Hey everyone, thanks for all the great information in this thread. I just read the message from Oct yesterday, and called PERS to get the scoop. I came out better than some, because I had completed 30 pts on July 26th, but my last 5 pts in Nov don't count. Incredibly disingenuous of our leadership to write a message that says automatic point granting has been stopped, when in actuality, they just cut off everything from NETC's site.
So passing along some things I've found out in the last day (and correct me if you've found otherwise):
-The spreadsheet from 30SEP14 on the BUPERS IRR FAQ website is the ONLY courses we can do as IRR members right now. It has tabs for different point sources, like DAU, Air University, NWC, FEMA, etc.
-The PERS help desk told me ANY course on that list is approved. I point this out because the message makes it sound like SELRES need prior approval to take a course, yet IRR members do not. We're just expected to fax in certificates. I don't want to turn in FEMA courses and have them later say that isn't professionally developing
-Many of the options in the spreadsheet cannot be attempted. I called the Air Force today to ask about their distance learning JPME. Their student services said no IRR members. Almost everything they have is behind CAC firewalls. I couldn't even get the NWC site to load. These JPME courses would be really painful, but are enough points to get me through my last 3 years if they could just be accessed.
-DAU cannot be done unless you are SELRES or affiliated with the acquisition community, work for a contractor, etc.
-JKO courses on our list apparently aren't showing up on the JKO site (haven't verified this yet)
-I couldn't find the Defense Contract Audit Institute, so I don't know if it's possible to do those courses
-FEMA works. Takes a while to slog through the courses. I just faxed off 5pts to finish this year. I'll resubmit when they accidentally/deliberately lose the certificates in 60 days.
Most of what they put out there are for SELRES, when those guys don't need points via correspondence really. My favorite thing I found out yesterday....I thought, eff it, I'll go back SELRES. I call the recruiters. They said that PERS expects us to do the entire process on our own, with no recruiting assistance to reaffiliate. I'm sure no one at PERS knows how you get a physical when you cannot work with PERS to set up an appointment at an MTF. Plus, I was reminded that I would be under assession medical standards, so if you have waivers, it would be an uphill battle.
I guess a big fallback could be IRR VTU. I have an aversion to drilling but not getting paid though. I may have to suck it up for three years if that is the only way, because it's 48 guaranteed points. This could work though, couldn't it? A downside is that I don't think you can just come and go as you please. If you are VTU, you have the same show up reqs as SELRES. So you can't skip half the weekends and do the rest via correspondence.
Overall, I don't trust PERS/NAVRESFORCOM to allow us to keep banging out correspondence courses as the sole way to get to 20 years. I think the 'quarterly' updates for the ASN approved course list will probably keep removing stuff until we don't have any options left. If and when they get NETC back in the fold, there will probably be next to 0 courses that someone can do that qualifies as professionally enhancing. The 5 pt course I had invalidated was Naval Space. Ironically, the only non-flying billet I have ever applied for was with Naval Space Command. I think that course was very relevant, much more so than Basic Algebra, Airman, and others I took through NETC. You can make a case that a lot of courses broaden our knowledge.
something like 35 points, no tests... easy living...