I did it. I put a separation date of 5 months down the road but they lost the paperwork (actually the initial fax from MPF did not go through and MPF did not take the time to verify the paperwork made it). It took them forever to figure this out and then the person who was supposed to sign it was on vacation for 3 weeks. Well, they lost it again and it took another few weeks for the Chief to find it. Basically, by the time they finished screwing up an easy process, it was Thursday and my requested separation date was the next Tuesday. The Chief called and congratulated me and said my last day was Tuesday. I asked her for a couple extra days to outprocess and she said "Nope." I was out Tuesday morning with a huge grin on my face and no regrets. If I were you, I would follow your paperwork like a hound dog from desk to desk.