Cosmo, just looked up on AFPC...

OFFICER

As a general rule, once you have fulfilled your Active Duty Service Commitment, you are eligible to apply for voluntary separation. Your application is accomplished on an AF Form 780, Officer Separation Actions. You can submit your application no earlier than 12 months, but no later than six months before your requested separation date. For a listing of other separation reasons, contact your local MPF Retirements and Separations Section.

 

You mean you can't fill out the paperwork in advance and separate on the day of completion of your ADSC? Otherwise your actual commitment is 6/8/10 years plus 6 months. (I'm not familiar with USAF UPT contracts, USMC its 6 years for RW and 8 years for FW after wings on the contract).

My ADSC is 1 Sep 08, but I can submit my paperwork anytime between today (actually 14 months) and 1 May 08 (4 months prior) and be a civilian the afternoon of 1 Sep 08.

 

I'm trying to separate from the Air Force at the end of my ADSC (sort of, I requested a few weeks off), and currently my paperwork is in limbo. I'm on a tight timeline with civillian employment, and I have a part time reserve job lined up. Anyone here ever Palace Front-ed (not Chase), and if so, was it painless? ie do they still want 6 months notice? I'm reading up on it, wondering if I should go that route as I wait for an answer on "normal" separation paperwork. Thanks

 

I'm doing the palace front right now. I turned in my papers in November 07, my DOS is 10 May 08, and I start terminal leave on 22 Feb.

Talk to your reserve recruiter ASAP - they'll take care of most of the footwork. Things they'll need from you:
- The completed 780
- Copy of your last 1042 and flight physical that shows worldwide deployability
- last PT results

They'll do the paperwork and take care of the 1288. The biggest problem is waiting for your name to show up on the "scroll list." I don't even know what it is, but essentially, it's a SecAF approved listing that you need to get on prior to inprocessing into your reserve unit and getting your orders. Apparently, that process can take several months. The good news is that your reserve recruiter does all the work.

For me, leaving the active duty side is the hard part. Dealing with the standard "that's not my job" attitude in finance and MPF has been extremely painful. I'll go on record and say that the 2 dumbest people on this planet happen to work in Dover's MPF and finance offices. There's a lot of stupid things - shread your passports so you can outprocess active duty, then show up in the reserves and wait 4 months so you can get new passports. Ditto for government travel cards, security clearance paperwork, line badges, etc. Get the commissary & BX to sign off your MPF checklist so that you can pick up your finance checklist that has you go back to the BX & commissary for them to sign your finance checklist. Gotta love today's awesome support agencies

 

Riddler, Thanks for the info. I've had a hard time with MPF as well--dropped my paperwork off and it sat for two weeks as I was led to believe it was sent to AFPC. Now I'm in a crunch. Anyways, I guess the separation part with Palace Front is exactly the same as a normal separation, 780 and all? I was hoping it was faster than waiting weeks for an answer. Also, do you happen to get permissive TDY with Palace Front? I heard you don't with a normal sep and you do with Palace Chase.
Thanks

 

Yes, from what it seems, the palace front is the same as a normal separation, with the exception that you prepare your reserve paperwork ahead of time. When you get your separation orders, they should include the projected position # and rank for your reserve job.

I'm not sure about the permissive TDY since I'm not moving and I never looked into it. I'd imagine that you can take permissive, but you'd have to get your CC's permission.

 

Separations is all done online now... no paperwork involved... CMS is the program used by AFPC and your CSS... check with them ASAP to ensure you are on the right track.

 

Thanks, I put my papers in right before it went virtual, so I'm still under that system. But I do constantly check with the MPF/CSS--it's easy to be forgotten about, I've found.

 

Can anyone explain the difference between Palace Front and Palace Chase?

 

I think Palace Chase is when you have to get out of some of your commitment to switch over to guard/reserves...it requires approval, i.e. it can be denied these days. If you have more than one year left on your commitment when you want to get out, and they are short on dudes in your AFSC/year group, expect it to be denied. If you are inside a year to go, you have a much better chance of getting it approved, since you could just seven-day opt out of any assignment they could give you anyway. Realize, you've now showed your cards if you try to Palace Chase since your applications need to be approved by your chain of command (up to Wing CC, I think)...if it's denied, depending on how your bosses feel about dudes who get out, you may/may not be taken care of from then on.

Palace Front is when you've met your commitment, tell them you are getting out, then pick up a job in the guard/reserves. It's a process that smooths over the transition paperwork wise. It cannot be denied, since you've met your commitment and are getting out of active duty fair and square anyway.

I seven day opted an assignment, then picked up a reserve job. I was under Palace Front as I did all my separation paperwork....was mostly transparent to me. The AF Reserve in-service recruiter then just worked with the separations office to square away all the paperwork.

Not totally positive about the official definitions, though.