A&FRC sees increased demand for retirement workshops

  • Published
  • By Lee Ross
  • Nucleus editor
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  According to Tom Bonnel of Kirtland's Airman and Family Readiness Center, there has been a surge of military members looking at the possibility of retiring this year.

From January to March, Bonnel had 329 people take a five-day Transition Assistance Program, required for anyone separating from the Air Force. There were just 52 people who signed up for the program in the same period in 2013, he said.

His office typically sees about 500 students for those classes per year, he said, but this year that number may double. Force-shaping measures have created an increased demand, he said.

Airmen are being offered incentives to voluntarily separate due to budget cuts that require the Air Force to eliminate more than 20,000 jobs.

The increased demand for the Transition Assistance Program at Kirtland doesn't mean everyone who has attended the program is leaving the Air Force, Bonnel said. Some are only preparing, just in case they decide to take advantage of one of the force shaping programs.

"If you say that all 329 people are separating from the Air Force, you are probably making a false assumption," he said. "But, now that they have completed the program, those are 329 well-informed individuals."

Keeping up with the increased demand has kept Bonnel and the other employees at the Airman and Family Readiness Center very busy for the past several months, he said. Bonnel added that he isn't sure when the increased workload will end.

"We're in the midst of a surge. I don't know what fiscal year 2015 will bring," he said.

The Airman and Family Readiness Center is now holding three workshops every two months, rather than the normal two, and have increased at least one of the classroom sessions from about 40 people to 70, he said.

The current workshops are also more intensive and longer this year than they were in previous years, he said. Students are offered additional information and a more robust curriculum which includes counseling, assistance in navigating job sites, budget planning, information on Department of Veterans Affairs benefits and much more.

And this is a service that addresses a serious need, Bonnel said.

According to the Labor Department, the unemployment rate among veterans who have joined the military since Sept. 11, 2001, averaged 9 percent last year. That's down from nearly 10 percent in 2012, according to Labor Department reports. Even with the decrease, the unemployment rate among veterans was still about 1.6 points above the rate for civilians, according to the Labor Department report.

Bonnel said he is glad to be part of the effort to address that issue and help those who help those who may be separating from the military. Transition Assistance Program can be done up to 24 months before retirement or 12 months before separating.

For more information call the Airman and Family Readiness Center, 846-0741.