Air Force Outprocessing: vOP in vMPF, Clearing Your Base, and the Deadlines That Actually Bite (2026)

Quick answer: Air Force out-processing for separation or retirement runs through virtual out-processing (vOP) in vMPF, the virtual Military Personnel Flight, and the Air Force made vOP mandatory back in 2006. That's the only part that's the same everywhere. What's on your checklist, which stops are still in person, and how far ahead each one is due vary by installation. The planning rule that holds at every base: count backward from the day you stop showing up for duty, not from your DOS. That's the start of your terminal leave, or your PTDY start if you take permissive TDY first, whichever comes earlier. After that day you aren't coming to work, so anything that needs you on base has to be done by then.

Out-processing gets one slide in most briefings, usually right after someone says "it's mostly online now." It is mostly online now. The problem is the word "mostly." The online part is easy. The rest is a handful of appointments, memos, and checklists, each run by a different office on its own schedule, and every one of them needs to be done while you're still on station.

This post is the Air Force-specific version. For the full cross-branch task list, see the military separation checklist.

What Out-Processing Actually Is in the Air Force Now

Two layers:

• vOP in vMPF. Mandatory for separations and retirements (and PCS moves) per AFPC's 2006 announcement. Bases publish their own instructions for it. Moody's virtual out-processing page is one example. Typically you start it in vMPF, it gives you a checklist of items owned by different base offices, and those offices clear their items as you finish them.
• Everything vOP doesn't cover. Some checklist items close online. Others need you to show up, hand something in, or get a signature or memo from an office that won't do it remotely. Which ones fall in this group depends on your base.

So "I started vOP" is not the same as "I'm out-processing." It means you have the list. Getting it all cleared is the actual work.

The Timeline: Count Backward From Terminal Leave, Not Your DOS

Your DOS (date of separation) is the date on your orders. It's the date you stop being on active duty. It is not your out-processing deadline if you're taking terminal leave. Terminal leave is still active duty, but you're gone. Your last duty day, the day before terminal leave starts (or before PTDY starts, if you take permissive TDY first), is the real deadline for anything that needs you on base.

Take 60 days of terminal leave and everything in-person moves two months earlier. If that trade-off is still on the table, terminal leave vs SkillBridge vs PTDY and selling leave vs terminal leave cover how each choice changes the calendar.

The early dates (set by law and DAF TAP)

• Pre-separation counseling, under 10 U.S.C. § 1142: no later than 365 days before separation. Retirees: as soon as possible during the 24 months before retirement. If your separation wasn't anticipated and you have 365 days or less, as soon as possible. One exception: under § 1142(a)(4) this counseling is not provided to members discharged before completing their first 180 continuous days of active duty, unless the separation is for disability.
• DAF TAP, per MyAirForceBenefits: start no later than 365 days out. The recommendation is up to 2 years out for retirees and 18 months out for separatees.
• Capstone: no earlier than 12 months and no later than 90 days before separation (same source). That's the published window. In practice, if you'll be on terminal leave during your final 90 days, you won't be around for it, so plan on finishing before your last duty day. Some transition offices go further and count the 90 days back from your terminal leave or PTDY start, so ask yours which date it uses. The details, including DD Form 2648, are in the Capstone post.

A worked example

Say your DOS is March 31, 2027, and you take 60 days of terminal leave. Here's roughly how it lines up. The exact leave day count is between you, your leave form, and finance, so treat these as approximate.

Look at where that lands. In this example the BDD window closes, Capstone is due, and both base example deadlines all fall in the same few days, right over the holidays, when half the offices you need are on leave themselves. Your dates will be different. The pile-up usually won't be. Move what you can earlier.

The vOP Checklist: What Typically Shows Up

I'm not going to give you a list of offices and claim it's universal, because it isn't. What shows up depends on your base, your unit, whether you live in base housing, whether you're moving with the government, and whether you're separating or retiring. What follows are the kinds of items that typically show up. Your checklist is the real list.

Two things about ownership. First, each item belongs to a specific office, and that office decides when it's cleared. Not you, and not your supervisor. Second, an item that "should be quick" can still take a week if the one person who clears it is TDY. Start early enough to absorb that.

The In-Person Stops That Still Exist

vOP cut down the walking around. It didn't get rid of it. Based on published base guidance, the in-person or document-based stops tend to cluster in a few areas:

• Medical. At F.E. Warren, the MPF separations page says the medical clearance memo must be done NLT 30 days prior to your final out appointment with the MPF. That's a document you have to go get, not an item that clears itself.
• Finance. At Scott, the finance retirement/separation out-processing checklist is marked to be completed NLT 30 days prior to the start of permissive/terminal leave (permissive meaning PTDY). The same packet also gives a window of NET 60 and NLT 30 days before your final out with the MPF. Either way, it's tied to when you stop showing up, not your DOS.
• Your DD214 worksheet. Typically you review it with the MPF before the final version is produced. This is the cheapest point to fix an error. Afterward it's a correction request. The DD214 guide covers what to check block by block.
• Equipment, housing, and TMO. Anything where something physical has to change hands or get inspected.

Those two base examples are useful because they show the pattern: 30-day lead times, measured from final out or terminal leave start. Your base may use different numbers. Don't assume yours is more forgiving.

The Deadlines That Actually Bite

Some of these are local, some are statutory, and some don't start until after you're out. They're all in one table because they all end up on the same calendar.

A few notes on the ones that cause the most trouble:

• BDD. The 45-day exam availability is the part people forget. File near the 90-day end of the window while planning terminal leave out of state, and you may be trying to make VA exams from somewhere else. Prep is in the VA disability preparation checklist. Part A is covered in SHPE vs SHA.
• SGLI/VGLI. 240 days is the window where your health doesn't matter. After that it does. Full breakdown in the SGLI to VGLI post.
• TAMP and CHCBP. TAMP is mainly for involuntary separations and specific situations. It is not something a routine voluntary separatee should count on, unless you're going straight into the Selected Reserve, which is one of the listed categories. If you're losing TRICARE, CHCBP is the 60-day option. More on what turns off and when in pay, benefits, and healthcare after separation.

Common Ways People Get Stuck

Finance

Finance tends to be the item with the longest lead time and the least patience. If your base sets the checklist due 30 days before terminal leave, like Scott does, that's 30 days before your last duty day, not your DOS. People who counted from their DOS find out they're late on day one. Read your base's finance instructions first, before anything else on the list.

Medical clearance

A medical clearance memo isn't the same as finishing your separation exam, and it may need its own appointment. If your base wants it 30 days before your final out appointment, like Warren does, and your SHPE results or a follow-up are still open, the memo waits. Get the SHPE done early so it doesn't hold up everything else.

Orders amendments

Your DOS changes, your terminal leave dates change, or something on the orders is wrong. Any of those means an amendment, and everything keyed to those dates moves too: finance deadlines, the medical memo, TMO, housing. Things that were on time can be late the day the amendment comes through. If your dates are still moving, assume the earliest version is real until the amendment is in your hands.

The DD214 worksheet

Typically you get to review it before the final version. People skim it because they're tired and almost done. Don't. Check your dates, your character of service, narrative reason, and awards. A mistake you catch on the worksheet gets fixed in a day. Once the DD214 is final, it becomes a formal correction. The DD214 guide covers what to look for.

Waiting on vOP to tell you what to do

vOP gives you a checklist. It doesn't tell you that finance wants its packet 30 days before terminal leave, or that BDD closes at 90 days out. Those sit outside the checklist, on separate timelines, and nobody is going to remind you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is vOP in the Air Force?

vOP is virtual out-processing. The Air Force made it mandatory, and you do it through vMPF, the virtual Military Personnel Flight. It applies to separations and retirements. It replaces a lot of the old walk-around checklist with an online one, but it does not replace every in-person stop. Most bases still have some appointments you have to show up for, and which ones depends on your installation.

When should I start Air Force outprocessing?

The transition side starts a lot earlier than vOP. Under 10 U.S.C. 1142, pre-separation counseling has to start no later than 365 days before separation, and for retirees as soon as possible during the 24 months before retirement. One exception: under section 1142(a)(4) it is not provided to members discharged before completing their first 180 continuous days of active duty, unless the separation is for disability. The Department of the Air Force recommends starting TAP up to 2 years out if you are retiring and 18 months out if you are separating. The base clearing part, vOP and the in-person stops, runs on your installation's timeline, so read your base's vOP instructions early and count backward from the day you stop showing up for duty, the start of terminal leave or your PTDY start if you take permissive TDY first, not from your DOS.

Is the vOP checklist the same at every base?

No. vOP is mandatory Air Force-wide, but requirements vary by installation. As published examples, F.E. Warren's MPF separations page calls for a medical clearance memo no later than 30 days before your final out appointment with the MPF, and Scott's finance separation and retirement packet is due no later than 30 days before permissive (PTDY) or terminal leave begins. Your base may use different items and different lead times. Your own base's vOP checklist and MPF instructions are the ones that count.

Do I have to finish outprocessing before terminal leave starts?

In practice, yes. Once terminal leave starts you are not coming to work, so anything that needs you in person, including clearing appointments, medical, finance, and Capstone, has to be done before your last duty day. Some bases set their own deadlines tied to the terminal leave or PTDY start date. Treat your terminal leave start date as the real deadline for everything on base.

Which outprocessing deadlines do people actually miss?

The ones with short windows or hard cutoffs. The BDD window is 180 to 90 days before separation, and you have to be available for VA exams within 45 days of filing. DAF Capstone has to be done no later than 90 days before separation. After you separate, SGLI coverage continues free for 120 days, VGLI requires no health questions if you apply within 240 days, and the final VGLI deadline is 1 year and 120 days. If you are losing TRICARE, CHCBP enrollment has to happen within 60 days of losing TRICARE or TAMP.

Does everyone get TAMP when they separate?

No. TAMP, the Transitional Assistance Management Program, is mainly for involuntary separations and certain specific situations. A routine voluntary separation usually does not qualify, though one listed category is separating from active duty and joining the Selected Reserve. If you are separating voluntarily and not going into the Selected Reserve, plan on your TRICARE ending at separation, and look at CHCBP, which you have to enroll in within 60 days of losing TRICARE or TAMP. Check eligibility on tricare.mil before you count on either one.

Final Thoughts

Air Force out-processing isn't hard. It's scattered. vOP gives you one list, but the deadlines that matter sit in different places: the statute, DAF TAP, VA, TRICARE, and whatever your base's finance office and MDG decided their lead times are.

The fix is boring. Pick your terminal leave start date. Count back 30 days from it and assume something is due there, because at the bases that publish their rules, something is. Get Capstone, the SHPE, and the BDD claim done well before that. Read your DD214 worksheet like it matters, because it does. Then put the SGLI, VGLI, and CHCBP clocks on the calendar for after your DOS, since nobody on base will remind you about those.

Your last duty day should be turning in the last thing and leaving. Not finding out about a memo you needed a month ago.

About the author: Bruce Goren is a retired Air Force member (Ret. Feb 2026). He went through Air Force out-processing himself on the way to retirement, and he built OutProcessed after seeing how scattered the separation process is. This post is general information, not legal or official guidance. Out-processing requirements are set by your installation, so confirm specifics with your MPF, your unit, and your transition office, and check the date on whatever you are reading.