9.2 Evaluation Boards (AFH-1 Section 9E)

9.2 Evaluation Boards (AFH-1 Section 9E)

Quick Answer: The SNCO promotion evaluation board accounts for over half of the total promotion score. Each panel is one Colonel and two Chief Master Sergeants; the board president is always a General Officer. Members score records from 6 to 10 in half-point increments. The three-member composite (18 to 30) is multiplied by 15, producing a board score of 270 to 450. Your promotion to Staff Sergeant or Technical Sergeant does not use this board—it uses AFI 36-2502 Table 2.4. Section 9E is still ADTC B for SSgt and TSgt, so the PFE tests how SNCO boards work.

Hold this distinction on every 9E item: SSgt and TSgt promotions are WAPS selections under AFI 36-2502, 2 July 2026, Table 2.4. No central panel scores your SSgt or TSgt record. Master Sergeant, Senior Master Sergeant, and Chief Master Sergeant promotions use the evaluation board in AFH 1 Section 9E and the board-score math in AFI 36-2502 Table 2.5. You still study 9E because the ADTC lists it at level B for SSgt and TSgt.

Why SNCO boards dominate the score

AFH 1 paragraph 9.19 says the promotion evaluation board accounts for over half the total promotion score points. Member selection, board process, and the career areas members consider are what later SNCO promotion requires—and what the PFE already asks.

How panels are built

The number of promotion-eligible personnel, identified by major commands and Air Force Specialty Codes, determines the career field backgrounds of board members. Members are divided into panels.

Board panel composition

The president is not "usually" a general—AFH 1 says always.

Whole-person areas the board may consider

Paragraph 9.20 lists several areas regarding an Airman's career, which may include:

• Performance
• Education
• Breadth of experience
• Job responsibility
• Professional competence
• Specific achievements
• Leadership

Board scores vary, often significantly, from one board to the next because of new panel members, changed or improved records, and a pool of new eligibles. Scores also vary between panels, but all records within a Chief Enlisted Manager (CEM) Code or AFSC are evaluated under the same standard. The useful comparison is order of merit among peers, not last year's raw board number.

Board members do not have access to the weighted scores of people competing for promotion. When members disband, they do not know who was selected.

Trial run, secret ballots, and 270 to 450

Before live scoring, members receive two selected sets of records and score them as practice with secret ballots. Each board sets its own standard; everyone in a CEM Code or AFSC is then judged against it.

After the trial run is discussed, panels score live records. Each panel member uses a 6- to 10-point scale and half-point increments. A record may receive a panel composite (three members) from a minimum of 18 (6-6-6) to a maximum of 30 (10-10-10). The composite is multiplied by a factor of 15, producing a total board score of 270 to 450. AFI 36-2502 Table 2.5 repeats that same calculation for MSgt, SMSgt, and CMSgt. AFH 1 and the current AFI still publish those numbers; they are not unofficial study-guide math.

Members score individually with no discussion. Records go to each member, and completed ballots go directly to a recorder, so scoring stays independent.

Split votes

A record scored with a difference of more than one point between any of the panel members (AFH 1's example: 8.5, 8.0, and 7.0) is a split vote and is returned to the panel for resolution. Members may then discuss the record openly and explain why they scored it as they did. Only those panel members directly involved in the split may change their scores. If they cannot agree, they give the record to the board president for resolution. That protects consistency and prevents one member from having a major positive or negative impact.

AFH 1's tested split rule is more than one point, not an unofficial 1.5-point shortcut.

Post-board processing and score notices

After the board finishes, weighted factor scores are combined with the board scores in a completely electronic operation that builds an order of merit by total score within each CEM Code or AFSC and applies the promotion quota to each list. After approval, data goes to the military personnel section.

Promotion score notices report relative standing and should never be provided to or used by anyone other than the individual and his or her commander. Scores cannot be disclosed without the Airman's written consent. Commander's support staffs, first sergeants, supervisors, etc., are not authorized access. The commander notifies selection or non-selection and may review the notice, but must limit use to notification and advisory counseling with no further dissemination. After initial selection for the current cycle, Airmen may retrieve a copy on the virtual military personnel flight and compare scores with statistics in the MPF or on vMPF through AFPC.

Section 9E is SNCO machinery. Your SSgt/TSgt stripe still lives in Table 2.4. Learn the board so you can answer PFE items about panels, whole-person factors, 270–450 math, split votes, and score-notice privacy.