AFPC directs changes to evaluations Published Jan. 22, 2013 By Senior Airman Caitlin O'Neil-McKeown 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- U.S. Air Force officials released new regulations in the Air Force Instruction 36-2406, Officer and Enlisted Evaluation Systems. The changes were directed by the Air Force Personnel Center headquarters and went into effect Jan. 2. While most of the program remains unchanged, there are important updates Airmen of all ranks should be aware of. "These changes incorporate numerous revised policies and procedural changes involving performance feedback and evaluation reports that have been implemented since the last revision," said Master Sgt. Ruby Corpuz, 786th Force Support Squadron superintendent of force management. "The importance is to clarify existing policies and procedures, to include procedures for the electronic form and digital signatures." One important change involves ratee and rater separation. Previously, if a rater and a supervised Airman were separated for 30 consecutive days or more in a given rating period, those days would be removed from the supervision time. This sometimes resulted in reports that were closed out well over 12 months since the previous report. This provision has been removed, and supervisors cannot deduct any period of supervision during the rating period. The next change to the AFI reduces the rebuttal time of a referral evaluation to three duty days, when it once was 10 calendar days. This is not the only change in regards to the referral evaluations; referral reports can no longer close out with an overall five rating. They must close out with a four or less overall rating, but variations may apply at times. "There are exceptions to certain rules and, depending on the circumstances, they will be judged on a case-by-case basis," said Corpuz. More important information includes a statement that master sergeants and above, to include officers, now have 15 days after a civilian conviction to report it to their first-line supervision. "The new AFI 36-2406 revisions do not significantly change current evaluation procedures," said Corpuz. "Those responsible for reviewing reports are strongly recommended to take some time to read and understand the changes." The newly restructured document includes all previous updates and guilds that have been published since previous publications. This AFI is now a current, one-stop shop for evaluation guidance. For questions, refer to the Air Force portal website and click on "myPers."