New procedures for Redux retirement plan - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

New procedures for Redux retirement plan

Officers and enlisted airmen coming up on 15 years of active-duty service soon will have new procedures to accept enrollment in the Redux retirement plan, officials announced Friday.

Beginning April 1, airmen will receive an electronic notification of their eligibility for the High-3 Choice retirement plan, which allows members to choose a $30,000 career status bonus in exchange for lower retirement pay under Redux. The notification will inform airmen of their ability to choose the bonus, advise them on how to accept the bonus and instruct them on how to initiate the payment request.

Members who do not respond to the notification will automatically revert to the High-3 retirement plan.

“A relatively low interest in the [bonus] led to the change in the notification and election process,” Col. William Foote, director of personnel services at the Air Force Personnel Center, said in a statement. “Streamlining this procedure reduces the strain of paperwork for airmen and returns valuable time back to members, commanders and support staffs.”

In the past, all members had to initiate a career status bonus election regardless of whether they wanted the bonus. That meant all eligible airmen had to complete DD Form 2839, Career Status Bonus Election, and their commanders had to review their records. However, only about 20 percent of airmen were choosing the bonus.

The new process is expected to reduce the workload for airmen and their commanders because airmen will not need to complete DD Form 2839, officials said.

The Redux retirement plan affects members who entered the service Aug. 1, 1986, or later. Redux is one of three retirement plans in effect based on an airman’s date of initial entry to the service and currently applies to more than 92 percent of the active force.

For information, visit http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil and enter “Career Status Bonus” or “Redux” into the search engine. Airmen also can call the Total Force Service Center at 800-525-0102.