zakk101abn, this whole situation doesn't pass the "common sense test". It does appear that, since you are past your contractual ETS, you are being punished for being stop lossed.

Let me gain some clarity and get back to this post. (I moved this to the "Reenlistment" section so I can track it)

Hey I happened to see this and could not, not reply.

I am sick of this situation all together. Both you (zakk and sniper) need to man up and reenlist for at least 2 years. You both are trying to get promoted to SSG in the US Army, not SPC, you are supposed to be leaders. It appears to me that you are more concerned about the promotion and the pay that comes with it. If you were truly deserving of that rank you are trying to ease on your chest, you would make a commitment to not only the Army but the soliders you are unfortunately in charge of, and supposed to be leading (great message to them by the way). The Army needs to fix this problem, there are hundreds of guys like this, and we do not need them, the SRR (not SSR zakk) for SSG needs to be more than a year anyway. You both should reenlist and be done with it, while you can. If anyone who recommended you for promotion see this on here, they might reconsider you worthiness for promotion all together, I know I would.

Im pretty sure ive been "A man" ove the last 4 years of my service. I have nothing to prove to anyone. Ive been there done that got the T. This is not a question of "Manning up" but rather a question of a unit possibly abusing its authority (and its soldiers) to achieve a goal. Reenlistment is down. No kidding. This unit has been beat me and its soldiers into the ground since it was activated in 2004! I personally will not allow myself to be deployed every other year for the next 15 years of my life. I have a wife (who is also in the military who ALSO out ranks me, who is ALSO a lifer) who will be PCS'ing to Tampa Bay. You are a FOOL if you think I will reenlist (FOR NO MONEY) and be separated from my family. As for not being "deserving" of the promotion... I have battalion SGM, 3 First Sergeants, 2 Company commanders and an E-7 that feel quite the contrary. AND THEY ARE BACKING ME 100% IN THIS INVESTIGATION! There is no doubt that I deserve it. I earned it. AS for my soldiers.... I wont even go there. They would follow me anywhere. Nuff Said.

P.S. For an update on the situation, they have offered to do an exception to policy, and waive the 13 month extension to 16 months. I still need to find out if they are allowed move our stop loss ETS date to begin with. I WILL find out the truth and I will go along with whatever regulation is right.

quote:

Originally posted by gillhicks:
I am sick of this situation all together. Both you (zakk and sniper) need to man up and reenlist for at least 2 years.

Why should they reenlist for 2 years? Is 2 years your measuring stick for "committment? Why now just make the "real" committment and reenlist for 6 years or indefinite if they are eligible?

Thanks for participating in this thread gillhicks, but you're completly wrong on this. zakk101abn is truly deserving of this rank if he meets the qualifications and met the cut-off score.

You made one valid point in your statement ... "The Army needs to fix this problem". Unless the Army changes regulations to alleviate interpretation, we're going to continue to have these issues.

quote:

Originally posted by zakk101abn:
P.S. For an update on the situation, they have offered to do an exception to policy, and waive the 13 month extension to 16 months.

zakk101abn, best news I've heard all day! Your Retention Team is really getting thing's done for you. Spread the good word!

quote:

Originally posted by zakk101abn:
I still need to find out if they are allowed move our stop loss ETS date to begin with. I WILL find out the truth and I will go along with whatever regulation is right.

Did you deployment schedule change at all?

As I suspected it is about the money, mind you I get you want to get paid. First off if you are willing to do whatever regulation is right by your own words, then reenlist. By definition an exception to policy is asking that you be treated as special and allowed to get promoted outside of the regulatory guidance. That is the bottom line. I was being realistic in suggesting a 2 year reenlistment, obviously this guy is not going to reenlist for 6 years he barely wants to do the extension, but a contract is a commitment. Nobody wants to be deployed, but it comes with the uniform, get over it. I was in no way questioning your service when I said man up, I was though questioning your continued service. Also the whole ETS moving thing, your contactual ETS will never change unless you reenlist or extend. Your stop loss ETS could change for a variety of reasons, with or without notice. Furthermore, he is not obviously meeting the qualifications, so not deserving of the rank, or he would not be on here or requesting an exception to policy. So maybe I was not too far off base with my comments.

ArmyReenlistment: I really appreciate you looking into this for us.

(I cant believe I'm actually going to type this crap) Let me make it clear to those who think they need to question my character, I have served my unit and country with utmost distinction. I am very proud of what I have accomplished during my time in the military. I feel that my unit and its soldiers (including myself Mr. gillhicks) have done great things for the Army, our great country, and for Iraq and Afghanistan. I love the Army and I will surly miss standing in the ranks. That being said, I feel there are better opportunities out there for me and my FAMILY. These opportunities don't involve ME being in the military. I know I will be successful in whatever I do, as I have already proved thus far with my short 4 year military career. Only I know what's best for me and my family. The people who THINK they know otherwise can think what they want. They can serve as long as they choose (or as little). That is the beauty of a "volunteer Army". Being able to choose. I choose to move on with my life. That make me no less of a man (nor patriot) than anyone else. If anything, I'd say that I'm stepping out of my comfort zone to try and start over and further better my family's future. If I wanted to take the easy way out, I would just reenlist and let the Army take hold. Believe me, that would be the easier of the options. Guaranteed paychecks, benefits.. etc. It will be a much more challenging way of life, but for me the rewards will be well worth the initial discomfort. I will be there for the birth of my children.

I mean no disrespect to others. I realize this is a public discussion forum and everyone has a right to post, but if you feel that you can not contribute anything positive to the subject matter of the thread, I sincerely ask that you please do not post.

quote:

Originally posted by gillhicks:
By definition an exception to policy is asking that you be treated as special and allowed to get promoted outside of the regulatory guidance.

Do not confuse "exception" with "exceptional" ... these are completely different.

As for the regualtory guidance statement, this needs to be updated to reflect current Army policy regarding stop loss/stop move. In the regulation, an ETS is an ETS. In the real world, contractual ETSs are different than stop loss ETSs.

EXAMPLE:
A Soldier that is four month past his contract ETS and stop loss ETS is 11 months from today. By regulation, this Soldier cannot extend to meet the service remaining requirement for promotion to SSG.

A Soldier that is three days past his contractual ETS and stop loss ETS is 11 months from today, this Soldier CAN extend to meet the service remaining requirement for promotion to SSG.

Seems like the first Soldier is being "punished" (for lack of a better word) for being stop lossed.

AS of right now, no. Our deployment orders are still for 15 months. I will say there are rumors of a 12 month deployment, but as we all know rumors run rampant during deployments. Our Battalion Commander is addressing our FRG today to squash these "rumors". So it is hard to say what the truth is. BDE said they changed our dates so they could give us "better reenlistment options". Which does not make sense to me since reenlistment is based off of contractual ETS dates....BDE is saying 15 months, still.

zakk101abn, there is no need to explain yourself.

I'm not saying you don't meet Army standards by posting this quote, but you've served your time and you apart of only a small percentage of American's that actually have served. So if you deceide to ETS in 12 months or so, I'd like to say "Thank You" for serving.

"This is a volunteer force and Soldiers volunteer to meet our standards. If they don't meet them, we should thank them for trying and send them home."

GEN(R) Bernard W. Rogers
Former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe & Commander in Chief, European Command
Former Army Chief of Staff
Former Commanding General, US Army Forces Command
Former Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel

quote:

Originally posted by zakk101abn:
BDE said they changed our dates so they could give us "better reenlistment options". Which does not make sense to me since reenlistment is based off of contractual ETS dates....BDE is saying 15 months, still.

Your brigade did a smart thing. Even though reenlistment bonuses and options are based off of contractual ETSs, movement options (Options 4 and 5) can only be projected out so far and by moving the redeployment date plus 90 to the left, this opens up more movement options for their Soldiers.

Okay, like I said I am not questioning your service, I am sure it has been honorable. What I am saying is you want the Army to give you a promotion and increased pay, while being ruled as special. You hardly want to do the minimum. I understand if you want to get out and move on in a different direction in your life, good luck. But do not expect Uncle Sam to bend over backwards to give you a promotion as a farewell gift. What good is an E-6 that is spending his whole time in that rank preparing to ETS. Promotion is a privelage not a right. If you truly want the promotion then do the minimum requirements, reenlist for the 2 years, then ETS and good luck to you I say. If you cannot or refuse to do that then ETS when your stop loss is over and leave as an E-5 and I still say good luck to you.

Ah, that makes sense as to why they changed the dates. That is all I was looking for, clarification. So, they are allowed to change the dates i'm assuming. That is all I was looking for. Also, there was nobody who could show me (or my SGM for that matter) anything in writing about the extension policy. The reenlistment policy was clear, but the extension was "implied". I think instead of them giving us a direct answer they just offered the exception to policy to divert confrontation.

So gillhicks... The reg states I must have 12 months service remaining. When they change my date BACK to Oct 2, 2009 (which they will do), will I then not meet the requirements? Do you not see how it is a technicality? I have more than enough time of service. I will be in Country for 11 more months... 3 months (90 days) plus 11 months equals....More than a year...

quote:

Originally posted by gillhicks:
Okay, like I said I am not questioning your service, I am sure it has been honorable. What I am saying is you want the Army to give you a promotion and increased pay, while being ruled as special. You hardly want to do the minimum. I understand if you want to get out and move on in a different direction in your life, good luck. But do not expect Uncle Sam to bend over backwards to give you a promotion as a farewell gift. What good is an E-6 that is spending his whole time in that rank preparing to ETS. Promotion is a privelage not a right. If you truly want the promotion then do the minimum requirements, reenlist for the 2 years, then ETS and good luck to you I say. If you cannot or refuse to do that then ETS when your stop loss is over and leave as an E-5 and I still say good luck to you.

Well, Im in a warzone.... In an E-6 position (have been for the last 1 1/2 years).... With 11 months left in a deployment, and 3 months left post. Its not like I'm going to ACAP in Afghanistan. I maxed the board, made points, and still have WELL over a year left to serve. What do I not meet. Like I said, its a technicality. You can say what you want, but I think you are basing your opinion on feelings rather than facts. You have already made comments about my leadership without reading any NCOER's or knowing anything about me. This leads me to believe you have a bias opinion already. You say I am barely willing to meet the minimum requirements, do you think its reasonable for the Army to ask me to hold a certain position and responsibility and not be recognized/paid for it? You may see me as uncommitted, but I am just striving to do my best at the job at hand and get recognized/paid for it, like any other American job holder.

Again, thanks for helping out ArmyReenlistment. Much appreciated.

What are you going to do if your exception to policy is denied and you are told to reenlist or you are not getting promoted? Everything you in the reenlistment arena (new contract or extension) is based off of your contractual. What if you end up on as you said a rumored 12 month deployment. The sooner you reenlist the sooner you begin eating up the time. Reenlist tomorrow and ETS in Aug 2010.