Originally Posted by
KSUto64
More specifically any former WO's. I'll have 2 years left on an adso this summer but only 1 year til I board for 3. At what point should I tell HRC I don't want to consider promotion and intend to ride out my adso and separate from the army? Also has anyone gone through the process recently to shed some light on how it works?
I wasn't a warrant so I don't know if I'm prohibited from answering. FYI RLOs go through promotion boards and separations as well, and work in command and staff positions processing those requests. WOs don't, so I wouldn't limit yourself to talking to WOs about it. Now that that's cleared up, you can wait until about 12 months out from sep date. Don't certify your board file, don't update your DA photo, etc. 1 year from separation (which seems to coincide with your board date, which is well before your pin date), tell your S1. They have processes in place for separating soldiers/officers, usually with packets requiring signatures similar to an inprocessing packet, as well as example memos/paperwork that is required. When your board is announced, if you really want to make sure you don't get promoted, talk to your branch manager and tell him your intentions. You can also wait until you make the list then decline it. One of my old WOs came out on the last 4 list and talked to HRC and declined it to get out earlier for the airlines. There is no rush avoiding promotion. But HRC did require me to give 9 months notice prior to beginning of terminal leave, and it took about 3 weeks to get routed from BN-BDE-Installation-HRC, because it requires commander signatures at each stop. I had a WO who tried to separate, had 9 months from the time he submitted it, but by the time it got to hrc he was under 9 months. They made him redo it and resubmit with a later date.
Also know that as soon as you indicate you're bouncing, you can expect center of mass OERs, limited to no flight time if flight time is limited for your company/battalion (unless your IP/MTP services are really needed), and crap additional duties. I gave notice right before a deployment, 12 months from sep date while I was in command, so that wasn't a factor. Did the deployment, flew a lot, couldn't exactly get any more additional duties as a commander, etc. But everyone else I know who got out experienced it to some degree depending on the unit and commanders who consider you no longer on the team. No need to take up limited flight hours or ACOM ratings for someone who has no future in the army, at least that's how it was explained to me. Not to mention every soldier I ever had, PFC-W4, who was separating, milked the transition assistance programs/ACAP process, and were ghosts most of the time. I did it too after I changed command.