Air Force pulls 135 promotions after grading mistake
Source: USA Today
July 8, 2026, 7:51 p.m. ET
More than 100 U.S. Air Force airmen who thought they'd been promoted are now being told they didn't make the cut after the service uncovered a scoring error on a key advancement exam, forcing officials to revoke 135 promotions and award 135 others. An outdated answer key threw off the results of a Security Forces promotion exam, prompting the Air Force to rescore more than 2,200 tests.
The review found that 135 airmen were wrongly told they had earned promotions, while another 135 who should have been selected were left off the list. "We owe it to those affected to address it immediately," Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force David R. Wolfe said in a statement on July 7. "This is going to be hard for everyone impacted."
The Air Force said the error affected only security forces personnel competing for promotion to technical sergeant and no other career fields were impacted. Officials stressed that the mistake was caused by human error and not by artificial intelligence. The service called it an "isolated and highly unprecedented anomaly."
To correct the issue, the Air Force rescored every eligible Security Forces exam using a validated answer key. Of the 586 airmen selected for promotion in the career field, 451 will keep their promotions, while 135 will lose their line numbers and 135 newly identified airmen will be added to the list. The total number of promotions remains unchanged.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/07/08/air-force-promotions-revoked-scoring-error-135-airmen/90855816007/
displacedvermoter
(5,278 posts)important than enhanced emphasis on "warfighting", and fucking with Stars and Stripes, and picking on young men who require shaving wavers because of skin conditions. I just hope this was not done accidently on purpose because they didn't like the outcome, too many women and men of color making Tech Sergeant.
Back in the day, Tech was the hardest stripe to make. A Tech line number put you in line to train for area supervisor, convoy commander,or assistant flight chief, and making it early enough, under ten year, was something to base a solid career on.
I just hope Chief Wolfe is as ashamed and embarrassed as he should be. Warfighting, my ass ...
sinkingfeeling
(58,335 posts)Buddyzbuddy
(3,105 posts)twodogsbarking
(20,009 posts)FakeNoose
(43,302 posts)Especially since this seems to be a multiple-choice test that's graded by computer, as opposed to human-graded composition or essay would be scored.
Really? one wrong answer and you're out ....
displacedvermoter
(5,278 posts)time in grade (how long you have been at your current SSgt rank), time in service (how long you have been in the Air Force), your performance evaluation scores,
and any medals worth points are also factored into the formula. It's not just missing one question on a test.
It is a crushing thing to have happen, and they should all be embarrassed they did this to important mid level NCOs.
BidenRocks
(3,711 posts)What a concept!
displacedvermoter
(5,278 posts)the concept, and the military leadership now in charge now have marching orders to stress physical training, adherence to politics and homogeny over a sense of shared purpose in a diverse but unified setting, and a bunch of other nonsense.
So absurd the lack of attention to details, the lack of emphasis on training, and the fact that senior leadership uses the troops as props.