Even though the Air Force has temporarily stopped issuing retirement and separation orders for next year, the pause does not require airmen to involuntarily remain in the service, an Air Force spokesperson told Task & Purpose.
“The Air Force is not delaying the requested separation or retirement dates of members,” the spokesperson said. “They will prioritize orders processing for affected members, ensuring orders are issued no later than 90 days prior to separation and 180 days prior to retirement. This still allows time for members to make necessary preparations for their separation or retirement.”
A defense official confirmed to Task & Purpose that these delays are not “stop loss.” Stop loss refers to the involuntary retention of service members on active duty beyond the end of their contract.
The Air Force has paused issuing orders to airmen with an approved separation date on or after Jan. 1 and approved retirement dates on or after April 1, the spokesperson said. Airmen with earlier approved retirement or separation dates are not affected.
“As mentioned, this action does not impact the separation or retirement dates; it only adjusts the timing of order issuance,” the spokesperson said. “Airmen will still retire or separate on their approved date.”
Normally, airmen can receive their orders on leaving the service several months ahead of time, but now they will get them starting three months before their planned separation dates and six months prior to their retirements, the Air Force spokesperson said.
An Air Force message recently posted on Reddit announced the pause in orders for separations and retirements. The Air Force confirmed the message is authentic.
The Air Force is delaying issuing orders for separations and retirements to “ensure the solvency” of the fiscal year 2025 military personnel pay budget due to a shortfall in appropriations, the message says.
When airmen separate or retire, the Air Force covers the costs of their final Permanent Change of Station, or PCS moves, the spokesperson said. By pausing the retirement and separation orders, the Air Force can better manage the costs of PCS moves.
The message posted on Reddit advised airmen that the Air Force Personnel Center will tackle the backlog of orders as quickly as possible “but a delay at the restart should be anticipated.”
“Service members will refrain from any financial obligations that would create expenses and/or a hardship associated with preparing for a move until they receive orders in hand,” the message says.
In the meantime, airmen affected by the delays can request to be granted an exception to policy so they can leave the Air Force, the message says.
“Orders will not be prioritized merely to accommodate terminal leave,” the message says.
The language of the orders has led to commenters on Instagram and Reddit expressing their concerns that the Air Force had implemented stop loss again.
The actions taken by the Air Force are different from stop loss, explained Katherine Kuzminski, director of the Military, Veterans, and Society Program at the Center for a New American Security think tank in Washington, D.C.
“Stop loss tends to apply to a situation where operational requirements are driving the retention of personnel,” Kuzminski told Task & Purpose. “So, when we saw stop loss in the earlier years of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it was: We need more people to deploy.”
Between Sept, 11, 2001 and Sept. 30, 2009, an estimated 185,000 service members were involuntarily retained in the military through stop loss, according to the Army.
The actions outlined in the memo posted are due to administrative and budgetary issues rather than operational needs, Kuzminksi said.
“What this sounds like is a budget shortfall such that processing all of this paperwork and pays doesn’t quite fit into the Air Force’s budget for this year,” Kuzminski said. “Stop loss is operational, and this an administrative delay.”
Similarly, the Air Force suspended reenlistment and retention bonuses and delayed permanent change of station moves in 2023 due to a shortfall in its personnel budget. The service received money from Congress 11 days later to address the issue.
“This is the second time in three fiscal years where the Air Force failed to properly budget for necessary personnel outlays,” Kuzminski said. “It should be a priority of the incoming secretary of the Air Force to address the root causes of the failure to account for predictable personnel expenditures — and the issue should not reoccur in the future, as it affects the [U.S. Air Force’s] ability to drive trust among service members and their families.”
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