The Air Force will continue enlisted date of separation rollbacks as part of its overall force management plan. The rollback plan will accelerate the date of separation or retirement for senior master sergeants and below with less than 14 or more than 20 years of service. Airmen must separate by March 31, 2012, or retire by April 1, 2012, according to a release. Those wishing to submit their retirement request must do so through the Virtual Military Personnel Flight by Dec. 1. “Airmen with at least 180 days of active-duty service who are separated under the DOS Rollback are authorized transition and assistance benefits” that include “extended military care for themselves and their families and an ID card allowing base commissary and exchange privileges for two years,” states the release. Those with more than six years of experience, but less than 20 years total active service, may receive one half of the separation pay, but they must also sign up for the Individual Ready Reserve for at least three years following the completion of their military service.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
