本周早些时候，美国空军表示，135名原本被告知获得晋升的士兵将无法得到晋升，原因是空军发现一项必要的晋升考试存在评分错误。
这一于周二公布的问题仅影响到担任空军执法与安保人员的警卫部队士兵。据空军称，由于使用了过时的答案对晋升测试进行评分，导致空军错误地通知135名士兵，他们已被选中晋升为技术军士——一个中级士兵军衔。
"我们必须立即处理此事，以对受影响者负责，"空军总军士长戴维·沃尔夫在声明中表示，"这对所有受影响的人来说都将很艰难。"
士兵的晋升基于一系列因素，包括测试、培训经历以及服役年限。
空军称此次事件为"孤立"且"极为罕见的异常情况"。他们使用正确答案重新评定了每份试卷。据空军称，在586名被选中晋升的士兵中，有451人将保留晋升资格。
空军官员表示，他们正在评估在晋升流程中增加额外保障措施。
空军还表示，另有135名因测试错误而被错误拒绝晋升的士兵，现在将获得晋升。
此次事件是空军一系列备受关注的测试与评估问题中的最新一起。去年，美国空军学院在发现近100名学员在一项每周知识测试中作弊后，展开了大规模调查。2020年另一起作弊丑闻涉及近250名学员被指控违反荣誉准则，促使学院对其项目进行审查。
"我们根据功绩晋升士兵，这是联邦法律和政策所规定的，"空军人力、人事与服务副参谋长杰斐逊·奥唐奈中将本周早些时候在声明中表示，"作为空军，我们的核心价值观要求择优晋升体系必须保持诚信;我们有核心义务确保真正凭实力获得晋升的士兵被选中。"
Air Force revokes more than 100 promotions after testing snafu
The Air Force earlier this week said 135 airmen who were initially told they had earned promotions will not receive those promotions after the service discovered a scoring error on a required promotion exam.
The issue, announced Tuesday, affected only security forces airmen, who serve as the Air Force's law enforcement and security personnel. An outdated answer key was used to score the promotion test, leading the service to incorrectly notify 135 airmen that they had been selected for promotion to technical sergeant, a mid-level enlisted rank, according to the Air Force.
"We owe it to those affected to address it immediately," Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force David Wolfe, the service's top enlisted leader, said in a statement. "This is going to be hard for everyone impacted."
Airmen's promotions are based on a series of factors including testing, schooling and how long they've been serving.
The service called the incident an "isolated" and a "highly unprecedented anomaly." It rescored each exam with the correct answer key. Out of 586 airmen selected for promotion, 451 will keep their promotions, according to the service.
Air Force officials said they are evaluating the implementation of additional safeguards in its promotion process.
A separate group of 135 airmen who were incorrectly denied promotions because of the testing error will now be promoted, the Air Force said.
The incident is the latest in a series of high-profile testing and evaluation issues involving the service. Last year, the Air Force Academy launched a broad investigation after discovering nearly 100 cadets had cheated on a weekly knowledge test. A separate cheating scandal in 2020 involved nearly 250 cadets accused of honor code violations, prompting a review of the academy's programs.
"We promote Airmen based on merit, which is established in federal law and policy," Lt. Gen. Jefferson O’Donnell, deputy chief of staff for Air Force Manpower, Personnel, and Services, said in a statement earlier this week. "Who we are as an Air Force, defined by our core values, demands integrity in the meritocratic promotion system; we have a core obligation to ensure the Airmen who earned it are selected."
