{"id":54232,"date":"2025-08-08T10:11:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T10:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/54232\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T10:11:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T10:11:14","slug":"u-s-air-force-to-deny-retirement-pay-to-long-serving-transgender-members-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/54232\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Air Force to deny retirement pay to long-serving transgender members – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Air Force<\/a> said Thursday it would deny all transgender<\/a> service members who have served between 15 and 18 years the option to retire early and would instead separate them without retirement benefits. One Air Force sergeant said he was \u201cbetrayed and devastated\u201d by the move.<\/p>\n

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The move means that transgender service members will now be faced with the choice of either taking a lump-sum separation payment offered to junior troops or be removed from the service.<\/p>\n

An Air Force spokesperson told The Associated Press that \u201calthough service members with 15 to 18 years of honorable service were permitted to apply for an exception to policy, none of the exceptions to policy were approved.\u201d About a dozen service members had been \u201cprematurely notified\u201d that they would be able to retire before that decision was reversed, according to the spokesperson who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal Air Force policy.<\/p>\n

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A memo issued Monday announcing the new policy, which was reviewed by the AP, said that the choice to deny retirement benefits was made \u201cafter careful consideration of the individual applications.\u201d<\/p>\n

All transgender members of the Air Force are being separated from the service under the Trump administration\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\tSeparation process has hit some bumps\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The move comes after the Pentagon was given permission in early May by the Supreme Court to move forward with a ban on all transgender troops serving in the military. Days later, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a policy that would offer currently openly serving transgender troops the option to either volunteer to leave and take a large, one-time separation payout or be involuntarily separated at later date.<\/p>\n

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A Pentagon official told reporters in May that they viewed the policy as treating \u201canyone impacted by it with dignity and respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

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However, in late July, transgender troops told Military.com that they were finding the entire separation process, which has included reverting their service records back to their birth gender, \u201cdehumanizing\u201d or \u201copen cruelty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shannon Leary, a lawyer who represents LGBTQ+ people in employment discrimination cases, says she expects lawsuits to challenge Thursday\u2019s decision. \u201cIt seems quite arbitrary on its face and cruel,\u201d she said. \u201cThese military members have dedicated their lives to serving our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Normally, Leary said, when early retirement is offered in the military, it\u2019s available to all members who have served over 15 years. She said she expects other service branches to follow the Air Force\u2019s path.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tOne Air Force service member says he’s \u2018devastated\u2019\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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Logan Ireland, a master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force who has 15 years of service, including a deployment to Afghanistan, is one of the airmen impacted by the policy. \u201cI feel betrayed and devastated by the news,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Ireland said he was told that his retirement was being denied on Wednesday when his chain of command, \u201cwith tears in their eyes,\u201d told him the news.<\/p>\n

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Officials have said that as of Dec. 9, 2024, there were 4,240 troops diagnosed with \u201cgender dysphoria\u201d on active duty, National Guard and Reserve. Pentagon officials have decided to use the condition and its diagnosis as the main way to identify troops who are trans.<\/p>\n

However, the two are not an exact match \u2014 not every transgender person has the condition. As a result, there is an understanding that the actual number of transgender people within the military\u2019s roughly 2 million troops may be higher.<\/p>\n

Under the latest policy, active duty troops had until June 6 to voluntarily identify themselves and receive a payout while troops in the National Guard and Reserve had until July 7. Pentagon officials previously told reporters that they plan to lean on commanders and existing annual medical screenings to find any transgender service members who do not come forward.<\/p>\n

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Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill contributed reporting.<\/p>\n

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