The Air Force has ruled out another round of involuntary force management programs in 2015, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said TuesdayDec. 16.

James said that as she has traveled to dozens of Air Force bases around the worlds, leaders and airmen have spoken to her about the uncertainty that the force shaping has produced.

"Enough is enough, and we've gone as low as we should go," James said during an online town hall discussion. "There is nothing more straining than the downsizing we're going through."

The Air Force cut 6,129 airmen involuntarily under the fiscal 2014 force management programs:

• . That included 462 officers through regular and enhanced Selective Early Retirement Boards, 214 officers through a force shaping board, and 354 officers through a Reduction In Force board.

• The Air Force also cut 3,535 enlisted airmen through the service's first Quality Force Review Board, 143 through date-of-separation rollbacks, and 1,421 through enlisted retention boards.

James did not rule out offering voluntary force shaping programs, and it is unclear whether 15-year retirements and voluntary separation pay could return in 2015.

Almost exactly a year ago — on Dec. 11, 2013 — the Air Force unveiled a slate of 18 voluntary and involuntary force management programs that it said were necessary to help it absorb steep budget cuts.

The Air Force was able to steeply scale back the number of airmen facing involuntary force management programs, because many airmen accepted voluntary retirement and separation. But tens of thousands of officers and enlisted airmen still faced involuntary boards, which caused enormous stress throughout the ranks.

The Air Force began fiscal 2014 with 330,700 active-duty airmen, and by Nov. 6, its end strength had dropped to 316,500.

In a Nov. 4 interview, Air Force personnel chief Lt. Gen. Sam Cox said the service plansned to get the service's end strength down to 310,900 by the end of fiscal 2015.

The Air Force is now the smallest it has ever been since its establishment becoming its own service in 1947.

Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.

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