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30 for 30: BDCP

BackOrdered

Well-Known Member
Contributor
I was going through Airwarriors and came across le ole abandoned BDCP forum.

Its been about a decade since the last rounds of BDCP selectees were enthusiastically posting selectee messages and tackling the bold new world ahead of them on the very generous deal from Uncle Sam.

Reaching retirement is a given, but my decision matrix to stay in has definitely been affected by the program, the nature of its recruitment and my sense of job satisfaction and marketability on the outside, for better or worse. The +2 to time in service is a great party trick when people ask how long I've been active, but other than that, I'm indistinguishable to my peers career wise.

I can't help but wonder somewhere Big Navy is looking down and going, "Say! Those college kids we dumped 40-60K on with healthcare the get drunk in college for 2-3 years and commission a decade ago, just how did that work out? Did we get our requirement met? Did most stay or did they do their first term and bounce? And will meeting that requirement then create an appetite to bring the program back today?"

We won't know that answer here, but anyone who had experience with BDCP and are still around care to share how life is treating them and their thoughts?
 
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Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot
Anecdote, but one of my RAG classmates was BDCP. He is in his first post-command tour these days, and at 23~ish years on the pay scale of which 20 years plus a few months is commissioned service.

I can't speak to his college experience but he went to UNLV and he used to regale us of tales of having an active duty E-3 ID card while having long hair and a goatee... in other words hardly any different than people who were commissioned by that well known finishing school for wayward youth on the Severn River. :p
 

BackOrdered

Well-Known Member
Contributor
It was a strange program once in, I even found the other at-large selectees oddballs as well. Given the competition everyone had some left field under grad situation that broke them out. I think they had 100 nation wide at any given time. I don't think I was bold enough to ever say, "I'm prior" but I do still run into it when my record is being reviewed for face value. There were definite cases where people asked why did I have a CAC and was completely out of appearance standards even in the photo.

The insanity was that kicker that promoted you to "OC3" or "OC2" if you made good grades. To this day I don't see the reason as you were already getting an insanely good deal. Memory is now fuzzy, but I do recall a nuke that pulled off beyond E-5 in a rare instance.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
It was a strange program once in, I even found the other at-large selectees oddballs as well. Given the competition everyone had some left field under grad situation that broke them out. I think they had 100 nation wide at any given time. I don't think I was bold enough to ever say, "I'm prior" but I do still run into it when my record is being reviewed for face value. There were definite cases where people asked why did I have a CAC and was completely out of appearance standards even in the photo.

The insanity was that kicker that promoted you to "OC3" or "OC2" if you made good grades. To this day I don't see the reason as you were already getting an insanely good deal. Memory is now fuzzy, but I do recall a nuke that pulled off beyond E-5 in a rare instance.

NUPOCs are paid as E-6 from the start
 

Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot
I went through OCS with a NUPOC that got a friend in to the program and got a promotion to E-7. There was a point in OCS where the class Chief found out he was getting E-7 pay and she was not pleased.
I don't care who you are, that's funny right there!

tenor.gif



What did his ID card say? I think my officer candidate ID card said "E-5/PO2" and the official correspondence from the recruiting district was addressed to "OCUI2 [Jim123]." OCUI was short for "officer candidate- under instruction," an administrative "rating" for those 13 weeks- I figure the personnel computers couldn't deal with a null so they had to put something in there. Same way E-5 was purely a paygrade to give DFAS a way to cut your paycheck.
 
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BackOrdered

Well-Known Member
Contributor
I went through OCS with a NUPOC that got a friend in to the program and got a promotion to E-7. There was a point in OCS where the class Chief found out he was getting E-7 pay and she was not pleased.

I REMEMBER THAT GUY!!! We thought he was just a rumor!
 

IRfly

Registered User
None
I did BDCP, and I'm now at 15 years time in service (13 since commissioning).

It's been great never having less than 60 days of leave on the books.

I think that BDCP, in terms of cost/benefit, is probably a better deal for the Navy than ROTC at many campuses, at least if the Navy pays the sticker price for tuition.
 

BackOrdered

Well-Known Member
Contributor
I did BDCP, and I'm now at 15 years time in service (13 since commissioning).

It's been great never having less than 60 days of leave on the books.

I think that BDCP, in terms of cost/benefit, is probably a better deal for the Navy than ROTC at many campuses, at least if the Navy pays the sticker price for tuition.

At 12 years (10 commissioned) I have yet to burn all my BDCP leave off the books.

As far as cost effectiveness, in a small doses, yes. But unlike ROTC, you won't know your product until OCS. I knew BDCPer that attrited at OCS.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
I REMEMBER THAT GUY!!! We thought he was just a rumor!

There was more than one, several of them actually, I had a NUPOC that was going to be an instructor who referred his classmate who also became an instructor, both were very smart one had UG in Math, the other Physics, both were earning their MS in Math
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
At 12 years (10 commissioned) I have yet to burn all my BDCP leave off the books.

As far as cost effectiveness, in a small doses, yes. But unlike ROTC, you won't know your product until OCS. I knew BDCPer that attrited at OCS.

I had a BDCPer that dropped from OCS, was sent directly to RTC
 

xmid

Registered User
pilot
Contributor
What did his ID card say? I think my officer candidate ID card said "E-5/PO2"

Come to think of it, that may have been how she found out. His ID card said E7/CPO if I remember correctly. He was definitely apologetic about it. Like "Hey, I'm sorry I didn't ask for it." And we had two Chiefs in our class that didn't think it was very funny either.
 

xmid

Registered User
pilot
Contributor
There was more than one, several of them actually, I had a NUPOC that was going to be an instructor who referred his classmate who also became an instructor, both were very smart one had UG in Math, the other Physics, both were earning their MS in Math

This was not that guy. The guy in my class is still going strong in the long, hard, black, and full of seamen community.
 
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