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3d ago

Air Force Rescinds Early Retirement for Trans Troops With 15–18 Years of Service

The policy reversal withdraws approved Temporary Early Retirement Authority requests, offering only separation payments to affected service members.

FILE - The logo of the Department of the U.S. Air Force at the United Staes embassy, in Berlin, Aug. 10, 2007. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)
A United States Air Force (USAF) insignia decorates an officer’s uniform near a Boeing Co. F15-E Strike Eagle combat aircraft of the 48th Fighter Wing while taking part in the joint NATO exercise ”Point Blank” from their base at RAF Lakenheath, near Brandon, Suffolk, U.K., on Thursday, June 27, 2019. ‘Point Blank’ focuses on fourth and fifth generation aircraft integration across three nations with a total of 48 aircraft meeting in the skies over the North Sea, said Lt. Col. Jason Watkins, commander of the 48th Operations Support Squadron. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Overview

  • An Aug. 4 memo by acting assistant secretary Brian Scarlett disapproved all TERA exception requests for transgender airmen with 15–18 years of service, overturning earlier approvals for about a dozen members.
  • Those with 15–18 years must now accept a lump-sum separation payment or face involuntary discharge without pension benefits.
  • Transgender service members with 18–20 years of service remain eligible for prorated early retirement benefits under the same authority.
  • The decision implements President Trump’s January executive order and follows a Supreme Court ruling that allowed enforcement of the transgender troop ban.
  • Affected airmen confront significant financial and personal fallout after losing the lifetime retirement benefits they had been led to expect.