I recently reenlisted for stabilization given a BC policy memo stating that people who did so would be given time for college classes, and I was curious whether that's an Army wide policy. If so, where can I find the policy?

so when you reenlisted you did not tell them you wanted to do the college option?

No, this is not an Army policy; these are local unit incentives.

The Army gives reenlistment options and bonuses and then each level of command can gve additional incentives.

I told them I did, there's a BC memo out stating it's one of the incentives for reenlisting for stabilization, and everyone said as long as I got on taking classes I'd be able to do so.

Now, they don't want to sign the paperwork authorizing me the time because they say that no one ever gets time and they told people not to reenlist for that option. Had I known they'd backtrack like this, I'd never have reenlisted for stabilization.

My Batt has a similar policy letter. the letter states, however that if upcoming training events (NTC/JRTC) conflict with school, you will not be allowed to sign up for that semester. But the policy works. I know 4 guys who either just finished up school, or who are now just attending

quote:

Originally posted by bob1234:
I told them I did, there's a BC memo out stating it's one of the incentives for reenlisting for stabilization, ...

Now, they don't want to sign the paperwork ...

Did you and the commander sign this reenlistment incentive PRIOR to you reenlisting? From your post, this did not happen.

If your commander has a reenlistment incentive that he is not honoring, this will ultimately hurt his retention program. Now, if a squad leader or platoon sergeant is telling you cannot attend school, you'll need to bring this to the attention of the commander.

The battalion commander put the incentives memo out before I reenlisted, my company chain of command are the ones stalling on the follow through.

I'm trying to determine the appropriate course of action because I want to take the college classes or I wouldn't have reenlisted for stabilization but I'm unsure of how to proceed with an issue that my chain of command should be fixing when the issue is my chain of command.

It doesn't matter when the battalion commander put the information out there; it matters WHEN you actually signed up for the incentive. If you never signed up for the incentive, you don't have a leg to stand on.

When we have guys re-enlist in our batt, they get a packet with the Batt CO, and CC signatures, stating what Batt level goodies they are authorized... Ie Airborne for 3 or more years, and school with 2 or more years, plus paperwork for passes and extra chargable leave, as well as off the CQ/Staff duty roster

Sounds like your batt actually wants people to reenlist and takes care of their own. Here's how things went for me:

1. BC puts out memo stating reenlistment incentives.
2. I reenlist for stabilization upon getting CoC agreement that I'll be given time to take college classes.
3. We get back, and after a lot of other talk about whether I'll get what I reenlisted for at the batt level, they give me a memo saying essentially that I can take college classes around work.

I could have done that anywhere. Had I known how this would play out I never would have even considered stabilization.

Any changes to your chain of command's response?

i signed up for the 2 year stabilization with college option, i signed up for 2 years, but i only have 2 years on my contract so basically all i did was add 10 days to my prior ETS date, and i get 1 semester off to go to school when i get back

That's a command taking care of it's Soldiers!

That's is excellent, Salinas.

And no, I still get to take classes around my work schedule. I'm actually kind of nervous about signing up for them at all because if they decide to schedule lots of training events and continue to expect my full participation in the unit then I won't be able to attend the classes and possibly fail them, meaning I'll end up paying for them and have the bad marks on my record.

It's too bad your command will not support its own retention incentive. Once word get out about this, this will be an extremely INEFFECTIVE retention tool.