For the past three years the Air Force has been downsizing, and Fiscal Year 2007 will be the same, with the exception that next year the primary focus will be on reducing the number of commissioned officers, rather than enlisted members. Air Force Officials say more than 8,000 officers must separate through normal attrition, retirement or force-shaping measures to achieve the required balance in force.
According to Lt. Gen Roger A. Brady, deputy chief of staff for manpower and personnel, it's important to keep in mind what force shaping is all about. "We have to balance our (force) for now and the coming years to have the kind of force we need to win the long war we are in now and be prepared for whatever comes next."
To achieve its officer reduction goals for 2007, the Air Force will use a combination of voluntary separation incentives and involuntary separation actions. Under U.S. Code Title 10, the secretary of the Air Force has the authority to initiate such actions.
The FY 2007 Force-Shaping Program consists of three elements. These three initiatives are Voluntary Separation Pay (VSP), Selective Early Retirement Board and a fiscal 2007 Force Shaping Board.
The VSP incentive will be offered to line-of-the-Air Force officers, including judge advocates, and to chaplains with more than six and no more than exactly 12 years of service, to encourage their separation. Under VSP, commissioned officers will be paid a monetary incentive based on their rank and years of service, in exchange for a voluntary separation.
The Air Force needs approximately 3,200 officers meeting these criteria to separate. Eligible officers may begin applying for VSP on July 31. Dates of separation must take effect between Oct. 1, 2006, and Sep. 29, 2007. Applications for VSP will not be accepted after Jan. 31, 2007.
Officers who are approved for VSP will enter into a written agreement to serve in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) for a period of three years following the separation. Officers who have an existing military service obligation at the time of their separation will fulfill it in the IRR along with the additional three-year commitment. In the IRR, military members serve in a non-pay/non-drill status, but can be recalled to active duty at any time, if needed.
Officers meeting the above time-in-service criteria may contact their MPF for more details on VSP.
"We are offering the qualified VSP officers twice the compensation of what they would receive for an involuntary separation," General Brady said. (Guide Note: See Involuntary Separation Pay Charts, and multiply the amount shown by two).
In addition to VSP, the Air Force will be conducting a Selective Early Retirement Board (SERB). The Air Force seeks to retire 313 line officer lieutenant colonels (O-5s) who have been twice deferred for promotion or colonels (O-6) with four years time in grade who are not general selects. Officers who have a voluntary retirement date or a mandatory retirement date for length of service will not be considered.
According to General Brady, the officers who fit this category have already been notified. "If we get enough volunteers for retirement, we will not hold the SERB."
A SERB has been scheduled for Jan. 8 to 19, 2007. More detailed information about the SERB will be released in September.
The Air Force also will hold a fiscal 2007 Force Shaping Board. This board will evaluate officers who have not completed more than five years commissioned service. The board will consider officers in selected, overage career fields in the 2003 and 2004 year groups. However, for the 2003 year group, the board will only consider those career fields that were excluded from consideration from the fiscal 2006 Force Shaping Board.
Information Courtesy of United States Air Force
