Airmen who have separated under the voluntary separation pay program -- for both 2014 and 2015 -- can now obtain identification cards allowing them to use 180 days of extended health care benefits.
The Air Force said in a Monday release that records for all airmen separated under the fiscal 2014 VSP program were updated Nov. 5 to show they were eligible for transitional medical benefits. VSP airmen who are still within 180 days of their separation date should go to their nearest military ID issuance center, the Air Force said.
Earlier this year, the Air Force mistakenly granted -- and then revoked -- extended Tricare benefits to more than 1,000 airmen who separated under the VSP program. Last month, the Air Force acknowledged the mistake and said it was because those airmen's statuses were not correctly updated. On Oct. 31, the Air Force said all of the nearly 4,400 airmen who separated under the 2014 VSP program would be granted Transition Assistance Management Program benefits.
But the Monday release said the benefits would be extended to "those separating under the fiscal 2014/15 VSP program." The Air Force later confirmed that will cover not only the already-announced 2015 VSP programs, but also hypothetical additional rounds of VSP, if the Air Force decides more are necessary later this year. It is unclear whether the reference to the fiscal 2015 VSP program only applies to those approved for already-announced 2015 VSP programs -- such as another VSP window that in April was announced for officers eligible for a reduction-in-force board -- or whether it would also extend benefits to airmen separating under possible future rounds of VSP that have not yet been announced.
According to statistics provided by the Air Force, 4,529 airmen were approved for the 2014 and 2015 VSP programs.
Besides 180 days of premium-free Tricare, the TAMP benefits include permissive temporary duty and commissary, exchange, and morale, welfare and recreation privileges for those who commit to serve in the Inactive Ready Reserve.
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.
