The Air Force this week is sending notices to many headquarters-level civilian employees offering early retirement coupled with buyouts, the third round of such offers at the service recently. The offers are related to the general DoD initiative to reduce headquarters level spending by 20 percent, an initiative that has drawn criticism from Capitol Hill as failing to produce real savings but rather shifting costs from one organization to another. Those receiving the offers generally will have about two weeks to decide and will have to separate by September 30, the end of the fiscal year; the service has not said how many employees are receiving offers or how many it expects to take them. However, it has said that “headquarters and other participating bases will begin their preparations for submitting requests for approval to use reduction-in-force procedures.”