Voluntary separation program misses goal

[unhappycamper]

Voluntary separation program misses goal
By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 7, 2008 17:00:30 EDT

Ninety-seven officers — about half the number hoped for — have agreed to take voluntary separation pay and leave the Air Force by the end of June.

After the March 31 application deadline passed, 97 of the 115 officers who applied had been approved to get a bonus for leaving the Air Force, according to the Air Force Personnel Center. The one-time payment is equal to about three times the officer’s base pay. However, airmen who take VSP to leave the service do not qualify for retirement benefits.

Officers approved for the VSP bonus had to come from career fields officially considered overmanned and not otherwise ineligible. The officers also had to have at least 12, but less than 15, years of service.

The Air Force had hoped to get 200 officers to apply for the bonus as part of its efforts to trim the service to about 328,000 active-duty airmen this year, a goal the service expects to meet despite the low number of VSP takers.

In 2009, the Air Force will have to cut about 12,000 officers and enlisted airmen unless Congress votes to boost the service’s manpower levels. Most of the officers expected to be eased out are projected to come from ranks of captain and lieutenant colonel.


Article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/04/airforce_vsp_roundup_040708w/