I “was” a captain until first part of OCT - I was told I was no longer needed...given an honorable...and that was that...there are a bunch of O-3 through O-5 getting the boot...relying on O-1 & O-2’s to do the company and BN stuff...from what I’ve seen....maybe the NG is fairing better...since it’s sate level...
I went through the 92-95 drawdown, had RIFs, SERBs, and low % promotion boards. I got hit by the promotion board. The fastest management tool they used to downsize (to my knowledge) was the SERB board. Once the names were released you only had 5-6 months left on active duty. Never heard of a management tool, that could get rid of you in days (other than court martials). I was in the AF, and at the time they were allowing people to retire with 15 years.