{"id":39576,"date":"2023-03-15T18:20:17","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T18:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/03\/15\/nabbing-a-promotion-to-senior-master-sergeant-a-tad-easier-in-2023\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:14:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:14:39","slug":"nabbing-a-promotion-to-senior-master-sergeant-a-tad-easier-in-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/03\/15\/nabbing-a-promotion-to-senior-master-sergeant-a-tad-easier-in-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Nabbing a promotion to senior master sergeant a tad easier in 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

More than 1,600 airmen earned a promotion to senior master sergeant, the Air Force\u2019s second-highest enlisted rank, in the latest selection round, the service announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One in 10 who sought promotion \u2014 from a pool of around 16,000 eligible master sergeants \u2014 will continue up the ladder. That\u2019s a slightly higher rate than in 2022, when about 8% of E-7s got the nod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who made the cut have spent nearly four-and-a-half years as master sergeants and almost 18 years in the Air Force overall. In the years ahead, it is expected that the pool of successful applicants will skew slightly older. This year\u2019s promotion board came amid a push to rebalance the Air Force\u2019s enlisted corps within a workforce that\u2019s projected to stay flat for another year.<\/p>\n\n\n\t