Tips to not F away the transition
 

It looks like leaving the Navy as an F-18 pilot is inevitable. I will likely FOS (not select) for O-4 Summer 2015 and again in 2016. My MSR is Fall 2016. My goal is to not do or say something that will prevent me from receiving something I might have, such as severance pay.

I will have 60 days terminal leave on the books too.

1) I heard you should never tell people you're getting out until you drop your letter. When do I have to drop the letter?
2) When should I sign up for TAPS and does that let the cat out of the bag to BUPERS? How would they know?
3) Would dropping my letter or attending TAPS (or anything else you can think of) make me ineligible for the severance pay?
4) How exactly does one obtain the severance pay? Would I have to sit on my butt going months past my MSR watching my buddies get better hiring seniority in the airlines?
5) When should I interview with the airlines?
6) Considering I will have 2 months terminal leave, should I plan on classing up with the airlines then?
7) If I'm committed to getting out, should I take the DH bonus?

Thanks for answering all of these questions, but I feel that there is no one else that can.

1) Telling someone only affects future assignments and FITREP ranking. It wouldn't affect your ability to receive an honorable discharge and severance pay if you stay that route. If it did, you would have grounds for a grievance.
2) Sign up for TAP when you have separation orders in hand.
3) Dropping your letter would make you ineligible for severance pay. You would only receive that as a service directed reduction in force, twice failing to screen for the next higher rank while ineligible for retirement, or other rare occurrences.
4) Yes. See above.
5) When you are 6-12 months out from separation.
6) Yes.
7) No. Voluntarily leaving the service after taking a retention bonus obligates you to paying it back.

Good luck!

But if you FOSx2 then you'll receive no further payments and not have to pay back what you've been paid.

Examine all of your SELRES flying and non flying options, you'd be surprised what's out there and available. Don't discount ANG as well depending on where you decide to live/work post Navy. Good luck!

If you drop to the IRR like I did (first job out of the Navy had me working in Dubai, Russia and Africa), it is a MAJOR pain in the rear to get back on SELRES. Think of just as much work as getting into the Navy in the first place, minus NOMI and OCS/ROTC/CanoeU.

1) I heard you should never tell people you're getting out until you drop your letter. When do I have to drop the letter?
If you 2XFOS, you don't have to drop any letter, they drop it on you.

2) When should I sign up for TAPS and does that let the cat out of the bag to BUPERS? How would they know? Don't bother until you have separation orders in hand. TAP is kind of useless for JOs getting out. It's geared towards one term junior Es and guys retiring.

3) Would dropping my letter or attending TAPS (or anything else you can think of) make me ineligible for the severance pay?
Don't get ADSEP'd for PRT, DUI, etc. Other than that, you get it.

4) How exactly does one obtain the severance pay? Would I have to sit on my butt going months past my MSR watching my buddies get better hiring seniority in the airlines?
You get 2XFOS. You sign paperwork accepting a IRR or SELRES commission. That's it. The money shows up from DFAS in your last AD paycheck.

5) When should I interview with the airlines?
As soon as possible. Give your projected availability about a month before you run out of terminal leave. (my terminal leave was partially cancelled, so I ended up cashing out 30 days of the 90 I had)

6) Considering I will have 2 months terminal leave, should I plan on classing up with the airlines then?
You can hope to. I got out in February 2012, I've still not even had an interview with a major, and can't work for a regional due to the inability to live on $15k a year (ex wifes gotta eat and make her condo payment ya know).

7) If I'm committed to getting out, should I take the DH bonus?
If you are confident you WILL FOS. Then why not. I got 3 of 6 payments. But, I also took it planning on staying in for 20, before the selection rates went to hell.

TAP is now called Transition GPS. Like anything else, it's what you make of it. Our class had different tracks, depending on the reason for separation and what the member plans on doing. I got a lot out of it - and I think the three O-6s in attendance did, too.

This, you can't get the severance if you drop your letter. Let them boot you, pay you, drop you into the IRR, then do this....



You can apply to FTS or to individual squadrons as a SELRES, and get picked up for O-4 on the reserve side (and get paid a bonus again for affiliation).

IRR to SELRES isn't hard if you've been hired by a squadron. It literally took me three emails, and signing/faxing some paperwork.

Let them pay you to leave, then pay you to come back. PM me if you need specifics. If you don't already have your airline applications in, and requests to friends for letters of rec, you're behind. Do it now. Great name by the way.

There's more options as a *** to for reserves for sure..

Not a lot of options for E-2 guys since they shut down 77. CNATRA generally won't take you unless you are local, former IP or airlines. Preferably 2 of the 3.

VR is hit or miss.. Some guys get in with one meet and greet, others don't.

Squadrons are more likely to pick you up if you are SELRES vs IRR, from what I have been told. Sure thing vs might get hung up in medical (I did).

If you're in the Norfolk area and just need a SELRES Hidey-Hole, I'm the XO of TACRON-21 on the reserve side. Not flying, but we have paid billets open for 1315 LTs and LCDRs. It's flex drill which is pretty nice.

I work 60/60 overseas and it's been easy to do.

Tend to agree. But I will say I found it of marginal utility (at best) in regards to airline employment.

Don't do or say anything which will degrade your competitive ranking. That will be helpful in the reserves, and some majors have been known to review your FITREPs. You'll most likely make O4 immediately in the reserves if you were a "regular dude" on AD...unless you have something detrimental (DUI, PFA failures, < 3.0 FITREP score in any category, etc).

Here's what I have seen/remember in the past, but things change so you may want to do your own research...


You don't, they'll notify you. But don't tell anyone you're planning on FOSing or resigning...that will just guarantee you're cannon fodder.

BUPERS won't know as far as I know. You can probably sign up for TAPS on your own (if you're at a big base) and either get time off or take leave if you really want to keep it on the DL.

Don't drop a letter, as far as I know that would make you ineligible for the payout. While you might look slightly better in the eyes of airline employers as a resignation vice invol SEP, it's probably not worth losing the chunk of change.

In the past I've seen them give you a drop-dead date by which you must be out, but you have the option of leaving sooner if desired. That option would not eb considered resignation, but would fall under the invol sep program so you'd still get the payout.

You tell them your availability date in the application, and they'll typically decide when to interview you based on that. If it's six months out and they hire you, they'll put you in the pool until you go on leave. It can vary by airline, but most are willing to lead the problem.

You can if you want...assuming you've been hired and offered a class date. But let the airline know in advance too.

I dunno. Find out if you have to pay it back if they kick you out for FOS.


One more thing...if you take the sep bonus, there are restrictions on reserve pay and retirement. IIRC you'll forfeit reserve pay until you pay back the sep bonus. Something like that. But I'd still affiliate with the reserves even if you drill for free until you get airline life sorted out, just to keep your options open. Finish probation, then decide whether to stick with the reserves or not.