Air Force to Test ‘Next Airmen Up’ List to Backfill Declined Promotions to E-9

The Air Force will test out a “next Airmen up” list for the upcoming chief master sergeant promotion cycle, to identify qualified candidates should any of those selected to move up in rank decline to do so.

Currently, any time a senior master sergeant declines a promotion to chief master sergeant, the slot goes unfilled until the next cycle. Under the new “Supplemental Order of Merit List” effort, this year’s promotion board will create an alternate list from the next group of unselected promotion scores for each Air Force Specialty Code to fill any vacancy, according to a Nov. 3 Air Force announcement.

Over the past four years, 59 senior master sergeants have declined promotion, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David R. Wolfe said during his Aug. 11 keynote speech at the Air Force Sergeants Association Summit.

“An Airman’s decision to decline a promotion is often a deeply personal one. … We must treat those decisions with absolute respect,” Wolfe said in that speech, according to an Air Force announcement. “However, the critical leadership vacancies left behind are very real, sometimes leaving key operational requirements unfilled for more than a year. Utilizing the board-established order of merit to identify the next Airmen up, we ensure that we remain a merit-based force while placing highly qualified, ready leaders into roles where our Airmen and our mission need them most.”

The Supplemental Order of Merit List, or SOML, effort does not change how the board scores records, where the cut line falls, or who is selected when the list is first released, the announcement states.

“Placement on the SOML does not constitute selection for promotion and creates no entitlement to promotion,” according to an Oct. 13 memo signed by Richard L. Anderson, assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs.

The cycle covers senior master sergeants who met eligibility as of July 31, the promotion eligibility cutoff date. Selections will tentatively be announced in November, with promotions effective January through December 2027.

Under the SOML effort, the promotion board scores records and applies quotas by Control AFSC as it does now, establishing an initial cut line for each AFSC. Once the quota for an AFSC is exhausted, the board takes the next score category of non-selects immediately below that cut line and puts those records in order of merit, using the same scoring procedures and the same board charge, the announcement states.

In cases where records are tied, board members continue scoring the tied records until a clear order exists. The board then votes to finalize the order. If a majority agrees, the SOML for that AFSC is final and is included with the official board report.

The list is used in one circumstance—when a selectee declines promotion during the initial 10-day declination window after selections are announced, the Air Force Personnel Center may fill that allocation from the SOML for the same promotion AFSC, in order of merit, according to the announcement.

Only the next board grouping below the initial cut line is eligible, the announcement states. Airmen scored below that category will not be considered.

The SOML effort is separate from the Air Force’s existing supplemental promotion processes. Monthly in-system supplemental releases and the senior noncommissioned officer supplemental board continue unchanged; those exist solely to correct records and eligibility issues for individual Airmen, the announcement states. The SOML is also distinct from the board’s existing “gray area” procedure, which re-scores the score category below the cut line to fill remaining quota before the list is released.

The SOML covers the chief master sergeant cycle for 2026 only and expires at the end of that cycle or upon publication of revisions to AFI 36-2502, Air Force Enlisted Airman Promotion and Demotion Programs, whichever comes first, according to the announcement.

Lessons from this cycle will inform how the SOML process is applied to future senior NCO boards. If successful, the Air Force plans to continue using it for the senior master sergeant and master sergeant boards, the announcement states.

During last year’s cycle, the Air Force selected 640 of 2,445 eligible senior master sergeants, resulting in a 27 percent increase over the 2024 cycle’s numbers. The selection rate of 26.18 percent was also the highest going back at least 10 years, according to data compiled by Air & Space Forces Magazine.

Promotion rates for Air Force senior noncommissioned officers have held steady or climbed in recent years, while mid-grade NCOs saw plunging rates in 2022 and 2023 followed by modest recoveries in 2024.

The Air Force recently embarked on an effort to rebalance the enlisted force structure after determining they were promoting too many Airmen in middle-tier NCO ranks without the necessary experience, leaving a gap in leadership. Lower promotion rates in the middle tier were meant to give NCOs more time in grade to develop.