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A promotion story

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Gerald Dickson
  • First Sergeant's Group
As a young senior airman in the mid 1980s, I didn't put a whole lot of effort into Weighted Airman Promotion System testing. With that said, I was one of the lucky ones. I made staff sergeant on what was then called carry over: WAPS scores were carried over six months later and promotion selections were made twice a year for staff sergeant. 

Being promoted to staff sergeant without studying may have been the worst thing that happened to me. When it came time to test for technical sergeant I thought to myself, "I made staff sergeant without studying, I can do the same for technical." Boy, was I wrong.
 
Six years later, when I finally got a clue and decided to put in the time and effort to study, I was promoted to technical sergeant and subsequently to master sergeant. 

Promotion to the next grade is completely in your hands. I have heard from way too many people, "I'm just not good at taking tests." While this may be true, your career is in your hands. I would venture to say that the majority of those individuals with that excuse didn't put in a good effort to study and would most likely make the cut if they would hit the books hard and make a conscious decision to really study for testing. 

Today's Air Force is a smarter Air Force than the one I came into more than 20 years ago, but being smarter does not make up for the study time needed for promotion. You are now testing against all those other smart members of our Air Force and need to set yourself above the rest to be promoted. 

If you want to get promoted, putting in the extra effort to study will pay off in the end. When I didn't study, I didn't get promoted. When I buckled down and spent the time to study, low and behold, I was getting a call from my commander congratulating me on my promotion. 

It's an awesome feeling to know that all your extra efforts have paid off and you are moving up in the ranks. 

It's your career, take control of it and make it happen. 

Remember, when you are in the testing room, it's just you and the test, no one is going to be there to help you.