Retiring/separating reserve officers who transitioned to GS

[Pags]

This and riding large applications into the ground without upgrading until the platform is no longer supported by the vendor. Making for a difficult upgrade due to skipping multiple version

I'm not an IT guy

I get the impression that the increased cyber awareness and the policies that come with it have recently resulted in the USG more actively updating their software. I get a lot more SW pushes these days then I did 5yrs ago. But that's with NMCI so I don't know how well other agencies and networks are managed.

 

[Bergers2short]

This thread has really confirmed my choice to join a non-DOD Agency as a non-essential employee. We get issued iphones, a laptop from this decade, and have excellent telework policies (pre-COVID and now).

Shifting gears, I'm in the process of starting my military service deposit to get credit for FERS. Has anyone had success in getting their Estimated Earnings During Military Service (DFAS-CL 1340/2) changed? I was in BDCP and did not keep a pay stub denoting that I advanced from E-3 to E-5 after graduating college. I only submitted my DD-214s and it looks like the official estimated all of my enlisted earnings at E-5. I'm going to look through my paper records and will probably submit my enlistment paperwork showing E-3 and probably the old BDCP instruction explaining when the promotion happens. Has anyone had any issues with getting that cleared up or with providing proof like that to DFAS?

Posting a BDCP related question on Airwarriors is giving me a weird sense of nostalgia...

 

[Pags]

This thread has really confirmed my choice to join a non-DOD Agency as a non-essential employee. We get issued iphones, a laptop from this decade, and have excellent telework policies (pre-COVID and now).

Shifting gears, I'm in the process of starting my military service deposit to get credit for FERS. Has anyone had success in getting their Estimated Earnings During Military Service (DFAS-CL 1340/2) changed? I was in BDCP and did not keep a pay stub denoting that I advanced from E-3 to E-5 after graduating college. I only submitted my DD-214s and it looks like the official estimated all of my enlisted earnings at E-5. I'm going to look through my paper records and will probably submit my enlistment paperwork showing E-3 and probably the old BDCP instruction explaining when the promotion happens. Has anyone had any issues with getting that cleared up or with providing proof like that to DFAS?

Posting a BDCP related question on Airwarriors is giving me a weird sense of nostalgia...

My impression was that the official answer from DFAS was based off of the payment they had give to you not a DD214. Basically they go back and total up all of your LESs and poop out the number that way.

That said, your first comment about TW...I've been to the office maybe 5 times since last year and I worked from across the county for 2mo. I'm a DOD guy. I also got an iphone but don't like the work phone so only use it if I'm away from my computer during the work day. My computer is 3yrs old and is getting replaced soon and is completely adequate for my work provided I don't open 10 ppts, 10xls, 10 docs, 37 emails, and 23 chrome tabs at once. I mean it's not a screaming top of the line MS Surface Pro but I don't need that.

 

[Bergers2short]

I'm glad you're having a good experience at DOD. It sounds like it varies based on office, which is true in pretty much any job.

 

[Pags]

I'm glad you're having a good experience at DOD. It sounds like it varies based on office, which is true in pretty much any job.

Yeah, my comment was more to the greater audience in that your experience is gonna vary depending on a lot of factors and other readers shouldn't discount working for the DOD because of things like tech and TW. As I mentioned earlier, my wife and I worked like 10' away from each other in the same office but for different DOD agencies and had wildly different experiences.

 

[Griz882]

I'm glad you're having a good experience at DOD. It sounds like it varies based on office, which is true in pretty much any job.

I love to hate working for Uncle Sam just as much as I hate to love it! ?

 

[SELRES_AMDO]

I've always wanted to try a non-DOD agency like VA or Agriculture, but I have not been successful in my applications.

 

[Pags]

I've always wanted to try a non-DOD agency like VA or Agriculture, but I have not been successful in my applications.

I've had several friends get work good work at the IRS. One went in as a 15 and another retired as an E-7 and then went in as a 13 and made 14 once he had his 1yr of experience at the 13 level.

I sniffed around at doing aviation stuff for the Fire Service but go nowhere with it. I also sometimes consider things with DOT/FAA but then I realize how much I'd lose in moving.

 

[jmcquate]

I've been on both sides. The DoD one I'm at now, I love. As had been said here before, It's all agency dependent. The Federal government is far from a monolith.

 

[Griz882]

I've been on both sides. The DoD one I'm at now, I love. As had been said here before, It's all agency dependent. The Federal government is far from a monolith.

Yep...I loved my work with the National Park Service, but you’ll go hungry working for them!

 

[jmcquate]

Ha, Grizz, I learned in my early 30s that being a professional historian and paying rent had a math issue.

 

[llnick2001]

I work for the federal judiciary now. Our IT is pretty good (amazing compared to what I dealt with on NMCI and whatever overseas NMCI was). I would imagine it varies by district, though. DOJ's stuff was also much better than the Navy, though not as good as what I have now - but I was just an intern at DOJ, so I didn't have all the bells and whistles available.

 

[Flash]

Shifting gears, I'm in the process of starting my military service deposit to get credit for FERS. Has anyone had success in getting their Estimated Earnings During Military Service (DFAS-CL 1340/2) changed? I was in BDCP and did not keep a pay stub denoting that I advanced from E-3 to E-5 after graduating college. I only submitted my DD-214s and it looks like the official estimated all of my enlisted earnings at E-5. I'm going to look through my paper records and will probably submit my enlistment paperwork showing E-3 and probably the old BDCP instruction explaining when the promotion happens. Has anyone had any issues with getting that cleared up or with providing proof like that to DFAS?.

My impression was that the official answer from DFAS was based off of the payment they had give to you not a DD214. Basically they go back and total up all of your LESs and poop out the number that way.

I sent the form off to DFAS and I am pretty sure they calculated how much I owed based on what I had actually been paid and not an estimate.

 

[graham]

The variety of different experiences here says it all.

I went O-3 -> GS-13 at the Navy command across the street and loved life for the first 4 years. I'm unhappy now, but I think a lot of it is a combination of organizational pandemic burnout and two weak CO's in a row.

Negotiating leave/step increases is personal preference. People generally recommend it. I landed my dream job so I was just in a hurry to get back to work and basically just signed everything they put in front of me. No regrets there. But, I got GS-13 straight away, which is unusual for junior folks like myself.

I wouldn't "buy back your time" if you're already eligible for a military pension.

 

[nodropinufaka]

The variety of different experiences here says it all.

I went O-3 -> GS-13 at the Navy command across the street and loved life for the first 4 years. I'm unhappy now, but I think a lot of it is a combination of organizational pandemic burnout and two weak CO's in a row.

Negotiating leave/step increases is personal preference. People generally recommend it. I landed my dream job so I was just in a hurry to get back to work and basically just signed everything they put in front of me. No regrets there. But, I got GS-13 straight away, which is unusual for junior folks like myself.

I wouldn't "buy back your time" if you're already eligible for a military pension.

I bounced straight into GS-13.

I think it matters what field it is.