Colonels and lieutenant colonels who would rather retire on their own than face the upcoming Selective Early Retirement Board need to get cracking. The Air Force Personnel Center says it needs retirement papers by Dec. 15. The SERB, which meets Jan. 8, is one of the force-shaping tools USAF is employing to shave 40,000 personnel from its ranks over the next three years. As of Nov. 27—the most current data—the Air Force has identified some 730 SERB -eligible officers. A USAF spokesman told Daily Report Monday that the service expects to “SERB” about 200 officers.
The Space Force is facing a 14 percent cut to its civilian workforce due to the Trump administration’s broad push to shrink the number of civilians working for the defense establishment. Instead of anticipated growth in its workforce, the Space Force’s personnel have now shrunk significantly.