After his release, Colonel Mahurin was assigned as vice commander of the 27th Air Division. Because of his position on the promotion list, it seemed unlikely that he would be promoted to full colonel and be considered for a star and a higher command in his remaining years of service. He therefore resigned his commission in 1956 to accept a senior position with the aircraft industry. Later he joined the Air Force Reserve, subsequently retiring as a Colonel. While the Air Force attributed this to his own choice, stating he was low on the promotion list to colonel and unlikely to make general, a pilot under his command in Korea, Robert Smith, asserts that the Air Force dishonored itself by pressuring Mahurin to resign from the service as a result of political infighting over the confessions, four years short of becoming eligible for retirement benefits.