SUBJECT:  Enlisted Personnel Management System

References:  (a)  DoD Directive 1304.20, "Enlisted Personnel Management System," October 8, 1974 (hereby canceled)

(c)  DoD Instruction 1304.22, "Administration of Enlisted Personnel Bonus and Proficiency Pay Programs," April 20, 1983

(d)  Section 517 of title 10, United States Code, "Authorized Daily Average: Members in Paygrades E-8 and E-9"

1.  REISSUANCE AND PURPOSE

1.2.  It:

2.  APPLICABILITY

This Directive applies to the Military Departments.  The term "Military Services," as used herein, refers to the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Marine Corps.

3.  DEFINITION

4.  POLICY

4.1.  The Enlisted Personnel Management System.  The Enlisted Personnel Management System is the total process by which enlisted personnel are developed professionally to satisfy force structure authorizations and provides the context and framework for enlisted personnel management action.  The objective of the Enlisted Personnel Management System is to assist in attaining the following goals:

4.2.  The Enlisted Personnel Management Plan.  The Enlisted Personnel Management Plan constitutes those resourced or programmed personnel management actions that the Military Services intend to take in order to achieve the annual Program Objective Forces.  It includes a statement of the annual objectives and policies and provides a common basis for analysis of plan implementation and resource allocation.

4.3.  The Steady-State Objective Force.  The Steady-State Objective Force is that enlisted personnel force structure by grade and years of service that supports attainment of Military Service long-term goals and missions, and that has the capability for orderly expansion or reduction.  This force supports internal Military Service modeling, policy analysis, and planning.  Military Services may submit a Steady-State Objectives Force to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) as supplemental support for Military Service personnel management program, but it is not required.

5.  RESPONSIBILITIES

5.2.  Each Military Service shall be responsible for:

6.  INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS

7.  EFFECTIVE DATE AND IMPLEMENTATION

This Directive is effective immediately.  Reports shall be submitted to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower, Installations and Logistics) by March 15 in support of the Program Objective Memorandum (POM) submission for that year.

Enclosures - 5

E1.  ENCLOSURE 1

REFERENCES, continued

(e)  Section 201 of title 37, United States Code, "Pay Grades:  Assignment to; general rules"

(g)  DoD Directive 5000.11, "Data Elements and Data Codes Standardization Program," December 7, 1964

(h)  DoD 5000.12-M, "DoD Manual for Standard Data Elements," December 1982

(i)  DoD Directive 5124.1, "Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower, Installations, and Logistics)," January 12, 1984

(k)  DoD 1312.1-M, "Occupational Conversion Manual, Enlisted/Officer/Civilian," December 1982

E2.  ENCLOSURE 2

DEFINTIONS

E2.1.1.  Active Years of Service.  Total Active Federal Military Service (TAFMS) or service creditable for retirement.  Also referred to as Time-in-Service (TIS) or Years-of-Service (YOS).

E2.1.2.  Authorizations Plus Individuals (API).  The annual Force Structure Authorizations added to the individuals that are used in development of the annual Objective Forces.

E2.1.3.  Desired Promotion Time-in-Service.  The TIS at the time of promotion that must be meet by those who are not promoted within the "waiver zone."

E2.1.4.  End Strength.  The total number of active duty personnel within each Military Service by category at the end of the fiscal year.

E2.1.5.  Enlisted Personnel Management Plan.  The complete set of resourced and mutually supporting personnel plans that when implemented in accordance with approved personnel policy, through operation of the Enlisted Personnel Management System, result in achievement of the annual Objective Forces.

E2.1.6.  Enlisted Personnel Management System.  The total process by which enlisted personnel are developed professionally to satisfy force structure authorizations (e.g., accessing, recruiting, training, assigning, promoting, rotating, transferring, discharging, reenlisting, and retiring military personnel).  (Also referred to as force renewal.)

E2.1.7.  Force Structure Authorizations.  Total budgeted or programmed manpower positions identified by grade, skill, and other relevant characteristic (e.g., unit, location, and gender constraint, etc.) for a specified fiscal year.  (Also referred as authorizations.)

E2.1.8.  Individuals.  Transients, trainees, patients, prisoners, holdees, cadets, and students who are included within the manpower program but are not reflected within the force structure authorizations.

E2.1.9.  Military Specialty.  Equates to Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) in the Army and Marine Corps, to Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC) in the Air Force, and rating in the Navy.  (Also referred to as specialty or skill.)

E2.1.10.  Minimum Promotion Time-in-Service.  The absolute minimum TIS an enlisted member must have to be eligible for promotion to the next higher grade without prior approval of the ASD(MI&L) or designated representative.

E2.1.12.  Occupational Field (Two-digit Specialty).  An aggregate of specialties within each Military Service that is defined as a Self-Renewing Occupational Field (SROF) or Non-Self Renewing Occupational Field (NSROF).

E2.1.13.  Over-four Component (Personnel).  Personnel with 4 or more years of completed active service (TAFMS).  (Also referred to as career content or career force.)

E2.1.14.  Personnel Force Structure.  An actual or projected configuration of the enlisted force that may be displayed by one or more characteristics, such as time-in-service, grade, specialty, and gender, etc.

E2.1.15.  Professional Development.  The process by which enlisted personnel are trained and utilized to satisfy authorizations in terms of skill, experience and grade.

E2.1.16.  Program Objective Force.  An achievable enlisted personnel force, identified by grade and years of service, which supports accomplishment of the Military Service missions; and is based on force structure authorizations and individuals for the current year through the program years.  (Also referred to as "Objective Force" in this Directive.)

E2.1.17.  Steady-State Objective Force.  That enlisted personnel force structure by grade and years of service that supports attainment of long-term goals and missions of the Military Services and that has the capability for orderly expansion or reduction.  This force supports internal Service modeling, policy analysis, and planning.  The Military Services may submit a Steady-State Objective Force to OSD as supplemental support for the Military Service personnel management program, but it is not required.

E2.1.18.  Top 5/6.  The actual or projected numeric or percentage content in the top five enlisted grades (E5 through E9) or in the top six enlisted grades (E4 through E9).

E2.1.19.  Under-four Component (Personnel).  Personnel with less than four (4) years of completed active service (TAFMS).  (Also referred to as non-career content or non-career force.)

E2.1.20.  Waiver Authority.  The percentage of the serving force in a particular grade which may have, without prior ASD(MI&L) approval, less than the requisite desired promotion TIS at the end of each fiscal year.  Waiver authority is constrained to by-grade content for E2 through E4, while it is tied to the level of detail at which each Military Service manages promotions to E5 and above.

E3.  ENCLOSURE 3

THE ENLISTED PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT PLAN REQUIREMENTS

E3.1.1.  The Enlisted Personnel Management Plan includes the supporting plans that contribute to achievement of the annual Objectives Forces.  Under the Plan, each Military Service manages its personnel, in accordance with applicable policies, through the operation of the Enlisted Personnel Management System.

E3.1.2.  The Plan shall be developed in consideration of:

E3.1.3.  The Plan must identify:

E3.1.4.  The approved Plan constitutes a statement of intent.  Its implementation shall result in the achievement of the annual Objective Forces.

E4.  ENCLOSURE 4

CONSTRAINTS

E4.1.1.  The minimum essential controls on the Enlisted Personnel Management System, the Enlisted Personnel Management Plan, and Objective Forces are as follows:

E4.1.2.  Deviation from the above constraints requires prior approval of the ASD(MI&L).

E5.  ENCLOSURE 5

PROMOTION TIME-SERVICE-CRITERIA

E5.1.1.  The following guidelines reflect the desired and minimum promotion time-in-service requirements for promotion eligibility and the maximum percent of waiver authority that may be used in the annual promotion program, enlisted personnel management plans, Objective Forces, and program and budget submissions:

Promotion to Grade	Desired TIS (Yrs) 1	Minimum TIS (Yrs) 2	Percent Waiver Authority3
E-9	19	10	10
E-8	16	8	10
E-7	11	6	10
E-6	7	4	10
E-5	3	1.5	10
E-4	2	0.5	20
E-3	1	Active Duty Entry	20
E-2	0.5	Active Duty Entry	20

1 Desired TIS (Yrs)) Column.  The years of service contained in this column are the DESIRED time-in-service (TIS) at the time of promotion that may be possessed by enlisted personnel who are not promoted within the "waiver zone."

2 Minimum TIS (Yrs) Column.  The years of service contained in this column are the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM TIS an enlisted member must have to be eligible for promotion to the applicable grade.  No personnel shall be promoted earlier than the year of active military service listed in this column without approval of ASD(MI&L) or a designee (Note 4 below).

3 Percent Waiver Authority Column.  The percentages shown in this column specify the proportion of members that may serve in the waiver zone at each grade, and at the level of detail that the Military Service manages promotions to E-5 and above (i.e., at the two-digit occupational field or at the military specialty code), at the end of the fiscal year.  The maximum number of waivered members shall be based upon the by-grade and strength derived from the total end strength authorized for a Military Service by Congress through the Department of Defense Appropriations Authorization Bill as distributed by the Secretary of Defense or his designee.  Personnel undergoing training for commissions shall be deducted from the applicable grade strength before determining the maximum number of personnel who may be serving in the waiver zone.  The waiver percentage for E-5 and above shall be computed based on the serving population in the applicable grade for applicable occupational level at the end of the fiscal year.  Unused waiver authority at E-5 and above may be passed down to successively lower grades feeding the same specialty or occupational field, whichever is applicable, when the higher grade specialty is at or below 85 percent of its authorized strength and the lower grades cannot make up the difference within the waiver limit.  At no time shall the waiver zone content for these "shortages" specialties or occupational fields, whichever applies, exceed 30 percent without ASD(MI&L) approval.

4 The ASD(MI&L) or designee may waive the minimum TIS and the percent waiver authority under unusual circumstances.  Requests for waiver of any of the policies prescribed in this Directive must describe the program for which a waiver is being requested, the duration of the waiver, and justification for the proposed adjustments to the DoD Promotion Criteria as the most appropriate method of coping with a specific problem.

5 Members of the U.S. Army Band, the U.S. Navy Band, and the U.S. Air Force Band, and the U.S. Marine Corps Band are exempt from the minimum TIS criteria above for grades E-1 through E-7.  Personnel promoted under this authority must be accommodated within the overall percent waiver authority.