How are Prior Qualifying Service Years Calculated?

[3onaMatch]

I know the best answer is "ask my recruiter," and I have; he's checking but it's a long process. So, in the meantime, I thought I'd ask here as I think others could benefit from my question.

In terms of using one's adjusted age to make the age cutoff, how is "prior qualifying service" calculated--by active duty years only or also Reserve time? For example, I have 4 years of prior active duty service and 2 years of reserve service--so, six "good" years toward retirement. I'm trying for a DCO position in the Reserve and crossing my fingers that I can get an age waiver for 6 years, not 4--because otherwise I will have aged out.

Conventional wisdom is that only active duty years are counted, but has anyone experienced anything different?

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

I know the best answer is "ask my recruiter," and I have; he's checking but it's a long process

How is your recruiter asking a simple question to the source a long process?

You might be able to see answers by browsing the various DCO board forums. Otherwise, your recruiter should be able to confirm.

 

[3onaMatch]

How is your recruiter asking a simple question to the source a long process?

You might be able to see answers by browsing the various DCO board forums. Otherwise, your recruiter should be able to confirm.

The recruiter can't simply "ask" in the normal sense. Rather, they need to submit for the age waiver and wait for the response. There is currently another issue to clear before they can submit for that. And then everything is operating at a snail's pace due to the lingering effects of the shutdown and the beginning of the long holiday season. Oh, and also my recruiter just retired and my new one isn't arriving for several weeks. Also tried contacting people from within the community that I am applying to but they have gone dark ever since the shutdown began. No comms at all.

So, it's a bit of a waiting game to find out if all my efforts thus far were in vain because I may or may not have aged out. Thus, I came here to gather anecdotal data. I haven't seen anyone else discussing this exact issue on the forums. So, here we are. This is me attempting to utilize all available resources.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

The recruiter can't simply "ask" in the normal sense. Rather, they need to submit for the age waiver and wait for the response. There is currently another issue to clear before they can submit for that. And then everything is operating at a snail's pace due to the lingering effects of the shutdown and the beginning of the long holiday season. Oh, and also my recruiter just retired and my new one isn't arriving for several weeks. Also tried contacting people from within the community that I am applying to but they have gone dark ever since the shutdown began. No comms at all.

So, it's a bit of a waiting game to find out if all my efforts thus far were in vain because I may or may not have aged out. Thus, I came here to gather anecdotal data. I haven't seen anyone else discussing this exact issue on the forums. So, here we are. This is me attempting to utilize all available resources.

Or they can ask the OCM directly and confirm qualifying service. It’s a waste of time on everyone’s front if you’re not even eligible.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

The recruiter can't simply "ask" in the normal sense. Rather, they need to submit for the age waiver and wait for the response. There is currently another issue to clear before they can submit for that. And then everything is operating at a snail's pace due to the lingering effects of the shutdown and the beginning of the long holiday season. Oh, and also my recruiter just retired and my new one isn't arriving for several weeks. Also tried contacting people from within the community that I am applying to but they have gone dark ever since the shutdown began. No comms at all.

So, it's a bit of a waiting game to find out if all my efforts thus far were in vain because I may or may not have aged out. Thus, I came here to gather anecdotal data. I haven't seen anyone else discussing this exact issue on the forums. So, here we are. This is me attempting to utilize all available resources.

The figuring out of your time in regards to age waiver should be easy for the processor to figure out, then they will route the waiver. If I am remembering right when my processors would do the calculation they would get a document from the reserve component then add up each drill weekend and any other time you were activated, if it came out to 180 days then you had 6 months of equivalent AD time.

This is how you will have people who do active, then reserves, then active again who will retire at 20 years but have say 24 years for pay purposes.

 

[3onaMatch]

Or they can ask the OCM directly and confirm qualifying service. It’s a waste of time on everyone’s front if you’re not even eligible.

The figuring out of your time in regards to age waiver should be easy for the processor to figure out, then they will route the waiver. If I am remembering right when my processors would do the calculation they would get a document from the reserve component then add up each drill weekend and any other time you were activated, if it came out to 180 days then you had 6 months of equivalent AD time.

This is how you will have people who do active, then reserves, then active again who will retire at 20 years but have say 24 years for pay purposes.

Thanks for that. It sounds like you are referring to points. I have something like 4.5 active years worth of points, 6 "good" years toward Reserve retirement, and oddly 12 years for pay (because I've spent a lot of time in the IRR).

 

[3onaMatch]

Or they can ask the OCM directly and confirm qualifying service. It’s a waste of time on everyone’s front if you’re not even eligible.

I mean, if that's true then I don't know why my recruiter has not done that. Maybe its because we are not able to get in contact with anyone from within the designator community. My age was not a concern until the shutdown caused everything to be canceled. I was right on the line age-wise, and now, assuming I get picked up in the next recruiting cycle, I will have missed the age cut-off by about a month or so. Gotta love it. That's assuming I only get a 4-year prior service credit. If I can get 6 years, I am good to go.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

I mean, if that's true then I don't know why my recruiter has not done that. Maybe its because we are not able to get in contact with anyone from within the designator community. My age was not a concern until the shutdown caused everything to be canceled. I was right on the line age-wise, and now, assuming I get picked up in the next recruiting cycle, I will have missed the age cut-off by about a month or so. Gotta love it. That's assuming I only get a 4-year prior service credit. If I can get 6 years, I am good to go.

Maybe they have and now it's just a matter of submitting a waiver. Reserve recruiters only do DCO recruiting, so the process should be very familiar and streamlined for them.

Getting clarity on the front end will prevent pain and frustration on the back end when all the work was done for nothing. I would confirm clarity.

The way I read qualifying service as total military service. So if you enlisted for four years, then went SELRES for two years... that is six years of qualifying service assuming as a SELRES you meet annual points requirements.

 

[3onaMatch]

Maybe they have and now it's just a matter of submitting a waiver. Reserve recruiters only do DCO recruiting, so the process should be very familiar and streamlined for them.

Getting clarity on the front end will prevent pain and frustration on the back end when all the work was done for nothing. I would confirm clarity.

The way I read qualifying service as total military service. So if you enlisted for four years, then went SELRES for two years... that is six years of qualifying service assuming as a SELRES you meet annual points requirements.

Oh, that would be fantastic if that were the case. I assume my recruiter is confident I'll make out with age waiver, but we just won't know for a few more weeks. Fingers crossed.