Air Force leaders plan to employ two new force-shaping tools to help reduce the enlisted force as it struggles to pare 40,000 personnel from its books over the next three years. The service will rollback dates of separation for airmen who are ineligible to re-enlist, booting them out the door by March 15. The airmen in this group will have less than 14 years of service or more than 20. The second new tool is a limited waiver of time for retirement-eligible master and technical sergeants that are serving in overage career fields. Under this waiver, they can skip some time commitments and retire by Sept. 1.
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.