Career reservation program aligns Air Force, Airmen needs

Master Sgt. Gary Thurman

The Career Job Reservation (CJR) program is one of the tools used to maintain Force Shaping and to prevent surpluses and shortages of personnel in specific career fields in the Air Force.

The program is managed by Headquarters, Air Force Personnel Center to control first-term reenlistments according to the requirements for each Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC). For first-term Airmen to reenlist they must have a reservation.

To receive that reservation, Airmen must apply for one in their reenlistment window. If they do not apply for or receive a reservation in the appropriate window, they will have to separate at the end of their current enlistment.

Knowing the timeline to apply for the CJR is critical to an Airman’s career. For Airmen who are four-year enlistees, the window for a reservation is from the first duty day of their 35th month of service to the last duty day of their 43rd month.

For Airmen who are six-year enlistees, the window is from the first-duty day of the 59th month of service to the last duty day of their 67th month. Airmen are encouraged to apply for their reservation as early in their window as possible, so if a Career Job Reservation is denied, they may try other possible avenues to extend their reservation date or to stay in the Air Force.

Some specialities are over manned, which makes the process to obtain a reservation competitive. Airmen can check with the reenlistments section in the Military Personnel Flight for the most current list of constrained specialty codes before choosing one of two options.

The first option for Airmen in constrained career specialties is to cross train to an unconstrained specialty. Airmen interested in retraining can find additional information by visiting the Virtual Military Personnel Flight web site at http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil.

The second, riskier option is to remain on the waiting list for a reservation during the window, and hope to be selected. If an Airman is not selected for a reservation in his or her current AFSC, the Airman will have to separate on his or her separation date.

For more information about Career Job Reservations, call 784-7239.