Bear with me, I retired in '96.
You have not completed NCOA either in residence or by corrrespondence? Are you active duty AF or Guard/Reserve?
I seem to remember not bing able to "sew on" tech without having NCO Acedemy. I could be wrong. It may have been MSgt. Please check it out, especially if you are/have been assigned to a geograpically seperated unit.
If you are good to go or will be sent to NCOA, once you are done, immediately enroll on the SNCO course. Just get it done.
Going in residence and being "reblued" did have it's advantages for some.
NCOA in residence for me was between two consecutive over seas tours to unaccompanied locations. No one including the instructors could relate to what I was saying. One class member kept saying I should go to the Wing stand ups. She worked in Aerial Port Squadron but never followed through on getting me a seat on the twice a month 130s that brought us supplies. My Detachment Commander said that if a seat ever became available on said bird, it was his as he would love to go to a Wing stand up and possibly meet the Comm Group commander for the first time. Interesting, never having had a face to face with your endorsing official.
Sorry about the war story but I couldn't resist. Maybe it was a different USAF then?
Make sure you get the NCOA done and enroll in the CDC for SNCOA ASAP.
Once again, congrats! Making E-6 in the AF is a big deal. Or used to be.
PO