Re: Veterans Thread
Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 1:27 am
PATCH ON MY SHOULDER
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I can neither confirm nor deny your informed question.sodomojo wrote:2CR?AJordan wrote:I met a few guys who were doing 9 months in Poland and their lives are sucking right now.
kingslr wrote:So I am eligible for 100% GI Bill and thinking about turning in my REFRAD packet and going to law school next fall. I did not get accepted into the Army FLEP (funded legal education program) and can not apply again since I have been in the Army too long. I still want to be a JAG officer and I was wondering if any of you guys experienced or of heard anyone getting out, finishing law school, and going back active duty.
thanks! and Merry Christmas.
Damn, sorry about the score. Frustrating to get the same score I'm sure. When you get to see the test, you'll be able to look at the ones you missed. My guess is you'll see more than a few that you might pick up with another 7 weeks to prep hard for Feb.jsmedley wrote:FAAACK. I got the same damn score as last time!! I swear it’s the anxiety. Okay, so serious responses here, will taking the February LSAT be too late for true consideration at schools and scholarship money? I’m going to apply now for the schools I planned to, and hope my veteran status and GPA will offset the mediocre LSAT, but damn, I really thought I would have done at least a couple points better...
Man, I made more than $14,500 a month at one point (O-4 over 16, London Married w/kids BAH, COLA, pre-Brexit).Wipfelder wrote:An E-4 makes about 70k a year when you count housing and stuff, but their taxable income is low. A "modern" E4 most assuredly made more than 14,500 in income, if you count housing, uniform allowance, etc.. But yea, 14,500 was about E-4 pay in 2001, (you're dating yourself a bit Haus!) base pay has doubled since then.haus wrote:Pay must be up, the best year I had for income (E-4) was ~$14,500. Given the over the top hours I worked, I would have done better financially working at a Taco Bell.Wipfelder wrote:I'd say almost no one enlists for that reason primarily.KPUSN07 wrote:I was not trying to be negative with my post - but if you're going to enlist and not do it for the right, primary reason - service to the country - I'm not sure it's a great idea - those three years (if that is how long it is) will be long, grueling, and you might be miserable... just enlist for the right reasons and law school will fall in your lap when ready to leave
The military is easier than many professions, but even if it is "grueling" to you, you are still gonna make more money (when you count the GI Bill) than is possible in any other career field as a recent college graduate. Just the compensation alone makes it a good proposition.
Once you add the Post 9/11 GI Bill, though, then you really make out like a bandit.
Why's that?UVA2B wrote:you’re going to likely be exceedingly disappointed in your time served, even if you manage to make your timeline somehow work.
I’ve seen too many people enter service with a mentality similar to yours (only serving to get GI Bill, avoid the real world and adulthood, couldn’t figure what else to do, etc.) that ended up miserable the first time things get rough or you’re asked to do something you never wanted to do when you signed up. Responding to a recruiters BS with basically “you know I could be a paralegal at Cravath,” even internally, makes me think you’ll struggle when you’re not being asked to prepare documents or you get extended because your enlistment needs to match with your units deployment schedule. That’s the bare minimum of how your service can/will differ from how you imagine it.MrLions wrote:Why's that?UVA2B wrote:you’re going to likely be exceedingly disappointed in your time served, even if you manage to make your timeline somehow work.
Ehh.. I dunno man, to go into an enlistment hoping everything is going to pan out exactly to a three year plan is setting yourself up for some potential disappointment.MrLions wrote:Thank you all for the feedback. My recruiter said that 27D doesn't qualify for loan repayment since it isn't one of the MOS that the Army has high demand right now. I just set an appointment to go down to MEPS on Friday and I'm wondering if this plan make sense to you all:
I wanted to serve exactly 36 months so that I got full GI bill but only took off three school years. That would be summer 2018 to summer 2021. But, it turns out at 3 yr paralegal contracts are really 3.5 years, and 2 yr paralegal contracts are 2.5 years (the 22 weeks of training doesn't count).
So instead of committing 3.5 years and having to take 4 years off of school, I signed for 2 years thinking that after 15 months (30 month contract - 15 months left until ETS) I'll reenlist for 2 years, extending my contract another 9 months (15 months served at time of reenlistment + 24 month reenlistment) = 39 months total from 7/31/18, meaning I get out on 10/31/21. As the end of that contract nears, I'll apply for 90 day early release for law school, meaning I get out 7/31/21, exactly 3 years from my ship date. If early release is denied, then I would use all of terminal leave and get out ASAP, probably a week into school and email professors just letting them know what's up.
Does this sound like it will work? What is the chance I get denied 90 day early release for education? Does the 2 years reenlistment timeline make sense? Thanks in advance.
UVA2B wrote:Once you enlist, you have less control over how that enlistment will go than you can imagine now.
^NavyNuke wrote:I dunno man, to go into an enlistment hoping everything is going to pan out exactly to a three year plan is setting yourself up for some potential disappointment.
Thisusn26 wrote:UVA2B wrote:Once you enlist, you have less control over how that enlistment will go than you can imagine now.^NavyNuke wrote:I dunno man, to go into an enlistment hoping everything is going to pan out exactly to a three year plan is setting yourself up for some potential disappointment.
Why would that be the case though? GI Bill's only stipulation is 36 months active duty and no dishonorable discharge, I'm pretty sure. As long as the 90 day early release doesn't make it so that I'm serving less than 36 months active duty then it shouldn't matter.UVA2B wrote:I’m pretty sure if you apply for early release, your separation will prevent you from getting full GI Bill because of it. So if you want GI Bill at 100%, you’re better off guaranteeing you get that.
No one can tell you what to do. But I think what a lot of these guys are saying is that you may want to examine your reasons for joining in the first place and seriously consider how you would feel if it doesn't workout to your plan and if that's a deal breaker for you. Even something as simple, as your ship date getting set back by 6 months last minute after you sign or you getting hurt at training and having to go on medical hold, let alone all of the factors everyone else has already brought up all have the potential to completely mess up your timeline. Once you enlist the army comes first, and your entire thought process sounds like you have yet to fully grasp the implications of that and what that could mean for all of these options you've created.MrLions wrote:So what's a better option? Choose the 3 year option and still have the chance of going long?
If I do 2 years initially and try reenlist and line up the timing I could either A) make it work perfectly or B) not make it work perfectly and end up in the above situation.
I take that back, I forgot that was after a BS re-enlistment that would still get you to 36 months. You’d still get full GI Bill at that point.MrLions wrote:Why would that be the case though? GI Bill's only stipulation is 36 months active duty and no dishonorable discharge, I'm pretty sure. As long as the 90 day early release doesn't make it so that I'm serving less than 36 months active duty then it shouldn't matter.UVA2B wrote:I’m pretty sure if you apply for early release, your separation will prevent you from getting full GI Bill because of it. So if you want GI Bill at 100%, you’re better off guaranteeing you get that.
Yeah, I get it. I'm just worried the 3.5 then turns into 4.5 if things don't go as planned.BlendedUnicorn wrote:I would just sign up for 3.5 years and get comfortable with having an extra year of life experience and maybe getting the chance to make E5.
Your plan's got a ton of pitfalls- if your command denies your early separation, there's a good chance the commander will also have a policy on how much terminal leave he'll allow. I wouldn't want to be relying on a plan that would require more than 15 days. Reenlisting and then turning around almost immediately and trying to get out early will get you all the wrong sorts of attention- it's amazing how hard people can make it for you to do things that you theoretically have the right to do once you're in.
I guess there's a chance it could work but it should tell you something that you're getting comments like this from everyone who has been in.
Keep in mind, you will still be on the hook for several years of reserve time (perhaps inactive). With the shit head in office, the odds seem higher than normal that stupid shit is going to happen and your 3.5 may well turn into 7.5. Hopefully life will go as you want it to, but when you sign the papers you need to understand that there is a shit-ton that will be entirely out of your control.MrLions wrote:Yeah, I get it. I'm just worried the 3.5 then turns into 4.5 if things don't go as planned.BlendedUnicorn wrote:I would just sign up for 3.5 years and get comfortable with having an extra year of life experience and maybe getting the chance to make E5.
Your plan's got a ton of pitfalls- if your command denies your early separation, there's a good chance the commander will also have a policy on how much terminal leave he'll allow. I wouldn't want to be relying on a plan that would require more than 15 days. Reenlisting and then turning around almost immediately and trying to get out early will get you all the wrong sorts of attention- it's amazing how hard people can make it for you to do things that you theoretically have the right to do once you're in.
I guess there's a chance it could work but it should tell you something that you're getting comments like this from everyone who has been in.