Air Force to Allow Three Years Off to Start Families

What a topsy turvy week it’s been. Perfect couple Beyonce and Jay Z are now models of dysfunction. The flagship indoctrination station of the left wing liberal media fires its first female executive editor. Cats are attacking dogs. And now, the US Military takes the lead on an important issue of women’s rights. Is this real life?

According to the Air Force Times, a pilot (heh) program will allow airmen (a gender neutral term) to “separate from the Air Force” for up to three years in order to start their families, and then return to the service once their kid’s big enough to not shit itself if left alone for five minutes. The program will launch (again, heh) later this year and will affect a small number of airmen before, hopefully, expanding to the general population of the Air Force.

The program owes its existence to observed necessity, according to the AFT,

“Some women leave the Air Force because they want to start a family,” [Air Force personnel chief Lt. Gen. Samuel] Cox said. “So why don’t we have a program that allows them, in some cases, to be able separate from the Air Force for a short period of time, get their family started, and then come back in?”

Cox used the example of a female airman who wanted to start a family to explain how such a program could help airmen, but the program would not only be for women. Air Force spokeswoman Rose Richeson said it would be open to both male and female airmen who want “to meet personal or professional needs outside the service while providing a mechanism for seamless return to active duty.”

Individuals who opt to enroll in the one-and-done program wouldn’t miss out on three years of advancement opportunities, either; “year groups” would reset once they returned so participants don’t miss out on advancement opportunities, in essence putting a bookmark in their careers rather than having to start all over again at page one.

But let’s not all run screaming to enlist; at its inception, the Career Intermission Pilot Program will first only cover 20 officers and 20 non-officers pegged by superiors as having “high potential” in the Air Force. However, if all goes well, the program will expand to more airmen.