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What I don’t understand is why the Air Force is recalling rated field grade officers while kicking out the senior noncommissioned officers (“Air Force wants to trim 5,750 people by 2012,” article, March 26).

The FGOs have been recalled for their expertise after being separated from the service anywhere from one to 14 years. What expertise can anyone have after being out of the military over five years?

What’s the difference in pay between E7/E8s and O4/O5s? Sounds like the senior enlisted are getting kicked out to pay for the recalled officers. Looks like senior NCOs are being forced to retire up to two years early while recalled FGOs are able to extend their retirement dates by two to three years.

In the end, senior enlisted retirement pay gets cut by 5 percent in order to increase the retirement pay of the recalled officers by 5 percent to 7.5 percent. That doesn’t sound very fair!

Sgt. Sean McCarthyRamstein Air Base, Germany

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