7.3 Preparation & Individual Responsibilities

Preparation Is an Individual Responsibility

AFH 1 opens with a sentence that frames the entire section: "Preparing for promotion testing is an individual responsibility." All promotion-eligible individuals must:

1. Know their eligibility status
2. Maintain specialty and military qualifications
3. Initiate a self-study plan
4. Obtain all applicable study references as outlined in the promotion catalog
5. Ensure their selection folder is accurate if it will be reviewed by the central evaluation board
6. Be prepared to test on the beginning of the testing window

AFH 1 adds two practical rules: members unavailable during the entire testing cycle must be prepared to test prior to their departure, even if that is before the first day of the testing cycle, and Airmen may opt to test early provided the correct test booklets are available.

Note on the catalog's name. AFH 1 refers to the Enlisted Promotions References and Requirements Catalog (EPRRC). The Air Force now publishes that same product as the WAPS Catalog (formerly EPRRC) on studyguides.af.mil, issued separately for each grade and cycle. Answer PFE items using AFH 1's terminology; use the current WAPS Catalog when you actually go looking for your references.

Test Compromise — the Rules That Bind You Right Now

Airmen must use a self-initiated program of individual study and effort under WAPS. Then the prohibition:

Group study (two or more people) for the purposes of enlisted promotion testing is strictly prohibited.

The stated rationale is that the prohibition protects the integrity of the promotion testing program by ensuring promotion test scores reflect each member's individual knowledge.

The penalty is specific, and the exam tests it. Enlisted personnel who violate these prohibitions are subject to prosecution under Article 92 of the UCMJ for violating a lawful general regulation. Conviction can result in:

• A dishonorable discharge
• Forfeiture of all pay and allowances
• Confinement for up to two years

Information on test compromise is contained in DAFMAN 36-2664.

The Permitted Exception

AFH 1's note is as testable as the prohibition itself:

Training designed to improve general military knowledge does not constitute group study as long as the intent of the training is not to study for promotion tests. Likewise, training to improve general study habits or test-taking skills is permissible if the training does not focus on preparing for promotion tests.

So a squadron professional development session on Air Force history is lawful; the same session advertised as "PFE prep" is not. Intent and framing decide it.

The Four Specific Prohibitions

The highlighted study reference rule surprises people: marking up your own copy is fine, but passing that marked-up copy to another Airman is sharing prohibited material.

Distribution of Study References

The Barnes Center for Enlisted Education, Air Force Career Development Academy, is responsible for providing promotion-eligible members access to WAPS Career Development Courses, available online at the USAF Enlisted Promotion Study Guides website (studyguides.af.mil). The site is updated to coincide with release of the catalog. Other study materials — instructions, manuals, technical orders — are on the Air Force Departmental Publishing Office website (e-publishing.af.mil) or other approved repositories.

The 60-day rule. Per DAFMAN 36-2664, promotion-eligible Airmen must have access to reference materials at least 60 days before the scheduled test date. If not, the Airman may request a delay in testing. Individuals may ask unit WAPS monitors to order catalog-listed reference material that is not locally available.

The Promotion Eligibility Cutoff Date

The PECD does two jobs: it determines promotion eligibility, and it is the cutoff that determines when the contents of the selection folder and the information on promotion evaluation briefs must be updated and complete. It is the date that promotion criteria are considered, including the data on the Data Verification Brief used for board evaluation. For SNCOs, that information is then used to post the SNCO evaluation brief filed in the SNCO selection folder.

Competition category on the PECD: individuals with a reporting identifier or special duty identifier designated as their control AFSC on the PECD compete within that identifier. Otherwise, MSgts compete in the superintendent level of the CAFSC held as of the PECD, and SMSgts compete in the chief enlisted manager code of that CAFSC.

The Data Verification Record

AFH 1 calls the Data Verification Record (DVR) "the document utilized for promotion consideration and the most important tool to review to ensure information on a promotion record is complete."

All eligible Airmen must review their DVR in the Automated Records Management System / Personnel Records Display Application (ARMS/PRDA). If an error or omission is noted:

1. The Airman must immediately contact their military personnel flight
2. The MPF updates the Military Personnel Data System with the correct data and updates the DVR on the virtual military personnel flight
3. The Airman reviews the updated record to verify changes were completed accurately

Do not confuse three similar documents. AFH 1 warns explicitly that data on the DVR should not be confused with the Data Verification Brief or a Single Unit Retrieval Format (SURF).

The Review Steps and the Two Categories

"As Is" versus "As Met" is the single most-keyed pair in Section 9C. The Selection Folder shows your record as it currently stands; the Board category shows the record as the board actually saw it. Reversing them is the standard distractor, and the distinction matters in practice because a supplemental board request usually turns on what the board actually met — the "As Met" record.

This connects directly back to Section 9A: supplemental consideration may be denied when an error appeared on the data verification record and the individual did not take the necessary steps to correct it beforehand. Reviewing the DVR is not administrative housekeeping; it is the step that preserves your remedy.