Air Force bonus funding held up in Congress by feuding states' lawmakers amid ongoing recruiting crisis

The Air Force is halting bonuses and permanent change of station (PCS) moves amid a funding shortage caused by a dispute with Alabama lawmakers.

The Air Force announced in a press release Monday that it would delay awarding bonuses to members who re-enlist and temporarily delay planned duty station moves in a bid to "avoid exhausting funds," a move made necessary after Alabama lawmakers moved to cut funding for the service until it publicly announces the permanent home of the new Space Command headquarters.

Though the press release did not detail the reasons for the shortfall, the announcement comes amid a month-long fight over the destination of the Space Force headquarters, which was slated to be built in Alabama but now faces delays over Biden administration concerns about the state's strict abortion laws.

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Colorado, which has been the temporary home of the Space Force since the service was stood up in 2019 and was originally supposed to be its permanent host, has stepped up a pressure campaign to keep the new branch at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, arguing the permanent home could be fully functional quicker by avoiding the move Alabama.

The decision to have Alabama host the Space Force was made during the waning days of former President Trump's term, with the former president holding high level meetings to convince leaders to choose Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, as its permanent home. That move quickly came under review when President Biden took office later the same month, spawning the standoff.

A final determination on the location of the headquarters was supposed to be made in December, but the service has yet to make the final determination.

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The Air Force did not give any background on the reason for the delays in bonuses and PCS moves in its Monday press release, only stating that the service was facing "higher than projected personnel costs." Members who were already slated to move to a new station in July will be allowed to go ahead with their move, while those with orders to move after July will have their change of station reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Meanwhile, the Air Force said that members effected by the delays in bonuses would be allowed to extend contracts in order to qualify for bonuses under current rules during the 2024 fiscal year.

Whn reached for comment by Fox Business, an Air Force spokesperson said the shortfall is "driven by higher than projected personnel costs."

"The funding shortfall resulted from higher than expected PCS costs as a result of inflation and the addition of recruiting and retention bonuses," the spokesperson said. "Headquarters Air Force is directing actions to be taken now to avoid exhausting funds."

The delays in bonuses also come as the military has been mired in its worse recruiting crisis in over 50 years. The Army has been hardest hit by the crisis, coming 15,000 recruits short of meeting its recruiting goals last year and is projected to fall short again in 2023.

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While the Air Force met its recruiting goals in 2022, it did so by dipping deep into its pool of Delayed Entry Program candidates, putting the service behind its goals for 2023.