Retirement / Separation Considerations

[Swizzle]

7 hours ago, Chicken said:

Well I was initially going to set a June 1 retirement date.. upon doing some research folks have said that March 1 would be a better date based on it "historically providing the best initial COLA, because it results in the biggest difference between two quarters of average inflation".  Any truth to this?  What exactly is this talking about and will it make that big of a difference between June and March?

Does this mean I am locked into a COLA % based on the month I retire?  For 2022 the difference would be 8.7% vs 4.4%...

Truth, and timing matters...but it's ultimately driven by inflation, check that # to assess potential COLA change

[CaptainMorgan]

That idea came from this paper. https://themilitarywallet.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/The_COLA_Trap-PSP-Fowler.pdf

Any idea how retirement dates work with continuation? The paper says you have to retire on the 1st of a month except for medical, but in my case, 20 years falls on the 31st.


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[HossHarris]

7 minutes ago, CaptainMorgan said:

Any idea how retirement dates work with continuation? The paper says you have to retire on the 1st of a month except for medical, but in my case, 20 years falls on the 31st.


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Your last active duty day will be the 31st. 
 

you retire (and become a Mr.) on the 1st. 

[di1630]

Question for guard/reserves: the 28 yr mandatory retirement for Lt Col…..is that from commission date or based on the sum of time served?


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[herkbum]

Question for guard/reserves: the 28 yr mandatory retirement for Lt Col…..is that from commission date or based on the sum of time served?


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It’s 28 yrs of commissioned service, or at least it was before I retired a few yrs ago.


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[di1630]

It’s 28 yrs of commissioned service, or at least it was before I retired a few yrs ago.


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Yeah so question I’m asking is that based on 28 yrs from commissioning or the sum of active+MPA etc as in 28yrs worked?

Hope that question makes sense.


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[herkbum]

Yeah so question I’m asking is that based on 28 yrs from commissioning or the sum of active+MPA etc as in 28yrs worked?

Hope that question makes sense.


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I believe it was from date of commissioning


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[SurelySerious]

For those that retired, do you ask about military discounts?  I have a contractor that provided me with discounts on my driveway and fencing projects. Dealerships always give me a military discount on car maintenance. 
I am asking because I noticed on a VA Reddit forum that some people were like "NO WE DON'T ASK." Did you retire from the military? "No." Yeah, you're probably ashamed because you did 4 years or whatever. People look at you differently opposed to someone who served until retirement. 

File this under “not a retirement or separation consideration” kids.

[Sim]

Quote

retirement or separation consideration

36-3202 states "If member is officially tasked to deploy" pg 25 https://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_a1/publication/dafi36-3203/dafi36-3203.pdf

Quote

Once approved for retirement, members remain eligible for any deployment taskings with a scheduled return date that is at least 90 days prior to the retirement effective date. Members may request a retirement effective date within 90 days of the scheduled deployment return date, with unit commander concurrence

How does that work if a member has more than 90 days of leave and they are deployed? Are they forced to sell their leave?

 

 

 

[SurelySerious]

Specifically, no one asked your poser ass.

[SurelySerious]

I completely understand why you're so bitter. That happens a lot when you're questioning whether or not you like to wear your wife's high heel boots, cleats, or a strap on. 
You'll get through this bro, at least I hope it's a phase...

Only someone who’s never been in the service would come to the forum and ask if people ask for military discounts, but you keep derailing threads with your off topic fantasies, poser.

[SurelySerious]

I get it now. Nobody at your house respects you. The people on your street don't invite you over because you're the prior Air Force KILLJOY on the block who gives us all a bad name.
These might help you to relax a little kind of like eating a Snickers. You're literally butt hurt, now we all know why...

Like I said, your fantasies aren’t necessary for the forum, poser.

[SurelySerious]

No wonder people in your life just mute you. You're really repetitive and..

Learn how to post an image properly, poser.

[SurelySerious]

It's not an image you dinosaur 🦕🦕🦕🦕. If pressing play on the video doesn't work for you, maybe you should turn in your flip phone for a smartphone .
 
 

Well next time you pretend to be a veteran at a restaurant asking about a discount, you can show the actual veterans how.

[DirkDiggler]

44 minutes ago, SurelySerious said:

Well next time you pretend to be a veteran at a restaurant asking about a discount, you can show the actual veterans how.

Pretty sure it was the return of that Shazam Martian.  Weird, non-sensical self-aggrandizing posts followed by family insults when people called him on his bullshit.  Looks like the mods already cleaned it up.

[HeloDude]

On 1/6/2024 at 7:18 PM, Sim said:

36-3202 states "If member is officially tasked to deploy" pg 25 https://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_a1/publication/dafi36-3203/dafi36-3203.pdf

How does that work if a member has more than 90 days of leave and they are deployed? Are they forced to sell their leave?

 

 

 

I in that case would ask for a later retirement date after I return from said deployment vs sell back more leave.

[Pancake]

Asking everywhere. Maybe someone here can provide insight.

I applied for a 1 Sep 24 AGR retirement date. I will have three years TIG, however, only two years AD TIG since I became a DSG about 12 months after promotion. I've also done a bunch of MPA and ST in the last 18 months. Based on FSS and ARPC telling me I would have enough TIG to receive a regular retirement in my current rank, regardless of status, I planned and submitted my retirement. Then I got an email last week saying otherwise. Looks like I'll have to submit a waiver.

Any gouge on what a successful TIG waiver looks like? Time needed (assuming forever since it goes to SAF)? The magic words?

I was denied a USERRA waiver in 2019, but of course I don't have the documentation anymore. COVID USERRA exemption got me more AD time, but I don't have enough left to do another year of AGR (nor do we have resources or CG, and I don't want to do it at this point).

Basic info:

23 TAFMS

3 years TIG (2 years, 5 days AD TIG)

1 Sep 24 retirement date

Thanks!

[Chida]

My experience as a TR asking for a TIG waiver 3 yrs ago: ARPC/AFPC does not entertain nor even forward up the chain unless they’re in a force drawdown. Typically in a force drawdown they will announce that they’ll consider TIG waivers. I don’t know if there is a mechanism to force ARPC to send up the chain. Might try networking/talking to Colonels.

[Scooter14]

Asking everywhere. Maybe someone here can provide insight.

I applied for a 1 Sep 24 AGR retirement date. I will have three years TIG, however, only two years AD TIG since I became a DSG about 12 months after promotion. I've also done a bunch of MPA and ST in the last 18 months. Based on FSS and ARPC telling me I would have enough TIG to receive a regular retirement in my current rank, regardless of status, I planned and submitted my retirement. Then I got an email last week saying otherwise. Looks like I'll have to submit a waiver.

Any gouge on what a successful TIG waiver looks like? Time needed (assuming forever since it goes to SAF)? The magic words?

I was denied a USERRA waiver in 2019, but of course I don't have the documentation anymore. COVID USERRA exemption got me more AD time, but I don't have enough left to do another year of AGR (nor do we have resources or CG, and I don't want to do it at this point).

Basic info:

23 TAFMS

3 years TIG (2 years, 5 days AD TIG)

1 Sep 24 retirement date

Thanks!

This almost happened to me but I was able to stay on orders a few more months to complete 3 full AD years TIG . I was very fortunate. My delta was only about 105 days.

If you don’t have 3 years AD TIG (1095 days on orders in that grade) here’s my understanding of what will happen as explained to me by various FSS and ARPC types if you apply for an AD retirement. I don’t have any AFI sources, but here it goes:

You will get an AD retirement at your previous rank that you actually held for 3 years in an AD status. That’s what your ID card will say.

Your pay will be based off your highest 36 months (high 3) and you will start collecting that 1 Oct.

On either your 60th birthday (or at whatever date you’ve reduced it to based on deployments, T-10 AD, etc) you can go and get the retired ID card that you would be eligible for if you received a reserve retirement. In other words, since you have 3 years TIG as a reservist in the higher grade, you’re eligible for that.

Disclaimer: I don’t know what the “go to FSS when you’re 60” process entails, that’s a question you should ask if you decide to go that route, especially with the reduced retirement as it relates to Tricare.

Feel free to PM me if you want and congrats on the upcoming retirement!



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[MT near]

What is a "USERRA waiver"?

 

Where did you apply for this?

 

 

[Pancake]

9 hours ago, MT near said:

What is a "USERRA waiver"?

 

Where did you apply for this?

 

 

The SAF signed waiver allows your orders to be coded USERRA-exempt, just like “named operation” deployment orders.

Right now, the only waivers I’ve heard of getting approved are O6 command jobs. Even then, it’s 50/50. I was an AGR 11F squadron commander when mine was denied precovid and in the throws of max airline hiring.

Edited March 17 by Pancake

[MT near]

Copy. Thanks. I'm tracking that. 

Sadly, I'm not surprised.

[Pancake]

16 hours ago, Scooter14 said:

Disclaimer: I don’t know what the “go to FSS when you’re 60” process entails, that’s a question you should ask if you decide to go that route, especially with the reduced retirement as it relates to Tricare.

Feel free to PM me if you want and congrats on the upcoming retirement!



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I'm going to submit the 2 year TIG waiver, but I have little optimism that it'll get approved. The funny thing about the days I did to get to two years AD TIG is that I took orders four days at a time during the week (Tue-Fri) and flew my airline trips on the weekends (Sat-Mon), completely sacrificing my family for a over a year. Our unit works four 10-hour days, so I essentially worked a full time schedule as a DSG then worked a second full-time job as an airline guy, all the while forgoing my AGR retirement (which I earned on 5 Jul 20). I did all that because us bosses were using all the AGR resources and had no full-time resources left for the O3/O4 worker bees. I gave up a lot of off days that would have gotten me a lot closer to 1095 AD days (T10 TFI MPA days), and also missed out on the last year of my pilot bonus by resigning my AGR. Basically, some real "service before self" stuff. The email from ARPC was a gut punch. But I get it. Big Blue doesn't care. Nice guys, road to hell, etc...

Words of advice:

1. ARPC is not helpful. They are "work ticket processors." They are not "the experts."

2. Big Blue does not care about you. Your unit, commander, subordinates, etc care about you. But the "Air Force" does not.

I really let my guard down approaching retirement, and Big Blue got me real good. Don't be like me kids. Maximize your resources (time and income) to serve the people you love (your family, your fellow pilots, your Guard Wing, etc).

At the end of the day, I know what I did during the extra years I stayed in, so does my family, and so does my unit. That's all that matters, regardless of what rank is on my 214. And I'm gonna throw a damn good party at June drill to celebrate all of it.

Edited March 17 by Pancake

[Chida]

What Scooter said above is the ticket. Even if you get a 2yr TIG waiver, the only effect will be what your ID card says (and your rank upon recall to the regular component, if that would actually happen). Your high-36 will be unchanged. The mechanism for the next higher rank is called converting your regular retirement to a reserve retirement at your reserve retired age. This will give you a bump in your high-36 calculation and gets you a promotion in the retired reserve.

Gotchas:

- Tricare Prime/Select at age 60: If, because you have a reduced retired pay age, you convert prior to age 60 you will lose Tricare until age 60.

- To be eligible: You need a duration of 2 years' TR/DSG "service" (excludes all active duty such as AT, MPA, etc) after attaining 20 yrs TAFMS. I can only speculate how this would be calculated. For example, I'd guess that if you did 2 complete years of pure DSG service, that would include 30 days of AT, so you'd have to do 2 yrs and 30 days' duration.

ARPC Convert Reg to Rsv retirement

Text of the link:

June 17, 2020
Converting active duty retirement to AFR, ANG retirement
By Air Reserve Personnel Center Public Affairs Air Reserve Personnel Center Public Affairs

BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colorado  –  
Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard members who have completed 20 years of total active federal military service, or TAFMS, are eligible for immediate pay and benefits upon retirement.

However, for AFR or ANG members who further their careers in a traditional status and possibly accept a higher grade, these service members have the option to convert their active duty retirement to an AF Reserve retirement (applies to both AFR and ANG) in accordance with Title 10 USC 12731.

In order to convert to an AF Reserve retirement at the highest grade/rank, members will have to complete a minimum of two years of satisfactory Air Reserve Component service, excluding active duty, after completion of 20 years of TAFMS. The excluded active duty service includes annual training, RPA, MPA, schools, and deployments.

Additionally, ANG members are eligible to convert their active duty retirements to an AF Reserve retirement by completing one year of service in the position of adjutant general or assistant adjutant general. Note that just one year makes you eligible if your appointment is terminated in accordance with Title 32, Section 324(b).

This is not an automatic application; members with enough active duty in their highest-held grade will need to apply for this benefit. HQ ARPC recommends service members who are approaching age 60 to apply three months ahead of their birthdays to convert to an ARC retirement and obtain a higher grade.

APPLICATION PROCESS
Service members must apply in writing for the conversion of their active duty retirement to an Air Force Reserve retirement by submitting the following request to HQ ARPC/DPTTR via myPers approximately three months prior to their 60th birthday or Reduced Retired Pay Age, or RRPA:

“I___________________, do hereby apply to convert my Active Duty retired pay to Reserve retired pay under provision of Title 10, United States Code (U.S.C.), Section 12741, to be effective on____________, in the grade of _____________. I understand that my Active Duty retired pay will be terminated the day prior to the Reserve retired pay effective date.”

HQ ARPC/DPTTR will audit the service member’s point credit summary to verify eligibility. If eligibility is confirmed, DPTTR will publish an AF Reserve (EL) retirement order. Finally, HQ ARPC/DPTTR will forward the appropriate pay package to DFAS New Accounts for pay adjustment.

MEDICAL BENEFITS
Medical coverage will begin on the anniversary of the service member’s 60th birthday. Members are responsible for ensuring they have adequate medical coverage for themselves and their families after the conversion. A service member who is eligible for medical benefits under their active duty retirement will no longer be eligible for the same benefits upon conversion to an ARC retirement until age 60. Eligibility for the TRICARE Prime medical benefits is age 60 under an ARC retirement regardless of RRPA date.

RESERVE COMPONENT SURVIVOR BENEFIT PLAN (RCSBP)
Service members eligible for an active duty retirement must make a Survivor Benefit Program election upon retirement. The RCSBP election on file in the service member’s personnel record will remain “as is”. Service members will not be afforded another opportunity to change that election upon conversion from an active duty retirement to an ARC retirement.

[Pancake]

51 minutes ago, Chida said:

What Scooter said above is the ticket...

Wow. After reading the article, I will not be able to retire in my current rank with a reserve retirement, either. I will retire almost exactly three years after my DOR (3 years and 5 days). I will not have 2 years of DSG service (2 years, 5 days AD, 365 days DSG).

The way it looks, there is no way I can retire in my current grade. Maybe that's ammunition for the TIG waiver, but probably not.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Thanks for the research.

Edited March 17 by Pancake