The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States. Article III of the U.S. Constitution created the Supreme Court and authorized Congress to pass laws establishing a system of lower courts. In the federal court system’s present form, 94 district level trial courts and 13 courts of appeals sit below the Supreme Court.
It sounds to me like there are district courts and appeals courts. Those appeals courts would be the 13 Federal District of Appeals courts.
I do see a military carve out and you mention a CAFC court. Was the CAFC in play here?
If not, this would seem to have on one Federal Circuit Court Handling Appeals, the 9th.
If I'm still missing it, don't give up.
The decision here was rendered by the CAFC. The OP says so — it’s how I found and linked to the decision itself.
There are 13 appellate courts that sit below the U.S. Supreme Court, and they are called the U.S. Courts of Appeals. The 94 federal judicial districts are organized into 12 regional circuits, each of which has a court of appeals.
So, that accounts for 12 out of the 13. These are known as the "Circuit Courts of Appeal," e.g., "the 9th Circuit."
In addition, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals in specialized cases, such as those involving patent laws, and cases decided by the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
This case is a direct appeal, without having gone through ANY Article III court. No federal district court was involved at all.
How did plaintiff manage to get a direct appeal? The opinion tells us ...
We generally have jurisdiction over appeals of a final decision of the MSPB under 28 U.S.C. 1295(a)(9), pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 7703(b)(1).