Please give me some advice,

First off im an E6/SSG DUE TO RE-UP
Basically my unit is closing and HRC command wont PCS me unless I re-enlist in an "indefinite" status being that all E6 and above must reenlist in an indefinite status with the option of extention. The problem is they wont tell me where my next duty assigenment will be until i re-enlist.

This bothers me because I would like to know so I can discuss matters with my wife and see if maybe a move to the AC or reserves would be a better option. Please note I do know that AGRs dont have a choice of duty station or anything, I only want to know where the next duty assignement will be, if its Alaska then the Army can say goto Alaska or get the hell out, at least this would be something that i can share with my wife.

I have 12 years of active service, 8 Army and 4 Marines PMOS is 92A3O and SMOS is 11B3O with 5 aditional years of reserve duty, I can still do another 8 years of service, the problem is and the reason why im asking in this forumn as apposed to calling HRC and speaking to managers is because i think its best to get advice.

I am a 92A3O which is bad because there really is no need for a 92A MOS any longer so i cant really bargain with that approach. I am willing to reclass and have been doing 92Y duties and 42A duties for the last few years due to a severe shortage of full time personnel. I do have good remarks and my immediate command does consider me a good soldier, where my CSM and BC want to help me.

Case in point, I dont want to rock the boat, and in some ways I feel HRC doesnt really care if I have TPU memebers regardless of their rank try and help me on my be half, they want me to give them a signed contract in an indefinite status or I can just get out, they wont budge on discussing a duty assigenment.. I know AGRs have no incentives, its not about bonuses or pens or hats ect, what it is about is my family as i have 2 toddlers ect, any advice would help, im not on bad terms with HRC or anything everyone has been professional with me but in a tactful way they are giving me the take it or get the heck out answer...They meaning the powers to be in a respectful way.

A CSM told me in a acure manner that maybe I am in that boat now where I need the army more than it needs me, as if the MOS really isnt needed and im career conditioned so im not worth anything and why would they want me to do another 8 years then have to home stead me and retire me.. I do respect his input because career lifers dont make it without severe sacrafice ...

I was in the same boat as you! now b/c the Army needed 13W (FA Metro) guys, they reclassed me into this job from the 92A30. And yes i'm married too with two kids (3&1) with no assignment pending as of now.

I think you gotta ask yourself if basicly you want to go with Uncle Sams needs or your own.

Good luck in what you decide b/c there's not alot out there for "prior" service guys. I had 10 different MOS's to choice from and 13W was the best out of them.

It's been a long day and I don't have all my books with me. I'll add more in the morning.

Minor point: SSG+ with more than 10 years TIS must reup indef.

Army Reserve AGRs do have incentives in the form of a bonus. You may qualify. Rough estimate given what you told me is about $10,000. I can give you more info on that when I get back to the office.

I'm still fairly new to the AGR program (just over a year) so I haven't really dealt with any PCS issues. That said, this doesn't sound right to me. In the Regular Army, I have repeatedly see soldiers issued PCS WARNOs regardless of their time remaining. My experience is the Army just assumes that everyone will reenlist and issues assignments accordingly.

There are other jobs out there if you're looking for something different. Right now the NCO accadamies and Recruiting Command are short handed. These don't require you to reclass and will enhance your career.

92A is not eligible for the AGR bonus.

Thank you,

The 92A MOS offers nothing, no bonus etc. A bonus isn’t the issue as being closer to family in case of deployment is my concern and desire due to having a wife that loss her father to heart attack and having a daughter with a heart murmur. I know these are personal issues, however in regards to placing my personal needs before the military I wouldn’t be doing that if I got out because I would be thinking of my family as they have sacrificed along with me to follow me all over the place on a drop of a hat.

Back in March I emailed HRC on several occasions’ which I have saved emails for. I sent a signed DA-4187 forward through my command, and also sent a REDD report forward because my ASVAB scores have been erroneously wrong for some time. I obtained a REDD report from USARC and emailed it to HRC.

This leads me to my only defense, please note I have utilized my chain of command whereby my CSM has called my branch team with no results. In a tactful way respectfully HRC, has a policy where they don’t grant reclassification or any other additional incentive for soldiers in terms of PCS unless they first re-up. I again respectfully say that from the get go all I wanted to know was where they would send me as this would be something I could ponder with my wife. They won’t tell me where and I’m thinking it’s not any one persons unwillingness rather it’s the dead beat MOS I have as the issue here. I have no choice but to try and leverage the situation by pointing out that month’s ago through email correspondence I tried to ask for help in regards to reclassification. The reality is regardless of rank or MOS if I had that desirable MOS this would have never became an issue. (Please note when I say the word “they”, I am referring to the powers that be, who manage my career based upon the guidelines of the military and not their own personal views). I am basically wrestling with an entity within an organization not the Army per say.

My question here is and please keep in mind this would only be used a s a last resort when all other lesser means have failed for my command to assist me or HRC to work with me, but if I’m backed against the wall, would I have some ground to stand on if I could substantiate the fact that I tried to reclassify months ago by providing proof? This would mean I would be forced to complain to the I.G within my RRC. I don’t want to rock the boat and be sent to Siberia either. I’m not saying that ive been gaffed off or anything rather I feel I may have been overlooked and now that I fall within this 12 month window of either taking it or leaving it I am backed against the wall.

The irony is both the 42A and the 92Y offer bonuses and incentives, and I’ve been doing both for quite some time. I have moved out property without loss and am being put in for an award because of the effort I did on my own as an additional duty. Really I know certificates mean nothing and either do incentives to me. I love wearing the uniform and have been told by AC recruiters that if I was discharged from the AGR program with a RE-1A code then they get put me back in and either offer me choice of duty station or bonus (not both), I wish to move within a 1000 mile radius of my home of record as it’s easier to deploy knowing that your family can rely upon relatives.

With all the family readiness and care packets the Army does, you would think this wouldn’t be that big of a deal. I am however, intelligent to know that HRC has to manage its staff and for what ever reasons sometimes has to give directives that they know is hard for field soldiers to understand due to many different variables and IAW with AR 140-111.

I have read the AR 140-111 trying to find a loop hole. The only ground I have to stand on is to no fault of my own and with documentation I can show I tried to reclassify but due to many different missions and such I may have been overlooked. This would be my foundation for respectfully asking for an exception to policy. I would do this as a last resort really close to my ETS date which is 30 March 2007, until then my unit inactivates in SEP 06 and I would have to find a unit nearby that would allow me to work for them for 6 months until I ETS. I am saddened by all this and it does hurt.

There are the Reserves and the AC components however out there and I have told my wife not to argue or point out the negative of the Army. The AGR program is a program within the Army; it’s not the total entity itself. Other mentors also have told me what is being offered in August before the FY ends may be different when the new FY starts in October and to remain tactful and respectful until the end as something positive may arise. Please let me know what you think, thank you God Bless.

Good luck I had a friend who recently PCS'd and he was told it goes by unit priority now. SO basically the high priority unit gets first grab. It seems that a lot of us AGR's need to return to active duty, at least you can reenlist for a duty station.