Place your bets!

[Brett327]

There's also the career intermission program, which has had participants successfully screen for command.

 

[DanMa1156]

@WhiskeySierra6 - I can't imagine a scenario where there's a chance someone gets more time on their first sea tour to redeem themselves and earn the quals that they would have missed out on from taking a break for mental health reasons beyond the +3/-1 month rule of PERS.

@Brett327 - yes, but is that program available mid-tour? Could one do it in their JO tour and expect to come back and fly after a Cat-other syllabus? I suspect it is not.

All of this is to say that there remain barriers to getting help for mental services, or even taking care of one's own life matters for any extended period of time (i.e. greater than 1-2 weeks of leave).

 

[Brett327]

CIP isn’t for mid tour situations, but to address the example of someone wanting to have a kid(and a bunch of other things), that would be an option with proper planning.

There are lots of medical issues that can impact or end your career. Mental health issues aren’t unique in that sense. Playing games with what you disclose to a flight doc to avoid those consequences is taking a big risk for you and potentially others.

 

[HAL Pilot]

First, I believe mental health is a real and important issue where the military (and society in general) needs to do a lot better than they are.

But if someone has mental health issues so early in their career that they miss out on a significant part of their initial sea tour and qualification process, what makes you think this won’t be a continuing issue throughout their career? If so, it should be a medically disqualifying issue like any other chronic issue that affects your ability to do the job.

If the mental health issue is treatable without affecting their job, then they should be able to continue in that job.

The career reset doesn’t happen with any other health issue. If you want mental health to not have a stigma attached, then you need to treat it the same as any other health issue.

 

[DanMa1156]

I don't disagree with either @HAL Pilot or @Brett327 on this one; and I do think there should be consequences as with any other medical issue. What I am saying though is that to say there are no barriers to getting treatment is a fallacy. If someone breaks their ankle skiing, there's really no hiding it. But plenty of people have and will hide mental issues.

 

[WhiskeySierra6]

@WhiskeySierra6 - I can't imagine a scenario where there's a chance someone gets more time on their first sea tour to redeem themselves and earn the quals that they would have missed out on from taking a break for mental health reasons beyond the +3/-1 month rule of PERS.

It's happening right now in my community. Not mental health-related but ultimately the reason is not really important. Is this a PERS program in action? No, it's an engaged front office trying to do the right thing. Does PERS and by extension the Navy in general need to do something about not fucking people over because their timing is non-standard? Absolutely. That change is coming but those who have been in for more than a minute know it's going to come at a glacial pace.

 

[AllAmerican75]

The policy and mechanism is already there, it just needs refinement. Women can take a year off for child care and get rolled back a YG. I know of a man who used the same program to take a sabbatical during his divorce. The down side, iirc, is it involves a dramatic pay cut during the time off.

I don't know any of the details or resources to point officers in the right direction to use this program or what the limitations are, but seems reasonable that 'I busted my shoulder and need 6 mo to rehab' should be added to the list of reasons to push an officer's gates back a year.

There's also the Career Intermission Program which allows for a break in service to do whatever hell you want. Not sure if they have ironed the kinks out of it but it's there.

 

[Brett327]

I can't imagine a scenario where there's a chance someone gets more time on their first sea tour to redeem themselves and earn the quals that they would have missed out on from taking a break for mental health reasons beyond the +3/-1 month rule of PERS.

I extended a DH with weird timing for an entire year so that he could get a 12 month ticket. We had flexibility on the backside with a non-due course DH. As @WhiskeySierra6 mentioned, all it takes is an engaged front office.

 

[Spekkio]

There's also the Career Intermission Program which allows for a break in service to do whatever hell you want. Not sure if they have ironed the kinks out of it but it's there.

I think that's what they used.