More early outs coming for officers, enlisted

Colleges and Universities A-Z Air Force Academy - Colorado Springs
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<p>Officers will be allowed to retire early; program for enlisted airmen coming</p>

<p>By David Larter - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Oct 11, 2011 17:56:31 EDT</p>

<p>The Air Force needs to cut its officer and enlisted ranks again and is looking for volunteers to leave on their own.</p>

<p>Officers in five competitive categories will be allowed to retire with reduced active commissioned service, and enlisted airmen can take advantage of several waivers and programs, including joining the Army or a reserve component, spokesman Maj. Joel Harper told Air Force Times in an email.</p>

<p>For enlisted airmen, the Air Force also plans to accelerate the separation of airmen based on their years of service and re-enlistment eligibility, according to Harper. Last year, about 1,800 airmen were affected by what the Air Force calls date-of-separation rollbacks.</p>

<p>Under a rollback that took place in 2010, for example, airmen with fewer than 14 years or more than 20 years of service had to separate by a certain date if they had an Air Force Specialty Code that prevented them from re-enlisting.</p>

<p>The Air Force expects the programs for enlisted airmen to begin “in the near future,” but Harper did not give a date nor did he state how many airmen or what ranks would be affected.</p>

<p>“The FY12 programs will closely resemble what was enacted in FY11 (limited active-duty service commitment waivers, time-in-grade waivers, contract waivers, Palace Chase and Blue to Green),” Harper wrote. Palace Chase allows airmen to switch to the Air National Guard or Air Force Reserve Command to serve out their commitments; Blue to Green allows airmen to become soldiers.</p>

<p>About 350 officers in the five competitive categories — the line of the Air Force, line of the Air Force-judge advocate general, Chaplain Corps, Biomedical Service Corps and Medical Service Corps — are eligible for early retirement under what is known as the 10-8 Commission Waiver Program, Harper said. They have a 10-year commissioned service requirement but will be allowed to retired if they have eight years in.</p>

<p>The Air Force can accept up to about 150 retirement offers but expects 60 to 65, Harper said.</p>

<p>Eligible officers also can apply for waivers for other service requirements, Harper said. He did not elaborate.</p>

<p>The service also expects to offer voluntary early-outs for other officers, including limited active-duty service commitment waivers, much as it did last year, he said.</p>

<p>Colonels eligible for January’s selective early retirement board, announced in May, still have until Dec. 16 to apply for retirement, although acceptance isn’t guaranteed. The Air Force did not say how many colonels would be selected.</p>

<p>The Air Force began cutting airmen in 2010 to meet its congressionally mandated end strength of 332,800 by the end of fiscal 2011, which ends Sept. 30. About 5,500 enlisted airmen and officers have been shown the door in the last 18 months.</p>

<p>Today, the Air Force is within its fiscal 2012 goal of 267,400 enlisted airmen; Harper did not say how close the service is to its goal of about 65,400 officers.</p>

<p>Air Force leaders, however, are stressing that ongoing budget negotiations in Washington more than likely will reduce the service’s end strength further.</p>

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<p>More than 400 majors, captains forced out</p>

<p>Staff report
Posted : Friday Oct 28, 2011 10:44:48 EDT</p>

<p>The Air Force has handed walking papers to 436 majors and captains who must leave the service by March 1.</p>

<p>A reduction-in-force board selected the officers from a pool of 8,842. About 650 of the officers considered by the board had applied and been turned down for the Voluntary Separation Program.</p>

<p>The RIF board selected 367 captains and 69 majors for separation.</p>

<p>The service notified the officers Oct. 24 that they would be leaving, according to an Oct. 28 Air Force release.</p>

<p>The RIF board’s selection of less than 5 percent was lower than the 10 percent target announced earlier this year. That’s because RIF-eligible officers took advantage of VSP, which encourages those in overmanned year groups and career fields to leave the service earlier than planned, the release said.</p>

<p>The officers selected by the RIF board will receive full separation pay and will be eligible for two years of base commissary and exchange privileges. They and their dependents also will receive 180 days of post-separation medical benefits, according to the release.</p>

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<p>Air Force announces 9,000 civilian job cuts</p>

<p>By Robert Burns - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Nov 2, 2011 19:33:10 EDT</p>

<p>WASHINGTON — The Air Force said Wednesday it plans to eliminate 9,000 civilian jobs in a cost-saving move, with more reductions to come later as part of a militarywide effort to adjust to a new era of defense spending cuts.</p>

<p>“We clearly understand the turbulence these and future reductions will cause in the workforce,” Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, the Air Force chief of staff, said in an announcement that triggered criticism from members of Congress from states affected by the changes. Schwartz said the Air Force would try hard to achieve the job reductions through attrition and other management moves to avoid forced layoffs.</p>

<p>After growing rapidly for a decade, the Pentagon budget is headed for substantial reductions. The Obama administration is committed to cuts of between $450 billion and $465 billion over the next 12 years and cuts approximately double that size could be imposed depending on the outcome of congressional budget negotiations.</p>

<p>The Air Force did not spell out the full range of its planned job reductions but said a portion would come from a reorganization of the command that is its largest employer of civilians — the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. That command’s restructuring is to be done by October 2012.</p>

<p>The Air Force said the Materiel Command will not be the only major command affected by the cutbacks, but it mentioned no others. It said workers “Air Force-wide” will be informed of changes in the next several days.</p>

<p>Maj. Gen. Kenneth Merchant is expected to discuss how the changes will affect Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., on Thursday.</p>

<p>The announced moves will cut 9,000 civilian positions in management, staff and support at several bases. The Air Force said separately that it plans to add 5,900 positions in other, higher-priority areas such as weapons buying, nuclear weapons management and the expanding field of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. It offered no details on that expansion.</p>

<p>Brig. Gen. Gina Grosso, the Air Force director of manpower, said officials are still working on details of how to reduce by a further 4,500 civilian jobs.</p>

<p>“There is more work to be done,” to achieve savings, she said.</p>

<p>The Utah congressional delegation sent a letter Wednesday to Air Force Secretary Michael Donley to complain that the cutbacks could hurt Hill Air Force Base, Utah. They called the Air Force’s decision-making process “secretive and subjective” and complained that it left many questions unanswered.</p>

<p>In the Air Force announcement at the Pentagon, Donley was quoted as saying he realized the decisions would be difficult for some to accept.</p>

<p>“We can’t afford business as usual,” Donley said.</p>