Transgendered Airmen denied early retirement
Transgendered Airmen with 15-18 years of service requested an exception to policy in order to retire under Temporary Early Retirement Authority (TERA). This move was in response to the removal of transgendered service members from the military. However, their requests were denied, and they will be separated. Those who had their request approved saw these approvals rescinded. Instead, these Airmen will be separated with separation pay. Those who were given bonuses pending completion of their full contract were excused from paying those bonuses back as a result of the separation.
From The Guardian:
The US air force is denying early retirement to all transgender service members with 15-18 years of military service, opting instead to force them out with no retirement benefits, according to a memo seen by Reuters.
These longer-serving transgender service members will have the same choice as more junior ones: quit or be forced out, with corresponding lump-sum payments as they walk out the door, the 4 August memo says.
The move is the latest escalation by Donald Trump’s administration as it seeks to bar transgender people from joining the US military and remove all who are serving. The Pentagon says transgender people are medically unfit, something civil rights activists say is untrue and constitutes illegal discrimination.
“After careful consideration of the individual applications, I am disapproving all Temporary Early Retirement Authority (Tera) exception to policy requests in tabs 1 and 2 [sections of the documents] for members with 15 to 18 years of service,” the memo said.
It was signed by Brian Scarlett, who is performing the duties of the assistant secretary of the air force for manpower and reserve affairs. The memo has not been previously reported.
Multiple service members had already been approved for early retirement, but those approvals were rescinded, advocates say. An air force spokesperson said a subset of applications were “prematurely approved”.
“It’s devastating,” said Shannon Minter of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights. “This is just betrayal of a direct commitment made to these service members.”
Additional Reading:
Reed, B. (2025, August 7). US air force denies early retirement for transgender service members. The Guardian. Link.
Category: Air Force
