ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. — Air Force Reserve announced a temporary initiative for Reserve Citizen Airmen to request to serve beyond their Mandatory Separation or High Year of Tenure Date.
“The extension requests are part of Human Capital Management initiatives being instituted by the command to address anticipated growth, recruiting challenges and to meet Air Force Reserve readiness requirements,” said Senior Master Sgt. Kenneth Plummer, MSD/HYT program manager at AF Reserve Command.
The Air Force Reserve is committed to retaining experienced Citizen Airmen with skills in critical demand such as pilots, maintenance technicians, space operators, cyber specialists and more.
Currently, the Air Force Reserve MSD/HYT program limits participation for enlisted Traditional Reservists (TR), Individual Mobilization Augmentees (IMAs), and Active Guard Reserve (AGR) Airmen.
Officer MSDs are determined based on grade, while not to exceed 30 years of creditable service. Enlisted members HYT is established for 33 years or age 60, whichever date is earlier. In addition, members serving as Air Reserve Technicians are limited to 33 years of creditable service for military pay or the date eligible for an unreduced civil service retirement, whichever date is later – not to exceed age 60.
“Commanders should understand the importance of the extension request process and how timely submissions of high year of tenure or mandatory separation extensions are critical to maintaining readiness,” said Plummer.
In FY18, more than 700 Citizen Airman were eligible to submit MSD/HYT extensions, however, only 84 requests were submitted and 87 percent were approved. This percentage does not include packages initially disapproved for the requested length, but approved for a shorter length, i.e. two years vice three years.
The program requires commanders to evaluate MSD/HYT decisions based on criteria in several areas, such as the impact on unit readiness if they lose a member and if the reservist is on the AFR critical skills list.
Other factors include local and command-wide manning statistics, the level of professional military education completed, fitness assessments and whether extending a member will block a promotion or developmental opportunity for another member, Plummer explained.
Above all, extension requests should be initiated as long as the members are mission-ready and their performance and long-term cumulative record warrants submission.
Members requesting an extension should submit their request no later than 12 months prior to their MSD/HYT to allow adequate processing time. Members will not be able to participate for pay or points past their current MSD/HYT without an approved extension.
For more information, contact your servicing Force Support Squadron and visit the myPers website.
