Slimmed Down Slim-Down

Several officer year groups and competitive categories are no longer required to meet the Air Force’s reduction-in-force board this September, announced service personnel officials Monday. No longer having to go before the RIF board are: chaplains, medical service corps personnel, and 1999 and 2000 judge advocate general year groups. The board now will only consider: captains: line of the Air Force: 2000 and 2003 through 2005; and majors: line of the Air Force: 2000, judge advocate general: 2001 through 2003, and biomedical service corps: 2000 and 2001. The RIF board will retain at least 95 percent of the approximately 9,000 officers reviewed. The Air Force announced last month that the board would be less ambitious in scope due to the voluntary early separations it approved. The board will help reduce the active duty force to the Congressionally authorized level of 332,800 by the end of Fiscal 2012. (Randolph release)