Amid limited resources, US Air Force delays some PCSs, bonuses
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Due to higher-than-expected personnel costs, the Air Force is suffering from a shortfall in the FY23 Military Personnel Appropriation.
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A US Air Force B-1B bomber, top, flies in formation with US Air Force F-16 fighter jets over the South Korean Peninsula during a joint air drill in South Korea on Sunday, February 19, 2023. (AP)
The United States Air Force is facing a shortfall in the FY23 Military Personnel Appropriation due to higher-than-expected personnel expenses.
Last week, CNN reported that US air defense forces are currently encountering significant challenges due to limited resources and inadequate staffing.
To prevent depleting money, Headquarters Air Force is demanding immediate action, and the AFPC is presently accepting PCS orders for Airmen with July departure dates.
Orders are being examined and granted on a priority basis for all other airmen awaiting PCS orders with expected departure dates of August or later. Authentication of some PCS orders will be delayed.
The Air Force will terminate the FY23 selective reenlistment incentive program on July 11, 2023, although airmen who would have been eligible after the deadline would be able to extend their present enlistment into the fiscal year 2024. This permits most airmen to continue participating in an SRB program under FY23 guidelines until the FY24 program begins.
Airmen who have exhausted their legal enlistment extensions may be accommodated through constructive re-enlistment. Airmen should be alerted for AFPC messages and collaborate with their servicing MPF.
The Air Force is also temporarily suspending the Aviation Bonus program, which began on June 6, 2023, in order to reform it so that it can continue to give bonuses to aviators. The Air Force aims to reopen a reorganized AvB within the next 14 days, at which point officers who have not yet signed the AvB contract will be permitted to do so as long as finances are available.
Furthermore, until the beginning of FY24, the Air Force will pause new Assignment Incentive Pay, which includes airmen signing contracts or launching new pay at non-contract sites. Airmen who are already receiving AIP will continue to receive it.
Finally, airmen on long-duration foreign missions having a DEROS between October and December 2023 will have their DEROS extended to January and March 2024.
AFPC will continue to prioritize and authenticate orders for required transfers, while ETP requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The Air Force is still considering alternative options to avoid the financial shortage and will offer more information when it becomes available.
This comes at a critical time for the US Air Force already stricken by low recruitment rates, limited resources, and overworked personnel.
A CNN report on July 2 shed light on the shortcomings of US air forces which are currently encountering significant challenges due to limited resources and inadequate staffing.
These difficulties primarily stem from extensive foreign deployments of the force, which encounters far more deployments than other groups in the US Army.
A senior air defense officer, who chose to remain anonymous, expressed their concerns by stating, "We have been overworked and understaffed."
Despite reduced involvement by the Pentagon, the US air forces remain active in the Middle East as the US currently occupies territories in Syria, and its hawkish policies in the region are supported by multiple bases stretching from Turkey to Yemen.
