Delay before training

040726

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Feb 4, 2010
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A friend's son was commissioned NROTC Marine Option, but now has several months with no pay until his training starts. Is that becoming the norm for all commissioned NROTC officers Navy and Marine? I know the Academy guys get stashed somewhere or do recruiting, but at least they are getting paid.
Any ideas?
 
A friend's son was commissioned NROTC Marine Option, but now has several months with no pay until his training starts. Is that becoming the norm for all commissioned NROTC officers Navy and Marine? I know the Academy guys get stashed somewhere or do recruiting, but at least they are getting paid.
Any ideas?

I understand this to be the new norm for USMC Officers.

I have heard the delay can be up to one year from comissioning to reporting to The Basic School.
 
This has been traditional for AFROTC grads for decades. It may be the new norm for NROTC because of the DoD budget constraints. It saves them a lot of money if you calculate monthly pay for an O1, plus later on it also delays their DOR, which delays the pay for promotions.

I.E. Commission date May 25, 2013. AD date Mar 25, 2014. Their DOR would be Nov 2014, or IOTW FY 14, not FY13 yr group.

Your longetivity pay would still be for commission date, but your promotion pay would not be. Our ADAF DS commissioned in May, but his DOR is Aug., he will get O1 2 yr pay raise in May, he will get his O2 rank pay raise in Aug. SA grads get both on the same day.

It also could be due to meeting their personnel numbers. They may need to slow the pipeline down because they already have met their numbers for FY13.
 
It's been that way for USMC for some time. It's a pipeline issue. They can only accommodate so many at TBS, and the follow-on schools at one time. USNA grads get priority (I believe). I suppose sequester and budget issues may have had a further impact. My DS was made aware of this during freshman orientation two years ago. We plan on taking advantage of it to do some fishing when it's his turn. :biggrin:
 
kinnem,

Was he told what the wait time will be like? I know with our DS (AFROTC), as 300's when they got their rated slot were told as much as 6-9 months for their 1st school (IFS) date if they were not given casual status. They were told typically 3-5 months wait time if they were given casual status, but their class date for IFS would still be 6-9 months either way. Thus, like your DS none of this was a shocker for the cadets. DS worked at a major retailer during the summer to save more money.

One thing to keep in mind is if they have taken the career starter loan because the payback is like student loans, 180 day grace period from commissioning.

As you said the big reason is the pipeline flow. In his UPT class it is a mix of AFA grads, AFROTC and OCS, and he started UPT in April.
 
A friend's son was commissioned NROTC Marine Option, but now has several months with no pay until his training starts. Is that becoming the norm for all commissioned NROTC officers Navy and Marine? I know the Academy guys get stashed somewhere or do recruiting, but at least they are getting paid.
Any ideas?

This is pretty standard for AROTC as well, some new commissioned Lt's have waited for nearly a year before reporting for training.

I'm not sure if it is the same for the Navy/Marines but for the Army the clock for their service obligation does not start until they are commissioned Active Duty, which is usually 10 days before their report date, depending on the length of travel.
 
Please educate me on this.

So when a person graduates and then commissions there is a possibility they would be in "casual status" for a period of time? They do not have a unit to report to? No duties? No on base housing/food? No paycheck? Could they apply for and go to military schools like AB or AA? I assume they are still covered by Tri-Care? This boggles my mind. DD is enlisted AF and awaiting new job/training slot in Texas. I guarantee they have found ways to utilize her while in "casual status". Thanks for helping to satisfy my curiosity.
 
Sheriff - it happens all the time. For AROTC, it can be up to a year before they report and start earning a paycheck. Even then I think on-base housing is a little unusual. Most of my son's friends have off-post apartments. Some new LTs are lucky enough to snag a Gold Bar Recruiter position or serve as LDAC cadre, but significant delays are not unusual.

Airborne school etc. would not be a possibility at this point. Who would pay for it?

By the way, ROTC cadets aren't ever covered by Tri-Care are they?
 
By the way, ROTC cadets aren't ever covered by Tri-Care are they?

I don't think so. I was referring to the person that is newly graduated and commissioned.
 
Sheriff - it happens all the time. For AROTC, it can be up to a year before they report and start earning a paycheck. Even then I think on-base housing is a little unusual. Most of my son's friends have off-post apartments. Some new LTs are lucky enough to snag a Gold Bar Recruiter position or serve as LDAC cadre, but significant delays are not unusual.

Airborne school etc. would not be a possibility at this point. Who would pay for it?

By the way, ROTC cadets aren't ever covered by Tri-Care are they?

By the way, ROTC cadets aren't ever covered by Tri-Care are they?

I don't think so. I was referring to the person that is newly graduated and commissioned.

I believe Cadets are covered by Tri-Care before commissioning only while participating in activities like LDAC, FTX, CTLT, etc.
 
It was that way when I went through TBS (about 10 or so years ago), nothing new. The wait may be longer then when I was there. It was not uncommon to have a 3-6 month wait for new Lts commissioned out of ROTC. Academy and MECEP grads are paid the second they are commissioned, therefore they push us to TBS quickly. ROTC grads are not and some have to wait to report. The ROTC grads in my company reported in the day before TBS started, while the Academy and MECEP grads reported in at the end of our leave periods after commissioning and sat around in the amazing Mike Company. Mike Company isn't any fun, mostly you just sit. For Lts who are injured and in Mike Company they usually find them staff jobs to assist at TBS while they await surgeries, recover or med boards. Those awaiting the next company usually mostly sit around unless things have changed.
 
For Navy option mids, some service assignments (pilot, NFO) began less than 2 weeks after commissioning this year. It all depends if there is any back-up in the pipeline.
 
So when a person graduates and then commissions there is a possibility they would be in "casual status" for a period of time? They do not have a unit to report to? No duties? No on base housing/food? No paycheck? Could they apply for and go to military schools like AB or AA? I assume they are still covered by Tri-Care? This boggles my mind. DD is enlisted AF and awaiting new job/training slot in Texas. I guarantee they have found ways to utilize her while in "casual status". Thanks for helping to satisfy my curiosity.

Newly commissioned Lt's that are not working at LDAC or as a Goldbar and are awaiting their report date are not paid, are not covered by Tri Care, and receive no housing. Their service obligation does not start until they report, for some branches their obligation does not start until they finish training.
 
kinnem,

Was he told what the wait time will be like? I know with our DS (AFROTC), as 300's when they got their rated slot were told as much as 6-9 months for their 1st school (IFS) date if they were not given casual status. They were told typically 3-5 months wait time if they were given casual status, but their class date for IFS would still be 6-9 months either way. Thus, like your DS none of this was a shocker for the cadets. DS worked at a major retailer during the summer to save more money.

One thing to keep in mind is if they have taken the career starter loan because the payback is like student loans, 180 day grace period from commissioning.

As you said the big reason is the pipeline flow. In his UPT class it is a mix of AFA grads, AFROTC and OCS, and he started UPT in April.

My recollection, Pima, is that they were told 3-12 months. They let them know this up front primarily so that they know they might have that long to wait before they get paid, insured, housed, etc etc!!!
 
The guys who really get screwed are PLCers. A couple of the PLC grads in my TBS platoon were about to pick up 1stLt not long after TBS graduation because of the long delay between their commissioning and report date. The only upside is that (I think) their time before TBS counts for time in service (but not towards their service obligation).
Some of the NROTC grads in my platoon also had their report dates pushed up unexpectedly and had only a couple weeks to prepare and get down to TBS.

In the past some Navy options (NROTC) were given report dates to Pensacola of November+ and so were placed into IRR status until they reported.
 
I think the biggest item in all of this is the health insurance component ( or lack of). Newly minted O1's will have to find health insurance for a short period of time until going AD or try to get on to their parents policy. Not a pleasant thought in the coming years thats for sure.
 
I would think most newly-minted LTs are still on their parent's insurance policies.
 
I think the biggest item in all of this is the health insurance component ( or lack of). Newly minted O1's will have to find health insurance for a short period of time until going AD or try to get on to their parents policy. Not a pleasant thought in the coming years thats for sure.

That's a good point I haven't entirely thought through yet but it has crossed my mind that I need to. DS is NOT on my policy. It was cheaper to get him insurance through the college. As a result, when he graduates, that will end and there will be some period of insurance "limbo" unless we take some action. Of course I can only get him on my insurance during the election period in October/November which poorly coincides with the academic year. So I will continue to ponder this until Oct 2014 when some sort of decision must be made.
 
That's a good point I haven't entirely thought through yet but it has crossed my mind that I need to. DS is NOT on my policy. It was cheaper to get him insurance through the college. As a result, when he graduates, that will end and there will be some period of insurance "limbo" unless we take some action. Of course I can only get him on my insurance during the election period in October/November which poorly coincides with the academic year. So I will continue to ponder this until Oct 2014 when some sort of decision must be made.

Actually, you should be able to get him on your policy as soon as his expires, as change of insurance status is a "family event" that allows changes to coverage in all health benefits plans. It would be treated the same way as if your wife lost her employment where she was insured. She could immediately be added to your policy (given you make the additional payment).

I had to re-add my son a while back for the same reason - lost his health insurance.

Check with your HR to verify the procedure.
 
So, just out of curiosity, for those of you who are new grads or parents of same, what did your sons and daughters do with the "break"? Get a temp job, start on grad school, climb Mt. Everest? :wink:
 
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