AMLO Promotion: Perception and Reality

Air Mobility Liaison Officers AMLOs provide a valuable service to Air Mobility Command as embedded liaisons to Army and Marine Units. This paper looks at the perceptions and realities of AMLO career advancement, and seeks to answer two research questions 1 Is there a perception in the MAF that an AMLO assignment will negatively affect an officers promotion opportunity, and 2 Does having an AMLO assignment in ones record affect promotion opportunity All 18th AF Operational and OSS squadron commanders were surveyed to determine if the perception exists. To determine if an AMLO assignment actually affects promotion opportunity, HAF A1 data for mobility officers pilots and navigators who have flown a mobility aircraft were analyzed for promotion to Major and promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. The survey results revealed a perception that an AMLO assignment is not good for an officers career progression. The data revealed that prior AMLO experience has no negative effect on promotion to Major or Lieutenant Colonel. The paper concludes with recommendations on how to address this false perception.