1.3 Promotion Points, the AFT Conversion, IPPS-A, and Monthly Cutoff Scores

Promotion Points, the AFT Conversion, IPPS-A, and Monthly Cutoff Scores

Core Principle: Passing the board earns the recommendation. The promotion score decides when you actually pin on. Both SGT and SSG compete against an 800-point ceiling, but the four category caps are different for each grade, and they were re-weighted when the record fitness test was folded into the score. Memorize the current numbers from AR 600-8-19, paragraphs 3-15 through 3-18 — the older 340/180-point figures still circulating on study-guide websites are obsolete.

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1. The 800-Point Architecture

Note the arithmetic check a board member may run on you: 280 + 145 + 240 + 135 = 800, and 230 + 165 + 245 + 160 = 800.

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2. Military Training (Para 3-15)

Weapons qualification — 160 points max (SGT), 110 points max (SSG)

• Points come from the most recent qualification with the Soldier's primary weapon, in accordance with TC 3-20.40.
• A qualification more than 24 months old earns zero points. A Soldier in an organization without an assigned weapon may use the latest qualification as an exception, but once assigned to an organization with weapons has 12 months to requalify or lose the score.
• DTMS is the official source. The primary weapon must be assigned in DTMS at least one day before the qualification date, or the system will not capture it. Failure to designate a primary weapon defaults to zero points.
• On DA Form 7801 (rifle/carbine/automatic rifle) the scale runs from 40 hits = 160 points (SGT) / 110 points (SSG) down to 23 hits = 33 points (SGT) / 28 points (SSG). Selected reference points for SGT: 38 hits = 145, 35 hits = 123, 30 hits = 85, 25 hits = 48.
• Soldiers in the Integrated Disability Evaluation System, or on a profile from pregnancy or postpartum, retain their last qualification score until medically cleared.

Record physical fitness test — 120 points max for BOTH grades

The Army Fitness Test (AFT) replaced the ACFT as the test of record on 1 June 2025, and AR 600-8-19 Table 3-4 now converts the AFT aggregate directly:

Rules that matter:

• A Soldier must attain a minimum passing score in each event taken to earn any points, and must use the last record test, even if it is lower than an earlier score.
• Soldiers flagged for AFT failure receive no promotion points.
• Permanent profile: the Soldier takes and passes a record test within the limits of the profile and is awarded 60 points for each event waived or alternate event passed, using the actual score for events performed.
• Temporary profile: the Soldier uses the most current record score, provided it is not more than 1 year old (2 years for pregnancy/postpartum, with a commander's memorandum to extend before expiration).

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3. Awards, Decorations, and Achievements (Para 3-16) — 145 / 165

Selected values from Table 3-5 and Table 3-6:

Three rules candidates routinely miss:

1. Badges are not cumulative. A higher-level badge only increases the score by the difference between the levels. A Master Recruiter Badge is worth 20 total, not 15 + 20 = 35.
2. Certificate of Achievement (DA Form 2442): 5 points each, maximum 20 points. It is awarded by commanders or deputy commanders in positions authorized LTC or higher, by any general officer or GS-13-and-above civilian equivalent, or by brigade-level CSMs.
3. Airborne advantage (Table 3-7): an airborne-qualified Soldier in a paid parachute position receives 20 additional points, and a jumpmaster (ASI 5W) in a paid parachute position receives 40 additional points — and these are awarded without regard to the maximum point rules.

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4. Military Education (Para 3-17) — 240 / 245

• PME is the single largest lever in the score. A graduate of BLC receives an additional 150 promotion points toward SGT; a graduate of ALC receives an additional 150 toward SSG. Add 20 points for commandant's list and 40 points for Distinguished Honor Graduate or Distinguished Leadership Graduate, verified on DA Form 1059. Graduation must be a matter of record no later than the 26th calendar day of the board month.
• Resident training listed in ATRRS earns 4 points per week, where a week is defined as 40 training hours. Ranger, Special Forces, and Sapper qualification courses each earn 40 points, and all phases must be complete.
• No points are granted for MOS-producing courses, badge-producing courses, basic combat training, advanced individual training, new equipment training, language training, OCS, WOCS, on-the-job training, Sergeant's Time Training, FEMA courses, or anything recorded only on a DA Form 87.
• Computer-based training through ATRRS Self-Development or Army e-Learning earns 1 point per 5 hours, and only for courses completed in their entirety — sub-course completion earns nothing. Allow up to 12 days for a completion to populate. Duplicate courses earn nothing.

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5. Civilian Education (Para 3-18) — 135 / 160

• 2 promotion points per semester hour from an institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Quarter, contact, and clock hours convert to semester hours.
• Degree completion: 20 points. For SSG the degree must have been completed while in the rank of SGT; for SGT it must have been awarded after enlistment and before promotion to SGT.
• CLEP / DANTES: 2 points per credit hour where the credit is not duplicated on a transcript.
• Technical certifications: 10 points each for a T2COM-approved certification, not to exceed five certifications or 50 points. Recertification earns nothing additional.
• Defense Language Proficiency Test: 25 points for a 1/1 listening-and-reading rating (or 1 in speaking on the OPI). Both modalities must be taken within 30 days of each other, and the score must be no more than one year old at the point-computation month.

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6. IPPS-A, the PRR, and the Monthly Cycle

Promotion points are computed automatically by IPPS-A from the data in the Soldier's record. Under paragraph 3-14, that automation is paired with a hard rule: there is no consideration for correcting a score outside the promotion cycle because information was missing or incomplete. A data entry made in February drives the 1 April promotion month.

• Integration suspense: HR professionals must execute all integrations no later than the 26th day of the month; the record should then read "Promote Select."
• Order of merit: the promotion recommended roster (PRR) groups Soldiers by grade and MOS, sequenced by promotion score from highest to lowest, regardless of zone.
• Roster Audit History (RAH): an IPPS-A tool giving a date-by-date breakdown of a Soldier's points by category (AFT, weapons, awards, and so on). This is the tool to use before disputing a score.
• Backdated promotions are requested as an Administrative Systems Correction (ASC), not an Administrative Records Correction (ARC); an ARC is not pay-impacting and generates no promotion order.
• Reevaluation: a Soldier who believes their score has increased by 20 or more points may request an administrative reevaluation at any time.

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7. Reading the HQDA Cutoff Score Memorandum

Each month HRC's Promotions Branch publishes HQDA Promotion Point Cutoff Scores under the record number 600-8-19h, roughly on the 20th, for promotions effective the 1st of the following month. Army-level decisions are made against requirements and inventory data as of 0200 Eastern time on the 2nd calendar day of the month.

The memorandum lists, by MOS, the cutoff score, eligibles on list, and estimated promotions for SGT and SSG. Reading it:

• A numeric cutoff (for example, 11B SGT at 250): every Soldier in that MOS on the order of merit list at or above 250 who meets the pin-on gates is selected.
• A cutoff of 798: the practical ceiling. The MOS is effectively closed for that grade in that cycle because requirements are met or exceeded.
• The published floor (currently 24): a "star MOS" shortage. Every fully qualified Soldier on the recommended list is selected.
• "N/A": no requirement published for that MOS and grade this cycle.

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8. Two Worked Calculations

Specialist Garcia — competing for Sergeant (11B)

Note that Garcia's military-education line is capped at 240, so all 220 count. Against a published 11B SGT cutoff of 250, Garcia is selected.

Sergeant Jenkins — competing for Staff Sergeant (91B)

Jenkins's raw military-education line is 260, which the 245-point category cap reduces to 245. Jenkins has graduated BLC, so the pin-on PME requirement is satisfied.