Fiancé Shipping Out to the Air Force — Recruiter Didn’t Mention 15-Day Paperwork Freeze… Can Anyone Verify?

Hi everyone, I could really use some clarification and advice.

My fiancé is scheduled to ship out to the U.S. Air Force on December 9th. We planned our wedding for November 18th, and we told our recruiter about it over a month ago. Only now we’re being told there is a 15-day window before shipping where no changes can be made in the system, including updating marital status.

We had no idea about this, and the recruiter never warned us. We’ve already paid for our venue and catering, and both are non-refundable, so we’re devastated thinking we might have to cancel our wedding over a technicality.

Can anyone here verify if the 15-day no-changes rule is real for the Air Force? And if so, is there any workaround or exception?

Any insight from current/previous service members, recruiters, or anyone who’s gone through something similar would be hugely appreciated. Thank you.