AF officials extend separation, retirement application window for active-duty Airmen

By Tech. Sgt. Steve Grever

Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas – Air Force Personnel Center officials have extended the window for eligible active-duty Airmen to submit their retirement or separation applications. Airmen who are eligible and would like to apply early to retire or separate on December 1, 2013, January 1, 2014 or February 1, 2014 are authorized to complete these personnel actions through the myPers website and their base military personnel sections immediately.

This opportunity expires on Nov. 16 and applies to members in the ranks of second lieutenant to lieutenant colonel for officers and airman basic to senior master sergeant for enlisted Airmen.

“By extending the application window for voluntary retirements and separations beyond the normal 12 months, Airmen will have an approved date of separation prior to MilPDS being offline in December,” said Lt. Col. Tara White, AFPC retirements and separations branch chief. 

Airmen will notice minimal processing delays if they initiate their retirement or separation paperwork before Nov. 16. Base MPSs will also have a reduced backlog of transactions to process after the Military Personnel Data System upgrade is completed. Airmen who intend to voluntarily separate or retire can have their approved dates of separation updated and potentially avoid being selected for a deployment or assignment. 

The Air Force processes about 12,000 retirements and 23,000 separations annually.

Airmen need to accomplish these actions because the Air Force is upgrading and transferring the MilPDS to the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Defense Enterprise Computing Center in December. The upgrade project is scheduled to take about 23 days to complete, during which time, MilPDS will not be available.

MilPDS is the primary records database for personnel data and actions that occur throughout every total force Airman’s career. MilPDS is also used to initiate Airman pay actions, maintain Air Force accountability and strength data and support a host of interactions with other Air Force processes and systems that rely on personnel data.

Reserve and Guard members will receive specific instructions from the Air Force Reserve Command and Air Reserve Personnel Center concerning how the MilPDS upgrade will impact their personnel programs. More information is available on the ARPC public website at http://www.arpc.afrc.af.mil. 

Officials will continue to release additional information and guidance to the Air Force’s manpower, personnel, services and pay communities and total force Airmen to continue to educate them on how the service will perform critical personnel and pay tasks during the MilPDS upgrade.