Officials take second look at ‘code-C’ limitations

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Melanie Streeter
  • Air Force Print News
WASHINGTON --  Following a review of the new force-shaping policy, Air Force officials rescinded the enlisted date-of-separation rollback for Airmen with an assignment limitation code “C.”

“The secretary and chief of staff of the Air Force decided we should take a harder look at code-C limitations, and the medical conditions that drive (the codes), to see if we can come up with a long-term solution, rather than a short-term, force-reduction tool,” said Col. Michael Hayden. He is the chief of the Air Force military policy division at the Pentagon.

Initially, the force-shaping program’s Phase II assigned a DOS of no later than June 30, 2005, for enlisted Airmen who possessed this limitation and had more than 20 years of service as of that date. Feedback from around the Air Force regarding the policy was part of what made leaders reconsider, Colonel Hayden said.

“We want to look at the deployment and assignment of Airmen worldwide and structure the policy to apply to both officers and enlisted, while still taking into consideration the needs of the Air Force as well as the needs of the Airmen,” he said.

Because the service is becoming more of an expeditionary force, the idea behind the policy is still a factor, Colonel Hayden said.

“We need to look at how we can shape our force to meet the (air and space expeditionary force) construct,” he said.