Overview

• Acting Assistant Secretary Brian Scarlett’s memo rejected every Temporary Early Retirement Authority exception for transgender members with 15–18 years of service.
• Affected airmen will lose lifetime pension eligibility and instead receive a lump-sum separation payment usually granted to junior troops.
• About a dozen service members who were preliminarily told their early retirement was approved have had those orders revoked.
• The action implements President Trump’s January executive order banning transgender military service after the Supreme Court allowed the policy to proceed in May.
• Civil rights advocates and lawmakers have condemned the decision as punitive and are expected to press ongoing legal challenges.