April 9, 2014, WASHINGTON (AFNS) – A limited number of Airmen who received notice that their previously approved applications for early retirement had been declined will be given the option to retire if they still desire to do so, officials announced April 8.
“We are aware that some Airmen received erroneous (temporary early retirement authority) approvals and were subsequently notified of the inaccuracy,” said Lt. Gen. Sam Cox, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services. “We regret any potential hardship this created, but we have looked into the specifics of each individual case and are following up with the Airmen impacted by the error. When dealing with decisions that affect Airmen, our goal is zero errors. But, given the complex and dynamic nature of our force management programs it would be unrealistic to say we’ll never make a mistake. Where there are mistakes, as an institution, we will make it right.”
When identified, the Air Force Personnel Center will personally contact any Airman who may have received an erroneous message. AFPC continues to assess applications to determine if there are other Airmen in similar situations.
Air Force Personnel Center has reviewed the handling of the more than 5,000 TERA applications to ensure proper assessment and discovered less than 20 were inaccurately processed. If Airmen discover an error in an application or approval, they are encouraged to identify and work it through their chain of command. AFPC will be able to quickly respond to any issue highlighted through command channels.
Expanded waiver authority
The Air Force Personnel Center has been granted expanded waiver authority to waive some active-duty service commitments, or ADSCs, for Airmen interested in transferring to the Air Force Reserve or Air National Guard, or considering applying for voluntary separation under the fiscal year 2014 force management programs.
The expanded waiver authority allows AFPC to waive up to 36 months of advanced flying training (to include instructor and qualification training) ADSCs, up to 36 months of Air Force Institute of Technology ADSCs, up to 24 months of medical residency training ADSCs, and up to 48 months of medical special pays and bonuses (which requires recoupment of the unserved portion of the bonus). The full list of waiver authorities is available on myPers.
The expanded waiver authority also applies to the Palace Chase program, which affords Airmen, both officers and enlisted, the opportunity to continue their service in the Air Force Reserve or Air National Guard.
Additional voluntary windows for TERA are being opened to allow Airmen to apply under this expanded waiver authority.
Health professions matrices
Voluntary and involuntary matrices for the health professions are being finalized and will be posted on myPers later this week. Additional voluntary windows for TERA will open to accommodate Airmen in these categories and the window for Voluntary Separation Pay, or VSP, remains open through May 1.
Program progress
To date, 2,712 enlisted voluntary applications and 310 officer voluntary applications for TERA have been approved and 2,471 enlisted VSP applications and 167 officer VSP applications have also been approved.
Resources
Updates to information on force management and other personnel programs will continue to be available on myPers. Airmen can use the new force management graphic on the Air Force Portal which will take them directly to updated matrices.