Air Force sergeant promotion errors: 'No AI products used, result of human error,' says Air Force service after 135 airmen lose promotions

More than 100 US Air Force personnel who were initially told they had earned a promotion have now lost their jobs. The development came after officials discovered a major scoring error during this year's promotion process, according to NewsWeek.

The Air Force sergeant promotion errors affected 135 Security Forces staff sergeants, whose promotion results were overturned after an outdated answer key was mistakenly used to score a key exam. Following a review, another 135 airmen have now been added to the promotion list. The number of promotions remain unchanged.

ALSO READ: California co-founder of $8 billion asset management firm fired for skipping his own return-to-office rule, now seeks $30 million

Air Force says it was human error, not AI

Air Force officials described the incident as an isolated administrative mistake.

The service said: "No artificial intelligence products were used in the erroneous promotion cycle process; it was the result of human error."

ALSO READ: Meet 'the next Albert Einstein' Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski

Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force David R. Wolfe acknowledged the impact on those whose promotions were reversed. "We owe it to those affected to address it immediately," Wolfe said. "This is going to be hard for everyone impacted."

He added: "We owe it to our airmen to own the mistake and to take the necessary actions to not only make it right today, but to prevent future issues."

The 135 newly selected airmen are expected to be notified through a supplemental promotion process after senior leaders are informed.

Meanwhile, the Air Force said it has already strengthened its internal review procedures. The Air Education and Training Command and the Air Force Personnel Center are also conducting a broader review to prevent similar errors in future promotion cycles.

What caused the Air Force sergeant promotion errors?

The US Air Force said the mistake occurred during the 2026 Technical Sergeant (E-6) promotion cycle for the Security Forces career field.

According to officials, an enlisted promotions team member at the Air Force Personnel Center discovered that an outdated scoring key had been used to grade the Specialty Knowledge Test (SKT) for Security Forces personnel.

The incorrect answer key resulted in 27 questions being graded incorrectly, affecting promotion scores across the career field. Officials highlighted that the error was limited to the Security Forces specialty and did not impact any other Air Force jobs.

135 promotions revoked after review

After discovering the error, the Air Force re-scored the exams of more than 2,000 Security Forces airmen who competed for promotion.

The review found that 135 airmen who had originally been selected for promotion no longer qualified under the corrected scores. Their promotions were withdrawn.

At the same time, 135 different staff sergeants who should have qualified based on the corrected scoring will now receive promotions through a supplemental promotion release. The total number of available promotions in the Security Forces career field remains unchanged at 586.