to leave the United States Air Force through official routes, those being either resignation or retirement. All personnel are permitted to resign at any point in their career. Commissioned Officers (O1+) are granted the option to retire with a package arranged with the CSAF.

 

Subsection 1.1 - Discharge Requirements

All personnel who wish to leave the United States Air Force and maintain an honorable discharge must complete a resignation or retirement form. Further information can be found in subsection 1.2.

 

Personnel wishing to resign must inform their command teams before resigning from the United States Air Force. The notice period is provided below, depending on position and pay grade.

• Personnel ranked from E1 to E3 must give no notice of their intent to resign.

• Personnel ranked E4 and above must provide 24 hours' notice of their intent to resign.

  • Personnel who are in a rating should inform their command team.

  • Personnel who are not in a rating should inform the CMSAF.

• Personnel holding a command position within an office must provide 48 hours' notice of their intent to resign to their rating director.

• Personnel ranked O1 and above must give 48 hours' notice of their intent to retire to the CSAF to arrange a retirement package.

• Personnel within the Air Staff must provide 72 hours' notice of their intent to resign to the CSAF.

 

Subsection 1.2 - Resigning / Retiring

Personnel who choose to retire or resign from the United States Air Force should follow the instructions found on the Resignation form - all requests will be processed after 24 hours of the post by a member of AFPC Command.

 

Subsection 1.3 - Returning following Honorable Discharge

Personnel who have been honorably discharged may return to USAF at any time following their discharge. If the returning user has a retirement package this will be used otherwise the following return system will be utilised.

 

1st Return - Return at Same Rank

2nd Return - Return at -1 from Rank

3rd Return - Return at -2 from Rank

4th Return - Re-enlistment

 

NOTE: If it has been 2 months since the user resigned and this is their 4th return they will be permitted a -2 reduction.

 

Section 2 - Dishonorable Discharge

Dishonorable discharges are issued to personnel who have breached articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) at the discretion of the issuing officer.

 

Subsection 2.1 - Discharge Requirements

Personnel may be punished at the investigating officer's discretion for violating UCMJ articles in line with the issuing authority outlined in the Regulation. Personnel, upon being discharged, must be informed of the reason why as well as steps to appeal their punishment. This is the duty of the issuing officer.

 

Subsection 2.2 - Returning following Dishonorable Discharge

Personnel dishonorably discharged from USAF must complete a Pardon Form via the Personnel Tracking System (PTS), which will be reviewed by the Judge Advocate General's Corps team. 

 

A member of the Air Staff must carry out reinstatements following an approved pardon using the outlined return package.

 

Section 3 - General Discharge

General Discharges are issued at the discretion of the officer for articles of the UCMJ where employment is no longer an option for the person being issued the punishment but it does not meet the threshold of a Dishonorable Discharge.

 

Subsection 3.1 - Discharge Requirements

Personnel may be punished at the investigating officer's discretion for violating UCMJ articles in line with the issuing authority outlined in the Naval Instruction. This punishment type is most common for AWOL discharges.

 

Subsection 3.2 - Returning following General Discharge

Personnel who have been generally discharged from USAF are not required to complete a Pardon Form and may be reinstated. Those who return will be given -2 to their original rank on reinstatement. The exception is granted in cases where the discharging officer is present to make the decision.

 

Section 4 - Never Rehire

Never Rehires are only able to be issued by a member of the National Security Council (NSC). They are issued for grievous violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) at the issuing officer's discretion.

 

Subsection 4.1 - Returning following Never Rehire

Personnel who have been never rehired from USAF are required to complete a Pardon Form via the Personnel Tracking System (PTS), which will be reviewed by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force (CSAF) alongside the Judge Advocate General's Corps team. 

 

Reinstatements following an approved appeal must be carried out by a member of the Air Staff using the outlined return package awarded by the CSAF.