Air Force officer reduction board to convene in June

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The Air Force will convene an officer reduction in force board June 11 here at the Air Force Personnel Center.

All eligible officers should have received an Officer Pre-selection Brief around Feb. 15. Officers are responsible for reviewing their records for accuracy and ensuring information their records are current.

The Air Force announced the possibility of a RIF in early January. The force-shaping goal has been to reduce active-duty end strength through voluntary programs where possible, but the goal was not reached, said Lt. Gen. Roger A. Brady, deputy chief of staff for manpower and personnel.

The window for officers to voluntarily separate from the Air Force with the Voluntary Separation Pay option has been extended to March 31. As of March 1, the service had approved just more than 2,210 applicants for the program. Officers seeking more information about VSP can call the Air Force Contact Center at (800) 616-3775, or visit its Web site at http://ask.afpc.randolph.af.mil/.

The following eligibility requirements have been established for the RIF board:

-- Air Force officers from accession year groups 1995-96 and 2000-01;

-- VSP eligible officers with six to 12 years of total active service from March 1, 1995, through Jan. 28, 2002;

-- must have at least one year time in grade (a date of rank of June 11, 2006, or earlier);

-- may not be on a promotion list;

-- must be in an overage Air Force Specialty Code or year group, as reflected on the officer matrix on the AFPC Force Shaping Web page; and

-- may not have an approved separation date of Sept. 29, 2007 or earlier (Jan. 29, 2008, for officers with a commission date between October through December 2001).

A Retention Recommendation Form will be written on each eligible officer for the board to consider.

"The RRF needs to be written by the senior rater and endorsed by the senior rater's rater," said Maj. Lorianne Hodge, chief of the Force Shaping Branch at AFPC. "In addition to comments on performance and retention potential, the RRF will also contain a specific 'retain' or 'separate' recommendation."

"Although senior raters are free to stratify their officers, stratification is not mandatory on the RRF," Major Hodge said.

Eligible officers in a permanent change of station student status will have a narrative-only RRF written by the same Senior Rater who rates permanent-party officers assigned to the school, or the host wing commander for students at Air Force Institute of Technology Civilian Institutions.

All eligible officers should receive a copy of their Retention Recommendation Form no later than April 11 from their senior rater.

The RIF board will also consider the following information from each officer's selection record:

-- officer performance reports;

-- training reports;

-- decoration citations;

-- the officer selection brief, which lists service dates, duty assignments and other demographic items; and

-- a letter to the board if the officer elects to submit one.

"Each officer may correspond by letter with their board and address any matter of record concerning themselves that they believe important to their consideration," Major Hodge said. "The letter must be submitted in good faith and contain accurate information to the best of the officer's knowledge and must be signed by the officer."

Electronic signatures will not be accepted and all letters must arrive no later than June 10 at 11:59 p.m., CDT, to be presented to the board for consideration.

Board-eligible officers are encouraged to request a copy of their personnel records by completing a Selection Record Request Worksheet, found on the AFPC Web site by typing "selection record" into the search engine.

The completed worksheet should be e-mailed to Records.Review@randolph.af.mil, or faxed to either DSN 665-2693 or commercial (210) 565-2693. Selection records will only be forwarded to an authorized military e-mail account.

Additionally, AFI 36-3003 grants everyone the opportunity to request permissive TDY to review their record in person here at AFPC.

The RIF board process is expected to achieve about 600 officer reductions. Officers not selected for retention will be separated by Jan. 29, 2008.

For more information, officers may visit the Force Shaping Web site at http://ask.afpc.randolph.af.mil/forceshape/.

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