The Air Force has approved 1,688 FY17 retraining quotas in 74 Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSC) for eligible active duty First Term Airmen (FTA).
FTA retraining allows Airmen, to retrain in conjunction with a reenlistment into skills where a shortage exists. If a FTA meets the eligibility requirement, he or she may apply to retrain into one of the open quotas found in the FTA column of the Retraining Advisory.
The FTA board for selection of retraining is conducted the last duty day of every month. AFPC Formal Training and Retraining Section (AFPC/DP1SST) will rank the applications according to AFI 36-2626, Airman Retraining Program paragraph 5.1.3. Applications will be approved/disapproved no later than the 15th of the following month.
ELIGIBILITY
Airmen assigned in the Continental United States (CONUS) apply for retraining no earlier than the first duty day of the month, when they complete 35 months of their current enlistment (59 months for 6-year enlistees), but no later than the last duty day of the 43rd month of their current enlistment (67 months for 6-year enlistees).
Airman assigned overseas apply between the 15th and 9th month before their date eligible to return from overseas (DEROS) and will enter their retraining window (35th – 43rd month for 4-year enlistees) or (59th – 67th month for 6 year enlistees) on or before their DEROS.
FTA early retraining is allowed at the half-way point (4 year enlistee can apply upon completion of 24 months of service; 6 year enlistees can apply upon completion of 36 months of service), for AFSC’s on the Active Duty Enlisted Retraining Shortfall Requirements List. FTA retrainees applying under the early retraining program will be utilizing their one and only FTA retraining option.
The quality review board for selection of retraining is conducted the last duty day every month. After each board, all applications that were not selected for that board will remain eligible until the next board. All applications meet three consecutive boards and, if not selected, are disapproved. Approvals can take up to 1 - 2 weeks to update.
Because you will compete through the board for the available retraining AFSCs with all other first term airmen, Air Force-wide, you are highly encouraged to apply for the maximum number of AFSC choices available on the Request for Retraining.
The quality review board uses the following criteria to rank the applications: Most recent EPR rating; current grade; projected grade; next two EPR ratings; Date of Rank (DOR); Total Active Federal Military Service Date (TAFMSD); Mechanical, administrative, general, or electronic (MAGE) aptitude score, derived from the ASVAB, IAW AFECD, Part II, Attachment 4 (Additional Qualifications); requested AFSC preferences.
If you have already applied for retraining and your application was disapproved or cancelled, you may reapply only under the following conditions:
-You were removed from the Air Force CJR waiting list, and not within 120 days of DOS (Airmen in this category will meet one board)
-You were, through no fault of your own, unable to apply during the retraining window because of reenlistment ineligibility