LCDR allowed to get 20 good years?

[vxc961]

Looking for a little help/advice regarding retirement. I'm currently in a LCDR in the IRR, doing corr courses, Blue&Gold, and funeral honors. I don't anticipate picking up O-5 since I'm not drilling and not doing JPME. I've been studying BUPERSINST 1001.39, and I'm still not sure if I'll be able to make "sanctuary", get my 20 good years, and retire. Anybody have any experience with this? If I read correctly, I'll be allowed to get to 20 comissioned years. If that's correct, and I have earned 50-points before they boot me out, will that count as a "good" year, and get me to 20? Sorry for the long post, but the relevant dates are tabulated below, if that helps...

Date Event Tot yrs Comis Yrs Good years
August, 1996 Enlisted 0 0 0
Jan, 1998 ENS 1.4 0 1.4
July, 2004 Disch AD 8 7.6 8
Sep, 2006 begin drill 10 9.6 8
Oct, 2008 DOR LCDR 12 10.7 10
Jan, 2009 IRR 12 11 10
Aug, 2011 --- 15 13.6 13
Jun, 2013 1st FOS CDR 16.9 15.3 15
Jun, 2014 2nd FOS CDR 17.9 16.3 16
Feb, 2015 7mo after FOS 18.5 17 16.5
Jan, 2018 20yr Commis 21.5 20 19.5

 

[FrankTheTank]

Yes.. You can go for 20 years of service. However, one bad year can count against that 20 and then you are screwed. So with that being said, you can do 20 years as an 0-4. DO NOT GET A BAD YEAR. There is no buffer time!

EDIT:
Just read your profile. You might be screwed. Call Pers and check. I think you can request a waiver. But the last dude I know that tried was told "Nope" But worth a try. Also if you affiliate you might be able to go past 20 as a SELRES. For whatever reason they seem not to track years as closely for this case. I know 2 folks that pulled this one off. Good Luck.

 

[vxc961]

Thanks. I actually called BUPERS about a year and a half ago, and got in touch with a civ who said "yeah, you should be OK." Not sure how much weight that will hold when I'm applying for retirement though.

I think the short summary is that I have two BAD years, but I've got 1.5 years of prior service due to my nuke time in college. I'm just trying to figure out if that'll be enough. Thanks for the advice.

 

[phrogpilot73]

Just out of curiosity, what is a "bad" year?

In the Reserves, if you get 50 points in one year (through drills, distance learning, etc...) it's referred to as a "good year" or a year creditable towards retirement. If you have a year where you don't get 50 points, then it's a "bad year". The points still count towards your retirement calculations, you're just not one year closer to the golden ring. Clear as mud?

 

[FrankTheTank]

Thanks. I actually called BUPERS about a year and a half ago, and got in touch with a civ who said "yeah, you should be OK." Not sure how much weight that will hold when I'm applying for retirement though.

I think the short summary is that I have two BAD years, but I've got 1.5 years of prior service due to my nuke time in college. I'm just trying to figure out if that'll be enough. Thanks for the advice.

It might work out for you due to your unique situation. Good Luck. They're all civilians in the IRR section of pers. They try to be helpful. I go there in person and have seen them contradict each other face to face. So hopefully you spoke to the correct civ. I would occasionally call just to be sure. If the answer is always the same then it is more likely than not that you will be ok.

Also never seen anything like a half good year? What does it say in your BOL summary?

 

[vxc961]

Also never seen anything like a half good year? What does it say in your BOL summary?

That's probably the crux of my question. I'm 90% sure that when I hit 20 years commissioned (which will be Feb, 2018) they'll retire/discharge me. My "anniversary" is August. So, in August of 2017 I'll have 19 "good years", in September of 2017 I'll do 50 points of correspondence courses, and in Feb of 2018 the Navy will boot me. So... If I've earned 50pts, even though my last good year isn't a full calendar year, does anybody know if it'll count?

 

[vxc961]

Well, I called BUPERS today, and after 10 minutes of pass-the-phone, I was told "hmm, you should be OK". When I pressed for more details the nice lady said "well, you'll be so close they'll probably just let you have it"

So, problem solved, question answered...

 

[FrankTheTank]

Now make that call again next year and get the same answer and then the next and next...

Good Luck.. Hope it works out. Only time will tell.

 

[vxc961]

Well, I just got in touch with a friend of mine who got RIF'd, HTY'd, or whatever we call it. He had 15 good years when he hit 20 years commissioned. The Navy sent him home. We went over the US Code, which makes it look you can have two to four "bad" years and still make it sanctuary, where they'll let you finish up. He also said that to a "good" year has to be 50pts AND a calendar year.

The most interesting thing he said though was that rather than throw his reserve retirement away, he enlisted the ANG as an E-5! I guess you have to enlist for either 3 or 5 years, but you can retire whenever you're eligible (and you don't have to finish up your enlistment). Since he had O-4, he'll retire as that. Pretty bizarre, huh?

 

[atmahan]

vxc961,

Bupersinst 1001.39F, Chapter 1, Section 105, Paragraph 3, sub-section c guarantees you 20 Commisioned Years:

c. Lieutenant commanders who twice fail to select to the next higher rank before a Navy Reserve selection board will

be retired, if eligible, or be discharged at the later of

(1) the 1

st day of the month after the month on which the officer completes 20 years of commissioned service;

or

(2) the 1
st day of the 7th month after the month on which the report of the board which considered the officer for the second

time is approved.

This means that even though you may fail to select for CDR you can stay in the Navy Reserve until your 20th Commissioned Year.

In your case, on your 20th Commissioned Year it appears that you will NOT have the 20 Qualifying Years needed for Retirement. "Qualifying Year" is the official term when you have earned at least 50 Retirement Points. The terms "Good Year" and "Satisfactory Year" are incorrect terms (although everyone uses them).

If this is the case, then you are still allowed to stay in to earn your 20 Qualifying Years.

Per U.S. Code, Title 10, Subtitle E, Part II, Chapter 1219, Section 12646, Paragraph b:

(b) If on the date prescribed for the discharge or transfer from an active status of a reserve commissioned officer he is entitled to be credited with at least 19, but less than 20, years of service computed under section 12732 of this title, he may not be discharged or transferred from an active status under chapter 573, 1407, or 1409 of this title or chapter 21 of title 14, without his consent before the earlier of the following dates—

(1) the date on which he is entitled to be credited with 20 years of service computed under section 12732 of this title; or

(2) the second anniversary of the date on which he would otherwise be discharged or transferred from an active status.

Therefore, you are good to go, as long as you earn at least 50 points in one year during your sanctuary period (during one of the two additional years allowed to you). If you don't, then no retirement.

 

[vxc961]

Thanks atmahan! I had dug up the BUPERS instruction, but I appreciate you supplying the actual Title 10 code--that's better than BUPERS themselves did when I called!