Air Force Extends Early Retirement Option to Meet Sequestration Cuts

April 07--HILL AIR FORCE BASE -- Airmen who missed out on retirement after the deadline passed for one of the Air Force's voluntary separation programs, now have another crack at riding off into the sunset early.

The Air Force Personnel Center announced late last week that it will waive some active-duty service commitments, known in military circles as ADSCs, for airmen who are interested in voluntary separation from the service as part of the Fiscal Year 2014 "force management program."

The service commitments allow the Air Force to get a return on investment after what can be expensive military training.

Col. Joe Atkins, AFPC operations division chief, said the new waivers include things like aviation retention pay, a pilot bonus that normally requires an airman to repay the unserved portion of the additional compensation.

The waivers also include up to 72 months of undergraduate flying training, 36 months of advanced flying training and 24 months of medical residency training.

The different waiver authorities are extensive, but a full list is available at mypers.af.mil.

Atkins said airmen who may not have been eligible for early retirement programs like Voluntary Separation Pay and Temporary Early Retirement Authority may now be eligible under the new guidelines.

The VSP application window closes May 1, but because the TERA application time line already ended in March, the Air Force will open TERA for another round, although the Air Force hasn't released those dates yet.

The Air Force is trying to reduce its force by thousands of airmen over the next five years in an attempt to meet budget reduction requirements caused by sequestration.

The program calls for voluntary cuts through separation and early retirement plans, but it also calls for involuntary cuts that would be made at the discretion of special Air Force retention boards.

During testimony to the House Armed Services Committee in November, Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, the Air Force chief of staff, said long-term impacts of sequestration could force the service to cut about 25,000 Airmen over the next five years.

For more information about voluntary separation options and other personnel issues, visit the myPers website and enter "FY14 Force Management Program" in the search window.

Contact reporter Mitch Shaw at 801-625-4233 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @mitchshaw23.

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