The Air Force is going to allow airmen to leave the service in order to keep them. The Career Intermission Pilot Program will permit a small group of officers and enlisted personnel three years to start a family, at which time they would return to service. The program will start later this year.
“Some women leave the Air Force because they want to start a family,” Air Force personnel chief Lt. Gen. Samuel Cox said Thursday, the Air Force Times reported. “So why don’t we have a program that allows them, in some cases, to be able to separate from the Air Force for a short period of time, get their family started, and then come back in?”
The program will start off with 20 officers and 20 enlisted airmen. It will then be expanded to more airmen if it’s deemed a success.
“It’s going to be a selective group,” Lt. Gen Cox said, the Air Force Times reported. “It’s not just anybody. We want people that have high potential.”
Airmen who take part will enter the Individual Ready Reserve, and when they return they will be placed in a group of service members with comparable experience.
While many of the specifics are still being finalized, the Air Force is working to enure that those who take part in the program do not return to service at a disadvantage.
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The career intermission would only be available to airmen one time, Air Force spokeswoman Rose Richeson told the publication.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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