Obama military cuts & illegal termination of 157 AF majors denies retirement benefits

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Some stellar research by Daily Caller’s Caroline May on the deliberate illegal twisting of regulations to stiff 157 Air Force majors out of their retirement benefits.

The Chapman University of Military Law and its associated AMVETS Legal Clinic are blowing the whistle on what they say is an injustice set to be perpetrated on 157 Air Force majors on the last day of November.

“The Obama administration has ordered massive reductions in forces, resulting in many officers who are near retirement being involuntarily separated without retirement or medical benefits,” explained institute director Maj. Kyndra Rotunda.

The Department of Defense specifies that service members within six years of retirement normally would be retained and allowed to retire on time with benefits, unless extenuating circumstances exist such as disciplinary issues.

According to lawyers at Chapman and the AMVETS Legal Clinic, the Air Force has deviated from the six-year protection “without any legal authority.”

“At the heart of the matter, is whether the Secretary of the Air Force [Michael Donley] can ignore protections that exist in governing regulations,” Rotunda told The Daily Caller. “The Air Force position is that yes, he may. Our position is that nobody is above the law.”

Air Force spokesman Michael Dickerson explained to TheDC that “selective continuation” is the process which has resulted in the premature separation of these 157 majors. According to Dickerson, officers who fail to get a promotion two times in a row are subject to involuntary discharge — unless they are within two years of qualifying for retirement. Officers subject to discharge can be retained if tapped for continuation by a selection board — it is at these selection boards where officers six years to retirement normally are retained.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/25/military-advocates-decry-illegal-early-terminations-of-157-air-force-majors/#ixzz1eq2Qcafj

continue reading at Daily Caller link above…

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Hopefully this was just a trial balloon.
Every time Obama has tried to screw with the military he has flown one to see if he could get away with it.
We must not let him.

Maybe the Secretary of the Air Force is trying to clear extra golfers off the links at Andrews AFB to impress his boss’ boss. There is no reason to cut these officers unless there is a disciplinary reason. The USAF has been plagued in recent years by unusually bad leadership at levels higher than O4. If the Air Force wants to cut some pay roll, I’d suggest getting rid of some flag officers. That would be a move the other branches should follow – we have far too many admirals and generals than we need today.