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Fifty-six & Two

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Posts posted by Fifty-six & Two

    Return of Friday shirts / patches

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    What if they don't approve a list of acceptable tabs?

    Then they are a bunch of d-bags? I guess I don't understand the need to destroy morale by not approving a single tab. Just like if the intent of the AFI was to only allow tabs on Fridays, they would have combined it with the first sentence.

    Return of Friday shirts / patches

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Actually, in our corner of the AF, we were just told the pen tab patches are part of "morale patches" and only authorized on Friday.

    Not according to the AFI. Apparently your leadership doesn't understand what "wear is not restricted" means.

    Wing Commanders may authorize the wear of morale patches on the shoulders of the FDU on Fridays, or during special events. Small morale tabs may be worn on the exposed Velcro of the left sleeve when the pen pocket cover is removed; wear is not restricted. Squadron Commanders will approve and maintain a list of acceptable morale patches and tabs for wear by assigned Airmen.

    FY 14 Force Management Program (RIF, VSP, TERA)

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Fifty-six & Two

    Couple of notes from the Force Management DCO that took place this morning:

    Individual briefing said they've been tasked to cut 25,000 people over the next 13 months. When questioned during the Q&A, it was never answered.

    TERA

    Each batch will be racked and stacked and approved based upon the following priority: No ADSC approved first, then ADSCs/Bonus (least to greatest), projected assignments, commander's recommendation

    VSP

    No rack and stack specifically mentioned, so who the F knows. Questions about whether passed over 2004 year group eligible, but no answer.

    Questions:

    If we submit for VSP on 6 Feb, when can we expect to hear results? Answer: We expect to do the first round of officer VSP processing in mid-Feb so likely will send notices before the end of Feb
    The application window will begin at 0000CST on 6 Feb
    Other than that, not much else was thrown out there. They say they will post the slides onto myPers within 48 hours.
    Also, there is another DCO being held at 1700 CST: https://connectcol.dco.dod.mil/fy14forcemanagementofficer/

    FY 14 Force Management Program (RIF, VSP, TERA)

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    CENTCOM is thowing around an email that has a nice Excel calculator which will compute both your TERA and/or VSP offerings based on YOS, Rank, etc. It also figures in taxes, etc -- very user friendly. I don't know where it originated from.

    Hopefully it's made it way around the AF. If you haven't seen it, shoot me a PM with your .mil address and I'll forward it over.

    Not sure if it's the same one I've seen (version 1.3), but it had me making $100K more in VSP than the legit calculation.

    FY 14 Force Management Program (RIF, VSP, TERA)

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I'm already a FL resident so I will save on the state tax. So you're basically saying it doesn't matter how much you made in 2014 because you are going to be taxed at 25% on it no matter what?

    Yes.

    Also, which one is it?

    From PSDM 13-130 dated 24 Jan 14:

    Access the vMPF via the AFPC Secure website. Select “Apply for Voluntary Separation”, and when prompted to “Select a Separation Provision”, select “SECAF Approved Early Separation Program”. Include “I am requesting to separate under the Voluntary Separation Pay (VSP) Program” in the remarks section.

    From PSDM 14-08 dated 23 Jan 14:

    Select “Apply for Voluntary Separation”, when asked to “Select a Separation Provision,” select “Miscellaneous” and include “FY14 Voluntary Separation Pay” in remarks section.

    FY 14 Force Management Program (RIF, VSP, TERA)

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    There was an amendment to the TERA PSDM the day before the window opened. Amendments below:

    An Officer who is selected for assignment prior to submission of retirement eligibility request may apply; however, if the Officer’s Report Not Later Than Date (RNLTD) does not allow sufficient time to receive a reply on the retirement application prior to departure, the Officer must submit a request for extension of the RNTLD and DEROS (if applicable) using the applications in the virtual MPF. Officer should contact the MPS for assistance in submitting these applications. Please note: Retirement applications will not be expedited for individuals projected for assignment.

    Retirements: Verify your duty email address and phone number, click "I have verified my email and phone" click "Self-Service Actions", click "Retirements", click "Request Retirement", click "Check Retirement Eligibility," enter the date 1 Aug 14, select the retirement program "Temporary Early Retirement Authority" and submit.

    Don't know if that changes anything for people that may have been on the fence regarding an assignment or if they submitted under a different retirement program when applying for TERA.

    FY 14 Force Management Program (RIF, VSP, TERA)

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Sent: Friday, January 10, 2014 6:46 PM

    TO: MAJCOMS, A1/J1s, FSS/CCs, MPS/Chiefs, MPS Supts
    SUBJECT: FY14 Officer Voluntary Separation Pay (VSP) Program Application

    Window and Release of FY14 Reduction in Force (RIF)-VSP and Force Shaping

    Board (FSB) PSDMs Update

    1. Details regarding the Reduction in Force board, coupled with voluntary

    separation pay, and the Force Shaping Board are expected to be released

    within the next two weeks. The start of the FY14 officer VSP application

    window will be shortly after the PSDMs are publicly released. The Air Force

    is completing final decisions on eligibility for the boards, which in turn

    impacts eligibility for the VSP program. This still allows an eligible

    officer a three-month window to apply for voluntary separation programs.

    2. The application window for other force management programs already

    announced such as Officer and Enlisted Temporary Early Retirement Authority,

    Enlisted Voluntary Separation Programs, and Enhanced Selective Early

    Retirement Board will remain the same and begin Jan 14, 2014.

    Let me guess...11M's will no longer be eligible.

    Imminent Danger Pay changes

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Thanks, dickhead. The vast majority of us don't go to the CAOC by choice and we all question the validity of this place when our CENTCOM counterparts do their jobs from stateside locations and garden spots like Larissa, Tampistan, and Vokel. That's an old argument that no one in leadership will entertain.

    In other news, Detroit, Oakland, and all U.S.-Mexican border duty locations will be added to the stateside IDP list and Clovis, NM now qualifies for HDP-L.

    Why so angry? The BRA run out of Strongbow?

    The "clowns" comment was directed at the people who impede the mission and make it more difficult than it needs to be. Unless you are one of the guys who fall into that category and the comment rings true, GFY. I'm sure you've had a few choice words about the folks at TACC who do that exact same thing, so get over it.

    • Upvote 2
    • Downvote 1

    Imminent Danger Pay changes

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Those clowns at the CAOC will now have to deploy to the actual combat zone to get their extra $225 a month:

    http://www.stripes.com/news/dod-announces-changes-to-imminent-danger-pay-1.260479

    WASHINGTON – On Friday, the Defense Department announced that many areas will be removed from the list of places where U.S. servicemembers qualify for imminent danger pay.

    “Today we are announcing the recertification of some locations as Imminent Danger Pay areas while we are discontinuing that designation for others,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren told reporters.

    Of the areas previously designated for IDP, about one-third were decertified. IDP is intended to provide compensation bonuses to servicemembers deployed in locations that are relatively dangerous.

    The following land areas and the airspace above them were decertified: Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Montenegro.

    The following land areas were decertified: East Timor, Haiti, Liberia, Oman, Rwanda, Tajikistan, United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

    The following sea areas were decertified: Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf (including the airspace above the Persian Gulf).

    The following areas were recertified for IDP: Afghanistan (including airspace), Algeria, Azerbaijan, Burundi, Chad, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Greece (Athens only), Indonesia, Iran, Iraq (including airspace), Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Lebanon, Libya (including airspace), Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia (including airspace), Sudan (including airspace), Syria, Tunisia (including airspace), Turkey, Uganda, Yemen, Mediterranean Sea, and Somalia Basin.

    Some countries are on the IDP list even though the U.S. doesn’t have any servicemembers deployed in those countries, including Syria and Iran.

    The changes will take effect June 1 in the U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command, U.S. Africa Command, U.S. Southern Command, and U.S. Pacific Command areas of responsibility.

    The IDP recertification review process began in 2011 and included an in-depth threat assessment from the combatant commands in coordination with the Joint Staff and the military services. The last time the IDP list was changed was 2011. It is an ongoing assessment, Warren said.

    In 2012, (the last year for which IDP statistics are available), about 194,000 service members received IDP. Approximately 50,000 service members will be impacted after these changes are made, according to DOD spokesman LCDR Nate Christensen.

    In 2012, DOD spent approximately $500 million on IDP. This policy change will save DOD $108 million per year, officials said.

    Warren said these IDP cuts were not driven by budgetary concerns.

    The current IDP rate is $7.50 per day, with a maximum IDP of $225 per month. Those numbers will not change, Christensen said.

    Experts told Stars and Stripes that IDP criteria make little sense.

    “Our men and women help to bring peace and stability to many places, and just because Imminent Danger Pay is discontinued doesn’t suddenly make those countries, waters or airspaces any more safe. One can only hope that this decision was done based on real world threat assessments and not for fiscal reasons,” Joe Davis, the Public Affairs Director for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said in an email to Stars and Stripes.

    Lawrence Korb, a military budget expert at the Center for American Progress, believes that budget constraints did play a role in the policy change, but he supports the IDP rollback.

    “I think what’s happened is that the sequester and the budget cuts really have forced the department to do things they should have been doing anyway,” he said.

    Korb thinks IDP has been too generously distributed.

    “You got combat pay in Bahrain. I was in Bahrain a couple weeks ago. I’d sooner be there than some of the cities in the United States [when it comes to personal safety],” he said in an interview with Stars and Stripes.

    DOD also announced that, effective June 1, Hardship Duty Pay-Location monthly rates in East Timor, Haiti, Liberia, Montenegro, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will be increased to $150. The HDP-L monthly rate in Bahrain is established at $50, according to a memo signed on Dec. 31 by Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Jessica Wright.

    HDP-L is intended to compensate servicemembers who are deployed in areas where living conditions are poor.

    • Upvote 1

    FY 14 Force Management Program (RIF, VSP, TERA)

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Fifty-six & Two

    Seriously now - is this the Wg/CC from Little Rock who Azimuth is so fond of? Because I heard from a friend in the Med Group that he was told not to even bother applying because the Wg/CC wouldn't support it. I haven't gotten my paws on a copy of the PSDM yet so I'm not sure if the Wg/CC even gets a vote in this particular process...

    Both the unit commander and the wing commander approve or disapprove. They are not the final say, as the application still gets pushed with disapproval. I would think the chances of overall approval greatly diminish if both disapprove.

    FY 14 Force Management Program (RIF, VSP, TERA)

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Fifty-six & Two

    On another subject:

    VSP eligibility matrix -> 2004 year group eligible

    PSDM 13-130 -> 2004 year group ineligible

    WTF?

    It is not a VSP matrix, it is a Voluntary Force Management matrix.

    From the slide itself, "Being in an AFSC colored blue does not guarantee voluntary program eligibility, and approval is not guaranteed subject to AF requirements."

    Just because they aren't eligible for VSP according to the PSDM, doesn't mean they aren't eligible for other voluntary force management programs such as TERA.

    FY 14 Force Management Program (RIF, VSP, TERA)

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Fifty-six & Two

    5680 x 12 months = $W (68160)

    $W (68160) x Airman’s TAFMS (yrs/mths of svc) (9.5) = $X (647520)

    $X (647520) x 10% (full separation pay) = $Y (64752)

    $Y (64752) x 1.25 multiplier = $Z (final voluntary separation pay) $80,940

    Example (showing as DFAS calculates): An officer with 9 yrs and 6 months of total active federal military service [($5680 monthly base pay) x 12 x 114 ( total whole months served) x (10%)] divided by 12= $64,752 (RIF). For VSP, multiply by 1.25 = $80,940.

    Both give the same number.

    FY 14 Force Management Program (RIF, VSP, TERA)

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Fifty-six & Two

    Your formula gives the same 80k as the memo. Oh well, either way pays off the minivan.....

    You said 9.5 years for your TAFMS. What base pay are you using?

    Also, completely ignore the fact that the example says base pay x 12 years. It should only say x 12. That part of the equation is NOT dependent upon how much time you have served. That may be where some of the confusion lies.

    Example (showing as DFAS calculates): A Major w/ 12 yrs and 3 months and 13 days of total active federal military service [($6540.60 monthly base pay) x 12 years x 147 ( total whole months served) x (10%)] divided by 12= $96,146.82 (RIF). For VSP, multiply by 1.25 = $120,183.52.

    FY 14 Force Management Program (RIF, VSP, TERA)

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I know I'm a lone voice in the wilderness, but I still just don't get it. "Cutting 25K in a few years is something we haven't seen before." Really? This should be an absolute cakewalk compared to 1993. How can it be this difficult to voluntarily cut 8% of the force over 3-5 years when we have VSP and 15 year retirements at our disposal?

    My guess is it has something to do with the fact that the people who want out are not the people the AF wants to get rid of.

    • Upvote 4

    FY 14 Force Management Program (RIF, VSP, TERA)

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Liquid,

    The PSDM says they are going to do the VSP applications in monthly batches. Ideally, they will use the same critieria for all the months and not change it midway through the process. Do you know off hand if they are more inclined to let people go if they have less than X (the last VSP was 6) months left on an ADSC and those individuals who have X or more may not want to even bother?

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