Shaping the Force Smartly

As the Air Force pursues its arduous force shaping efforts, it must find ways to eradicate waste and unnecessary overhead wherever feasible. One idea recurrently under Air Staff evaluation is to eliminate, through either involuntary separation or forced retirement (as applicable), Air Force members who are precluded from overseas assignments due to a permanent medical condition. On the surface, this proposal may sound sensible; but when we examine associated personnel, medical, and legal implications more closely, we find that it would do surprisingly little to relieve the Air Force's "high-deployers" and would mostly eliminate senior, less-deployed members with invaluable expertise. Therefore, the benefits of such a plan would be negligible when evaluated vis--vis the associated tangible and intangible costs to the Air Force as a whole.