Types of Separation Boards

There is little publicly-available information that summarizes the full scope of the U.S. Army's only force reduction of the 21st century. As part of the Pink-Slipped Veterans Initiative, a review was conducted of previously published military personnel (MILPER) messages, which was the primary means for the U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC) to notify field human resources personnel of potentially affected officers. 

Based on this review, the U.S. Army established three types of boards to evaluate Regular Army (RA) officers for force reduction:

1. Officer Separation Boards (OSB) evaluated RA officers with less than 18 years for potential involuntary separation. 
2. Enhanced Selective Early Retirement Boards (E-SERB) evaluated officers who had 18 years or more of active federal service as of the board convening date for potential early retirement. Captains commissioned from Year Groups 2006 to 2009 and Majors commissioned from Year Groups 1999 to 2003 were largely affected by both the OSBs and E-SERBs held during FY2014 and FY2015, while Lieutenant Colonels were only affected by the E-SERB in FY2016. 
3. Selective Early Retirement Boards (SERB) evaluated Lieutenant Colonels who failed twice for promotion and were not currently recommended for promotion and Colonels who served for 4 or more years in this grade and were not currently recommended for promotion. 

OSBs and E-SERBs (FY2013 to FY2016): 

In December 2013, HRC announced two major rounds of OSBs and   E-SERBs that would be convened in FY2014 to evaluate active duty RA Army Competitive Category (ACC) Captains and Majors who were not on a list of officers recommended for promotion to the next higher grade, despite the fact that no promotion boards had yet to convene to consider these officers for a below the zone promotion, with the exception of those Majors with a a date of rank between October 1, 2008 to August 31, 2009 who were evaluated in January 2015:

• Three separate OSBs and E-SERBs were convened in March 2014 to evaluate Captains from each Year Group 2006 through 2008.  Captains whose date of rank to Captain fell within January 30, 2009 to July 14, 2012 were considered by either the OSB or E-SERB. 
• Five OSBs and E-SERBs were convened in April 2014 and May 2014  to evaluate Majors from each Year Group 1999 through 2003. Majors whose date of rank to Major fell within October 2, 2008 to April 29, 2013 were evaluated.

In June 2015, HRC announced second iteration of two major rounds of OSBs and E-SERBs that would be convened in FY2015 to evaluate Captains from the Army Nurse Corps (AN), Medical Service Corps (MS), and ACC who were not on a list of officers recommended for promotion to the next higher grade, despite the fact that no promotion boards had yet to convene to consider these officers for a below the zone promotion, with the exception of those AN Captains with a date of rank between June 22, 2010 to October 1, 2010 and MS Captains with date of rank between October 2, 2009  and October 1, 2010 who were evaluated in August 2015:

• Two separate OSBs and E-SERBs were convened in  September 2015 to evaluate Captains from the AN with area of concentration (AOC) of medical-surgical nursing (66H) from each Year Group 2008 and 2009 and have a date of rank to Captain within  October 2, 2010 to April 1, 2013 were evaluated. 
• Three separate OSBs and E-SERBs were convened in  September 2015 to evaluate Captains from the MS with an AOC of Health Services (67A) from each Year Group 2007 through 2009 and have a date of rank to Captain within October 2, 2009 to April 1, 2013 were also included. 
•  Captains in the ACC that were commissioned in Year Group 2009 and had a date of rank to Captain July 23, 2012 to July 22, 2013 were evaluated.

In November 2015, HRC announced that one E-SERB would be convened in January 2016 for Lieutenant Colonels in the Operations (OPS), Operations Support (OS), and Force Sustainment competitive categories who were twice non-selected for promotion to Colonel during the FY15 Colonel, Army, promotion selection board and were not on a list of officers recommended for promotion.

SERBs (FY2013 and FY2014):

• In March 2013, HRC announced that a Selective Early Retirement Board (SERB) would be convened in August 2013 to involuntarily retire up to 360 of RA active-duty Lieutenant Colonels and Colonels in the ACC. Colonels with a date of rank of August 1, 2008 and earlier were evaluated.  Lieutenant Colonels who were not selected for promotion to Colonel two or more times as of the FY2012 Colonel Army Promotion Selection Board were also screened. 
• In April 2013, HRC also announced that a SERB would be convened in July 2014 to consider RA active-duty Colonels in the Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAGC) Competitive Category with a date of rank between December 9 2006 and April 1, 2010 who were not on a list to be promoted to the next higher grade.
• In May 2014, HRC announced that a SERB would be convened in November 2014 to consider RA active-duty Colonels in the Operations (OPS), Operations Support (OS), and Force Sustainment competitive categories with a date of rank of August 2, 2008 and November 12, 2010 who were not on a list to be promoted to the next higher grade.
• In July 2014, HRC announced that a SERB would be convened in November 2014 to consider RA active-duty Lieutenant Colonels in the Operations (OPS), Operations Support (OS), and Force Sustainment competitive categories who were twice non-selected for promotion to Colonel during the FY14 Colonel, ACC, promotion selection board and were not on a list of officers recommended for promotion; this board was delayed to February 2015 and no additional information is available on this board

Each MILPER message indicated that the OSB and E-SERB would examine the Officer's Board file, which included the following:

1. Authorized communication from the Officer
2. Officer Record Brief (ORB)
3. Official photograph
4. Active Duty Service Obligation (ADSO), if applicable
5. The Officer's performance in the Army Military Human Resource Record (AMHRR), which included pre-screened limited portions of restricted(R)AMHRR/IPERMS, if one existed, such as:

                            · Article 15 or other UCMJ actions received as an Enlisted member or as an    

                               Officer that have not been set aside by a proper authority

                            · DA suitability and evaluation board (DASEB) filing of unfavorable information 

                            · Promotion list removal documents when the officer is removed from the list

                            · Punitive or administrative letters of reprimand, admonishment, or censure

                            · Lieutenant Office Evaluation Reports (OER)

Once the OSB or E-SERB completed their review, a Board Report was prepared with a recommendation. The Secretary of the Army approved the Board Reports. The Secretary of the Army approval was the final action. 

Each Officer selected by the OSB or E-SERB was supposed to be personally notified of their selection, which was to be followed by official correspondence. 

The U.S. Army did not allow for any "relook" or "Standby" Boards to be established or provide for an appeal process. If officers believed their selection for early retirement or separation resulted from an error in their military records or that their selection constituted an injustice, the U.S. Army pointed these officers to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to seek relief.

The U.S. Army indicated in each MILPER message that no list would be publicly released.