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New York Post
5 days ago
- Health
- New York Post
Air Force denies early retirement pay to some transgender service members
The US Air Force announced Thursday that transgender service members who have served between 15 and 18 years will not be able to obtain early retirement benefits. Those transgender service members – forced out of the Air Force under President Trump's January executive order targeting 'gender radicalism' in the military – will instead have the option to take a lump-sum separation payment or be removed. The move follows President Trump's executive order banning transgender people from the military. AP The Air Force, however, approved early retirement for self-identifying transgender service members with 18-20 years of honorable service. 'Although service members with 15-18 years of honorable service were permitted to apply for an exception to policy, none of the exceptions to policy were approved,' an Air Force spokesperson said in a statement. 'Approximately a dozen service members between 15 and 18 years of service were prematurely notified that their [early retirement] applications under the gender dysphoria provision had been approved,' the spokesperson added, noting that a higher-level review was required. Voluntary separation pay at double the amount of involuntary separation pay will be offered to those with 15-18 years of service and 'remaining military service obligations, including service obligations incurred as a result of a bonus or transfer of post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to dependents will be waived.' Military officials indicated that it is rare for early retirement benefits to be granted to people with 15 to 18 years of service time, according to CBS News. Approximately 1,000 service members self-identify as being diagnosed with gender dysphoria, according to the Pentagon. There are roughly 1.3 million active duty troops. Transgender service members not granted early retirement will be eligible for a lump-sum payment if they leave voluntarily. SHAWN THEW/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock There are no current tallies of how many transgender service members are in the services, but a 2016 Defense Department survey estimated there were 8,980 active duty and 5,727 reserve troops who identified as transgender, according to a 2018 report by the Palm Center, a California-based think tank. That included '1,850 transgender men (who joined the military as women) and 7,129 transgender women (who joined the military as men),' the report said. The Pentagon moved forward with Trump's transgender troop ban after it was granted permission by the Supreme Court in May. 'TRANS is out at the DOD,' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X at the time. 'This is the president's agenda,' Hegseth said in a separate video message. 'This is what the American people voted for, and we're going to continue to relentlessly pursue it.'
The Star
16-07-2025
- The Star
You no longer have to take off your shoes for screening at US airports
Travellers leaving the US no longer have to take their shoes off during security screening. — AP/Filepic Travellers leaving the United States no longer have to worry about removing their shoes to go through standard airport security checkpoints, a change that will likely speed up screening for airline passengers. The US Transportation Security Administration or TSA recently updated its policies to make the change, said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a press conference. This move extends a benefit that's already available to individuals who pay for TSA PreCheck to most ordinary travellers. TSA's reversal ends a policy that has been for nearly two decades one of the most visible – and criticised – features of the post-9/11 heightened US airport security system. Critics, who've long dismissed the shoe rule as more security theatre than actual security, have also faulted the policy for increasing wait times at security checkpoints at American airports. The change also puts the US in line with most other global aviation hubs including the European Union, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and Singapore, which typically don't require travellers to take off their shoes when going through airport security. The US requirement to remove footwear was made mandatory in August 2006 – following a failed attempt in 2001 by 'shoe bomber' Richard Reid to ignite explosives packed in one of his sneakers on an American Airlines flight. On July 8, Noem at the press conference said that the new policy was effective immediately, nationwide. According to a report by The Associated Press, Noem said that a pilot program showed the TSA had the equipment needed to keep airports and aircraft safe while allowing people to keep their shoes on. – Bloomberg
