VTU Guam remote gouge

[fieldrat]

I'm looking at making the switch soon myself. What should I be aware of?

Literally everything is done/overseen by yourself. All timelines for getting things done are solely your responsibility, to include pay, admin, medical, orders, etc. That's the biggest mind-shift that I see former AC folks struggle with.

As long as you are 'smart' with how you interact with the staff, and keep your own set of copies/records, you'll do fine.

Standing by for DM/PM questions as needed...

 

[Bergers2short]

But yeah, the VA claim is something you have to ask for, and that's why I haven't touched them with a 10-foot pole yet. And I've probably got some metaphorical bumps and bruises I'll get fucked for later because of this.

The reason why its recommended to start the claim process while transferring out is because it's easier to get documentation of the "service connected" aspect of your injuries while you're still in and there's little-to-no lapse in time where your condition could arguably occur. If you wait on filing a claim, you can't fix the later issue. But you can try to address the first by keeping a running file with documentation of various conditions and causes (the VA will accept things like witness statements if something was missed from your medical file). I interned one summer at my state's VA department and the biggest takeaway was to use either a VSO or a state VA (if your state has one) rep to assist you with your claim. I would recommend seeing if one of those folks would be willing to review your documents now and provide any advice to save future headaches.

 

[SELRES_AMDO]

So how do you separate from the active component without getting a VA rating? Should I intentionally hide my injuries and stuff? I know quite a few vets who had that bite them in the ass later in life.

There's the rub. You file for VA disability and you might not make it to retirement in the reserves.

Realistically, as long as all of your injuries are in your medical record then you should be fine if you file after retirement. How true that is in practice is another story.

The whole thing is a roll of the dice and a reason I haven't touched VA disability yet. A guy I worked with had relatively minor injuries that he filed for and was only 30%. He went to MRR and had a solid recommendation from his unit CO to stay. He was in shape and worked out regularly. MRR recommended not physically qualified and drummed him out at 11 years with no retirement.

Another guy came off active after 10 years and got 70%. NOSC drummed him out after his first PHA.

I had an injury while on ADOS that required a trip to the ER and the NOSC tried to make me do an MRR. I didn't even file for disability. They just saw the injury in my record and said it warrants a MRR despite a Navy DR. saying I was fine and fully deployable during my PHA. The NOSC eventually dropped the MRR request but not without a bunch of arguing.

 

[nittany03]

They just saw the injury in my record and said it warrants a MRR despite a Navy DR. saying I was fine and fully deployable during my PHA.

Retention . . . keeping the best people in so we can win a war with China if it happens. Who needs it, amirite?

We need to shut the Navy Reserve Centers down and pass responsibility for manning, training, and equipping the reserve force to the active component. The current system allows too much cluelessness about reservists from the AC and too many stupid perverse incentives like this from the RC. If you pass a PHA every year to the same standards as the AC, there should be absolutely zero reason you shouldn't be able to get a phone call, grab your seabag, show up, and go fight. If VADM Mustin wants to MOB the entire force in 30 days, we need to assume the validity of the screening processes reservists have to go through every year. If they're not enough, change them, but this whole "take three physicals to MOB" bullshit has to end.

 

[SELRES_AMDO]

I'm convinced reserve medical just makes things up. The injury was treated by a DoD hospital and I was cleared for full duty by multiple military DRs before I even did the PHA. Some HM1 decided that she should be the arbitrator of my medical status. When I asked for an explanation she said "The system doesn't really make sense but I'm just doing what I'm told". Long story short she dropped it when her DH got involved.

So ya, NOSCs are a useless jobs program that need to go away. Absorb the FTS sailors into regular HW units and have them do the reserve administration from there just like the hardware units do.

The reserves is enough of a sacrifice for SELRES Sailors who have full time careers. The worthless NOSCs are driving people out in droves because of their poor support. I know a bunch of Officers who had 10 plus years who did one year and bailed and said the pension isn't worth the headache.

 

[Hair Warrior]

Retention . . . keeping the best people in so we can win a war with China if it happens. Who needs it, amirite?

We need to shut the Navy Reserve Centers down and pass responsibility for manning, training, and equipping the reserve force to the active component. The current system allows too much cluelessness about reservists from the AC and too many stupid perverse incentives like this from the RC. If you pass a PHA every year to the same standards as the AC, there should be absolutely zero reason you shouldn't be able to get a phone call, grab your seabag, show up, and go fight. If VADM Mustin wants to MOB the entire force in 30 days, we need to assume the validity of the screening processes reservists have to go through every year. If they're not enough, change them, but this whole "take three physicals to MOB" bullshit has to end.

Shack.

I have said that they need a (metaphorical) light switch on the wall. Flip the switch, and Petty Officer Schmuckatelli goes from RC to AC. His direct deposit doesn’t change. His email address (Flank Speed anyone?) doesn’t change. His CAC doesn’t change. His RED/DA page 2 doesn’t change. His Tricare active duty turns on, his Tricare reserve select automatically pauses.

We’re actually pretty close to that in some areas (CAC, uniforms, .mil email). But in other respects, we’ve got work to do.

BT

Another good idea fairy I have is SIPR-token-for-life being issued to IWC members at A school/ primary designator training schoolhouse. I have obtained and later turned in so many SIPR tokens (mil and ctr) it’s wild. Inevitably, I don’t have SIPR when I need it, and I have it when I don’t need it.

Old school sys admins will counter with “bUt ThE 2875 SAAR foRm SaYs….” and to that, I reply: DISA wants to get rid of SAAR forms anyway. There is not much harm in allowing sailors to hold onto a hard token and just have it activated/deactivated as needed during a career. If that’s cost prohibitive or if COs worry junior sailors will lose/abuse the SIPR token, then just issue to E6 and above, and case by case below that.

I’d have to start using toes if I counted fingers how many times our active unit has asked us “You guys have SIPR, right?”

 

[MIDNJAC]

Not to mention the account lockout/deletion timelines aren't great for flex-drillers. Quite common to see folks get locked out just simply due to their drill schedule, and account delete isn't that far outside the norm either for folks who are busy for a while with civilian life.

 

[Hair Warrior]

Not to mention the account lockout/deletion timelines aren't great for flex-drillers. Quite common to see folks get locked out just simply due to their drill schedule, and account delete isn't that far outside the norm either for folks who are busy for a while with civilian life.

“bUt SySteM aCcEss PoLicY SaYs iT hAs tO bE XX daYs”

 

[nittany03]

Shack.

I have said that they need a (metaphorical) light switch on the wall. Flip the switch, and Petty Officer Schmuckatelli goes from RC to AC. His direct deposit doesn’t change. His email address (Flank Speed anyone?) doesn’t change. His CAC doesn’t change. His RED/DA page 2 doesn’t change. His Tricare active duty turns on, his Tricare reserve select automatically pauses.

We’re actually pretty close to that in some areas (CAC, uniforms, .mil email). But in other respects, we’ve got work to do.

You're either an up round, or you should be ADSEPed or asked to retire. Why pay people to drill if they need extra screening to MOB?

That said, I also believe in tiers of billets. You don't need the same medical requirements to go to the sandbox as you do to drill on a staff in Pearl, Stuttgart, or San Dog. So don't screen them the same way. If you do have a glut of semi-broken people competing for a limited amount of CONUS billets, OK, fine. The best will keep on, and the rest will go to the VTU with no billet and then retire. That's a self-solving problem.

But when the balloon goes up, the Reserve enterprise outside hardware units is going to be flowing forward to things like staff jobs and the CAOCs. So don't tell me I need fucking gas mask inserts or the ability to hump a 50-pound ruck off a deuce-and-a-half (that last was in CENTCOM's theater entry requirements). Sad to say, I and most reservists need to be able to make a mean Ops/Intel brief, Master Air Attack Plan, or know the ins and outs of staffing CONOPs, JTARs, and EARFs. We're not going forward to save the day; we're freeing up active duty bodies to go forward to save the day.

One of my Sailors who had to take early retirement was an AC with a bad back. He got tagged for MOB, flunked the physical, and had to retire at 17 years. But in his civ job, he was also an FAA controller. Management material, even. So if the balloon went up, here's a guy with scads of experience in causing jets not to hit each other who the Navy just booted because some stupid back issue meant he could control aircraft in front of Scope A but not Scope B. That's fucking utterly asinine, and if we lose against China, it'll be because of shit like that.

 

[Gatordev]

So ya, NOSCs are a useless jobs program that need to go away. Absorb the FTS sailors into regular HW units and have them do the reserve administration from there just like the hardware units do.

I'm not arguing the idea of what you guys are talking about, but practically, how would that happen? It would require an increase in end-strength, no? If you look at a larger NOSC in a fleet concentration area, they only have a hand full (6, maybe?) FTS that work in Ops that cover 1000 SELRES across multiple commands. There wouldn't be enough FTS to spread across the individual units, even assuming you put them at ECH III commands.

As always, assuming it's an effecient use of resources, more people is always better and would ideally end with the positive result you and Nit are looking for, but the bodies have to come from somewhere and right now that would probably be out of thin air.

 

[nittany03]

I'm not arguing the idea of what you guys are talking about, but practically, how would that happen? It would require an increase in end-strength, no? If you look at a larger NOSC in a fleet concentration area, they only have a hand full (6, maybe?) FTS that work in Ops that cover 1000 SELRES across multiple commands. There wouldn't be enough FTS to spread across the individual units, even assuming you put them at ECH III commands.

As always, assuming it's an effecient use of resources, more people is always better and would ideally end with the positive result you and Nit are looking for, but the bodies have to come from somewhere and right now that would probably be out of thin air.

The point is twofold: perverse incentives and duplication of effort. The question is to what extent the AC, plussed up by the FTS community, would be able to handle the care and feeding of reservists in addition to their own AC people. So reserve travel being handled by the AC N1/Admin shop. Reserve medical being handled by the AC command's docs. Perhaps with the assistance of the members civilian physician if they're remote. Email and electronic medical records are a thing these days. Docs can talk to each other. How do we handle this for NROTC staff, recruiters, and other remote AC folks? There's a model.

This is important because NRCs are graded on "readiness" box-checking which is debatably aligned with the AC's real needs. And the AC gets to get away with not knowing how to take care of these reservists who "just show up." As @Hair Warrior said, why is access to reservists not available with a phone call and a set of orders? Why is mobilizing the force in 30 days a challenge, and are we putting unnecessary gates in our own way because a few people in early GWOT were hiding issues?

Ultimately, if you're an actively participating SELRES and maybe even VTU member, we need to have a training and readiness process that trusts that if you passed your PFA/PHA and your admin wickets are all green, you shouldn't need piles of additional crap to be able to mobilize. Because if you do, either that extra effort is lean waste or else the annual screening process is inadequate.

 

[Gatordev]

The question is to what extent the AC, plussed up by the FTS community, would be able to handle the care and feeding of reservists in addition to their own AC people.

I still haven't heard where these extra FTS people are coming from. Again, yes, it would be great to plus up support staffs, but that plus up comes at some cost, and that's one no one can really afford right now (see: the shut-downs and billet reductions at CNAFR last year as an example.

So reserve travel being handled by the AC N1/Admin shop. Reserve medical being handled by the AC command's docs.

Having someone on the AC side trained to deal with RC things (travel/NSIPS/orders, medical, etc) is a good idea. But you can't just add more customers to the AC support side (medical, specifically). The AC side is already undermanned at medical and struggles to meet the operational requirements, let alone the admin side.

I'm not sure how an IWO or sub guy gets a physical and/or PHA. I'm curious to know just for my own education, but I'm guessing they go to one of the other places in a BMC that wasn't flight medicine. And that side of medical never seemed to be robust with bodies. If we move the physical/PHA away from the NOSC personnel and move it to where the AC side does business, again, it's a huge influx of patients to have to schedule and deal with, which would require more medical manpower to meet the requirement.

I agree, getting stuff done out in town could be a way to relieve the issue. I have a feeling the Navy would need to really figure out how to do that or they will seriously get burned at some point when someone found a "friendly doc" to get something signed off that shouldn't have been (in the Navy's eyes).

If you've ever shopped FAA medical docs, you'll know what I'm getting at.

This is important because NRCs are graded on "readiness" box-checking which is debatably aligned with the AC's real needs. And the AC gets to get away with not knowing how to take care of these reservists who "just show up." As @Hair Warrior said, why is access to reservists not available with a phone call and a set of orders? Why is mobilizing the force in 30 days a challenge, and are we putting unnecessary gates in our own way because a few people in early GWOT were hiding issues?

I'm not intending to argue your very good points in the quote above. But the RC has never really been concerned about meeting anyone's mission other than it's own RC readiness mission, at least during the 10 years I was on the RC side. The hardware units care, but Big Reserve has historically only been worried about medical readiness and meeting entitlements. Anything more is gravy.

I can tell you the on-coming CNRFC Actual will care about those things, and I'm sure he will want to try and tackle the problem. Lord knows he has the energy for it, but I have a feeling the system will be too big and set in it's way for him to make much progress. Baby steps, I guess.

 

[gparks1989]

Here's some more reserve stupidity to add fuel to the fire. I got picked up for VAQ-209 back in September, ticked all of the boxes for separation, and nearly a 1.5 months after getting out I still don't have my DD-214 and can't affiliate with SELRES. Word is that there are **200,000** (that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it's what my civ separations clerk passed to me) backlogged 214s at PSD Memphis. So I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs, with no end in sight, NATOPS quals expiring, while my squadron is deployed in INDOPACOM. Somehow doesn't feel like this should be the way things are done.

Oh ya, and I'm still getting paid my active duty salary ?

 

[Hair Warrior]

Here's some more reserve stupidity to add fuel to the fire. I got picked up for VAQ-209 back in September, ticked all of the boxes for separation, and nearly a 1.5 months after getting out I still don't have my DD-214 and can't affiliate with SELRES. Word is that there are **200,000** (that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it's what my civ separations clerk passed to me) backlogged 214s at PSD Memphis. So I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs, with no end in sight, NATOPS quals expiring, while my squadron is deployed in INDOPACOM. Somehow doesn't feel like this should be the way things are done.

Oh ya, and I'm still getting paid my active duty salary ?

Standby for active duty PCS orders to Bahrain ? ?

 

[nittany03]

Anything that starts with "I got picked up for a hardware squadron" is officially the Navy Reserve version of #FirstWorldProblems . . .