Trans troops slam Air Force’s retirement benefits policy amid trans ban: ‘This is betrayal’

Transgender members of the US Air Force are speaking out after a leaked memo appeared to show that the service is denying early retirement to trans troops with between 15 to 18 years of military service.

According to the 4 August memo, as reported by Reuters, trans troops will be forced to either quit, or be forced out of the Air Force with no retirement benefits. Longer-serving members of the Force will reportedly receive the same choice as more junior ones: “Quit or be forced out.”

“After careful consideration of the individual applications, I am disapproving all Temporary Early Retirement Authority (TERA) exception to policy requests in Tabs 1 and 2 for members with 15-18 years of service,” the memo said (via Reuters).

The memo was written by assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs Brian Scarlett, and means an exception to the US Air Force’s early retirement scheme over gender dysphoria would not apply to a bracket of trans troops.

Advocates have also reportedly confirmed that multiple trans troops confirmed for early retirement have had their packages rescinded.

Trans troops, via LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD have slammed the move, calling it a “betrayal”.

Air Force Major Emma Webb, who has ten years of service, said: “Transgender troops who are affected by this policy have served most of their career in the closet. Then they were told it was safe to be themselves and would be allowed to serve openly. Now the Air Force is kicking them out ONLY because they followed the Department of the Air Force (DAF) policies for in-service transition.

“In other words, they followed the rules and got kicked out for it. This move is not all that surprising. Some may recall that the Department of Defense claimed that you can get a waiver to their anti-transgender policy, but then wrote the waiver in such a way that NO transgender person who served openly could ever get one.

“This latest move by the DAF should serve as a clear warning to other marginalized groups that this administration does not care about you. The old motto of, ‘Mission first, people always’ is dead. The removal of transgender troops is driven by animus, and the DAF just proved that it is now ‘King Trump first, people last’ Air Force.”

Master Sergeant Logan Ireland of the US Air Force, who has 15 years of service, and was deployed to Afghanistan, told GLAAD: “This is a betrayal. I have served my country honorably. I’ve earned multiple awards for leadership and excellence, deployed to combat zones, led operations across the globe, and worn this uniform with pride. My service has been nothing short of meritorious.

“I didn’t just check boxes; I exceeded the standard, time and again, in defense of this nation. Without warning, I am being forcibly removed—not for misconduct, not for failure, but because I am transgender.”

Sgt. Aubreigh Hedrich of the U.S. Space Force (USSF) empahised that, “Those of us that this applies to have already volunteered to leave peacefully, and we’re still being targeted and harassed on the way out.”

The initial decision was termed “indefensible” by the Human Rights Campaign’s chief of staff, Jay Brown, saying in a statement to PinkNews that the Trump administration was “stripping [trans troops] of the retirement benefits they’ve earned after years of honourable service.”

“This has nothing to do with military readiness, it’s cruelty for cruelty’s sake,” Brown continued.

The move is the latest from the Trump administration to target transgender service people in the U.S. Armed Forces.

When Trump began his second term in office, he immediately signed a ost of executive orders, including ones eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programmes across the government and in the military and banning trans people from serving.