‘Betrayed And Devastated’: Trans Air Force Troops Denied Early Retirement Under New Policy
A sudden policy shift has upended the lives of veterans who served for over a decade, erasing retirement plans they’d already secured.
Featured image: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
The U.S. Air Force has rescinded its offer of early retirement to transgender service members with 15 to 18 years of service, a move that strips away lifetime benefits many had been counting on. Instead, these airmen will be forced out under the Trump administration’s ban on transgender troops, leaving them with either a lump-sum payout—available only to those who met earlier deadlines—or nothing at all.
The decision, laid out in an August 4 memo signed by Brian Scarlett, who is performing the duties of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs, reverses a policy from earlier this year that allowed eligible members to apply for Temporary Early Retirement Authority, or TERA. The change affects service members who have devoted well over a decade to the force, often through multiple combat tours.
Master Sgt. Logan Ireland is one of them. He served 15 years, including deployments to the Middle East and Asia. Ireland said his request for early retirement had been approved, only to be revoked “without a case-by-case review [and] without any justification.” He learned the news from his commander, who delivered it “with tears in their eyes.”
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“This is a core part of who I am, and now it’s just being ripped from me,” Ireland told Advocate. “So being allowed to still retire was a way for me to find closure and was a way for me to look at the Air Force and say, ‘you know what? Despite this policy, they’re trying to do right by some service members and allowing us to retire early.’ But now I feel like I was just betrayed by the same service that once celebrated who I am.”
Shannon Minter, legal director at the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, called the policy “devastating” and “a betrayal of a direct commitment made to these service members.” She estimates the change will cost affected veterans hundreds of thousands of dollars over their lifetimes. Shannon Leary, an attorney specializing in anti-LGBTQ+ employment cases, described it as “quite arbitrary on its face and cruel,” noting that early retirement is typically extended to any service member with more than 15 years in uniform.
The Air Force insists the decision was made “after careful consideration of the individual applications,” but also admitted that about a dozen members had been “prematurely notified” they would be allowed to retire before that approval was pulled. A Pentagon spokesperson told reporters that the policy treats “anyone impacted by it with dignity and respect,” but trans service members say their experience tells a different story.
Benefits tied to TERA include health insurance coverage, disability payments, and access to base housing. Without them, some veterans will face starting over from scratch in midlife.
The policy shift comes amid a broader purge of transgender service members, following the president’s executive order labeling trans identity as a “mental disorder” and “unfit for military service.” The Pentagon has said it will lean on annual medical screenings and commanders to identify and separate those who do not leave voluntarily.
As of late last year, Pentagon data showed at least 4,240 active-duty, National Guard, and Reserve troops diagnosed with “gender dysphoria,” though advocates say the real number of transgender service members is likely higher. A February Gallup poll found that 58 percent of Americans support allowing transgender individuals to serve, down from 71 percent in 2019.
Ireland, like others in his position, is now confronting an uncertain future. “I feel betrayed and devastated by the news,” he said. For him, the change isn’t just about lost benefits. It’s about the collapse of trust between the service and those who have dedicated their lives to it.
