Is the Airforce the slowest branch to earn rank in?

My son is currently in the Navy and he made E5 in 2.3 years. He passed the E5 exam in the last cycle which was in March, 2013, and was advanced. That is for a nuclear reactor operator. Service wide averages really mean nothing it depends on your performance, your test scores and your rating. Advancement is competitive.

Yes.

Why? They have the least amount of turn over of personnel. People get into the Air Force and like it. They want to stay in. So the promotions slow down. Slots for higher rank only become available when people retire, get promoted to a higher rank, get out to go to school or pass away. In other branches people get out because they do not like it so much. So there are more slots for promotion.

not really

average promotion times :

E-4 -

air force - 3 years

army - 2 years

navy 2 to 3 years

marine corps - 3 years

E-5 -

air force - 4.4 years

army - 4.2 years

navy - 5.2 years

marine corps - 4.8 years

E-6 -

air force - 12.9 years

army - 8.5 years

navy - 11.3 years

marine corps - 10.4 years

E-7 -

air force - 16.9 years

army - 13.6 years

navy - 14.4 years

marine corps - 14.8 years

E-8 -

air force - 19.7 years

army - 17 years

navy - 17.1 years

marine corps - 18.8 years

E-9 -

air force - 22.1 years

army - 20.8 years

navy - 20.3 years

marine corps - 22.1 years

as you can see, it varies, some ranks are faster than others in different services, but the next rank may be slower

those are service wide average times, some people get promoted faster , some slower

It is one of the slowest with USMC. That has to do with its size and retention rate.

NO... USMC