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 Air Force displayed all the firepower it has amassed on Okinawa in an unusually diverse show of force this week. IIn a May 6 “Elephant Walk,” Kadena Air Base showcased 24 F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters, eight F-15E Strike Eagles; two U.S. Army Patriot anti-missile batteries near the runway; and…