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Second thoughts

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4815162342

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I recently swore into the BDCP program under the SNA program. I thought the program would be good for me because I could use the money for school and follow in the foot steps of family members that served in the military. Now 7 months into the program I have had time to think about what my future holds after I graduate college. I have realized that I truly do not want to be in the Navy due to the extensive traveling and overall rigorous military life. I am posting on this forum because I know that many members on here are very knowledgeable and helpful when it comes to issues like mine. I am wondering if there is ANY way that I can be discharged from the Navy before I ship to OCS. I know that I have been given a tremendous opportunity by being accepted into the BDCP program, and I would hope that there is some way that I could be discharged in order to open up a spot for someone else that wants to be a Navy officer more than I do. Please do not flame me for this, I am simply wondering if there are any provisions on my contract that would allow for me to be separated before I ship to OCS. Thanks for your time.
 
I am also in BDCP, but don't have the reservations you do; however, it is understandable. You swore in and you will owe the Navy, albeit as an officer or enlisted. Talk to your OR immediately if you haven't already. Or you could find yourself someone with the HIV and catch it...jk
 
4815162342 said:
I recently swore into the BDCP program under the SNA program. I thought the program would be good for me because I could use the money for school and follow in the foot steps of family members that served in the military. Now 7 months into the program I have had time to think about what my future holds after I graduate college. I have realized that I truly do not want to be in the Navy due to the extensive traveling and overall rigorous military life. I am posting on this forum because I know that many members on here are very knowledgeable and helpful when it comes to issues like mine. I am wondering if there is ANY way that I can be discharged from the Navy before I ship to OCS. I know that I have been given a tremendous opportunity by being accepted into the BDCP program, and I would hope that there is some way that I could be discharged in order to open up a spot for someone else that wants to be a Navy officer more than I do. Please do not flame me for this, I am simply wondering if there are any provisions on my contract that would allow for me to be separated before I ship to OCS. Thanks for your time.
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I'm not going to flame you for realizing that you may have not made the right choice.

What I will say is that you need to step up and take responsibility for your actions. You swore an oath and you need to keep that.

A failure to keep that oath shows that you lack courage, integrity, and honor among other things.

You made the choice to take on this path and you need to stick to it. Fulfill your commitment either as an officer or enlisted.

Remember this though. 7 months of just thinking about can lead you to have second thoughts about it. I personally think you should give it a shot and then if you don't like the Navy then get out after your commitment.

Other than that if you're going to need to talk to your officer recruiter. You probably should share your feelings with them about it and see what their take on it is too.

Don't fail to be a good citizen. Stand by your commitment.
 
I'm going to try to say this in the least 'flame' like way possible, but take it with a thick skin.

The obvious:

You signed a contract. The time to have had these thoughts and do your investigating was before you raised your right hand and sign the dotted line. You made a large mistake entering into a contract of this magnitude that you can't/won't fulfill.

To my knowledge (I was a BDCPer and am VERY familiar with the contract), the two options you have are:

1) Honor your contract, serve your country for 4 years (or whatever your contract is) as a naval officer.

2) DOR (Drop On Request), and go to Great Lakes, through enlisted boot camp, and do two years as an undesignated striker.

To my knowledge, there are no provisions in the contract that allow for another way out. HOWEVER, it is feasible (and WINK would be the AW knowledgable one on such issues) that you could send your recruiter a very well worded and convincing letter about you 'being honest with yourself' and not wanting to take this slot away from someone else (which in all reality, you already have). In this instance, you would hopefully be obligated to pay back all the money the gov't gave you.

Either way man, the taxpayers invested a chunk of money in you (depending on how long you've been receiving the BDCP money). You owe em' in one capacity or another. Hope this helps.
 
you're in a bad spot then. In the contract you promised that if you dont complete it, your going enlisted. Just something to think about
 
BDCP can be tricky. It's hard sometimes to remember that you already swore your oath of enlistment. You're in the Navy, just as all of us who swore in are--it's just that we haven't done anything yet. You still owe the taxpayer time.

Personally I think it's not even "right" to drop after all the money and take your 2 year enlistment by choice (it's a different matter if you are ordered to for whatever reason). Most enlisted guys enlist and serve their time with no free money from Uncle Sam.

If you don't want to serve the full 8 years from winging an SNA does, maybe you should talk to your recruiter about changing your contract to SWO or supply...

Also, I have a hunch that this is more because of a girl than because of the rigor and travel.
 
LazersGoPEWPEW said:
You made the choice to take on this path and you need to stick to it. Fulfill your commitment either as an officer or enlisted.
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Godspeed said:
In this instance, you would hopefully be obligated to pay back all the money the gov't gave you.
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The consequences listed above by Godspeed are the exact same for those who want to pull out of the NROTC program after obligating.

While in NROTC, I saw 3 people either withdraw or be disenrolled from the program. All 3 were obligated to repay the money.

Also, I believe you can find numerous cases where enlisted had second thoughts before boot and repaid their bonues.

---This is a pure anecdotal opinion...I think the Navy would rather you repay the money than force someone to be there who doesn't want to be.

Although unfortunate, I think its good you've recognized this now before things get more intense.
 
To quote the "Counter Point Counter" segment of the outstanding educational documentary Airplane!:

"Sheila, they bought their tickets. They knew what they were getting into. I say, let 'em crash."
 
I thank the members that answered my question honestly, understand my situation, and actually gave me advice. I would expect the Navy to want the money back that they have paid me, that only seems fair. I have heard numerous times before that OCS truly tests the candidates and you should not enter it unless you are fully committed to becoming an officer. I'm not going to waste time trying convince people that this is about a girl, I wouldn't let anyone else other than myself guide my future. People always say that you should do what you love, and I have had time to think about this is and I don't think a Navy career would make me happy. Some posters mentioned contacting my recruiter, is there any other sources I could talk to first? I fell that letting my recruiter know about my situation might only worsen it. Thanks again for the help.
 
4815162342 said:
I thank the members that answered my question honestly, understand my situation, and actually gave me advice. I would expect the Navy to want the money back that they have paid me, that only seems fair. I have heard numerous times before that OCS truly tests the candidates and you should not enter it unless you are fully committed to becoming an officer. I'm not going to waste time trying convince people that this is about a girl, I wouldn't let anyone else other than myself guide my future. People always say that you should do what you love, and I have had time to think about this is and I don't think a Navy career would make me happy. Some posters mentioned contacting my recruiter, is there any other sources I could talk to first? I fell that letting my recruiter know about my situation might only worsen it. Thanks again for the help.
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Acknowledge your situation and stop trying to find a painless way out.

You are going to have to talk to your recruiter about it at one point or another.

Why would you give up an opportunity like this if you only THINK that you won't like it.

There have been a lot of things I thought I would never like in my life that I ended up loving.

Shoot I may end up hating flying but I'll be damned if I abandon my oath.

You're not helping anyone by trying to get out.

If your contract is like mine there is no wording in it that states you can pay back the money. It was your salary. Not a scholarship. It is not NROTC money.

You are IN.

If you try to find a way out I can almost guarantee you that you will NOT receive an honorable discharge. I don't know what it will be but I imagine it would not be in your favor. The type of discharge you get can carry some weight in your future.

This is where I give my straight opinion....

If YOU are the type of man that does not respect the oath that he takes and is unwilling to fulfill a commitment that you swore to then you should quit.

If YOU are that "type" of man then what the fuck is the problem? Out yourself as a homosexual. It's simple if you're that "type" of man.

If you're not then you need to stand tall and drive on.
 
Godspeed said:
I'm going to try to say this in the least 'flame' like way possible, but take it with a thick skin.

The obvious:

You signed a contract. The time to have had these thoughts and do your investigating was before you raised your right hand and sign the dotted line. You made a large mistake entering into a contract of this magnitude that you can't/won't fulfill.

To my knowledge (I was a BDCPer and am VERY familiar with the contract), the two options you have are:

1) Honor your contract, serve your country for 4 years (or whatever your contract is) as a naval officer.

2) DOR (Drop On Request), and go to Great Lakes, through enlisted boot camp, and do two years as an undesignated striker.

To my knowledge, there are no provisions in the contract that allow for another way out. HOWEVER, it is feasible (and WINK would be the AW knowledgable one on such issues) that you could send your recruiter a very well worded and convincing letter about you 'being honest with yourself' and not wanting to take this slot away from someone else (which in all reality, you already have). In this instance, you would hopefully be obligated to pay back all the money the gov't gave you.

Either way man, the taxpayers invested a chunk of money in you (depending on how long you've been receiving the BDCP money). You owe em' in one capacity or another. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Bad gouge. AFAIK, you can't pay back BDCP money since it's PAY, and not a scholarship. Legally, you can't pay it back (I'm not a lawyer, but just what I've heard). ROTC (or Academy?) it MAY be an option since it's technically a scholarship, but BDCP is active duty pay, and you are already active duty enlisted. You can't just back out. You have already sworn in and have to serve out your commitment just like anyone coming out of bootcamp. BDCP just gives you the opportunity to go to OCS to become an officer and sign a new contract when you get your wings.

Until then, you are currently a contracted enlistedman in a commissioning program.

I highly recommend you talk to your recruiter and maybe he can set you up with folks to talk to or talk to you himself and try to motivate you and get your spirits up.

I think the ONLY way you could "get out of it" would be to go pretty high up the chain, and I've certainly never heard of it, short of a medical problem.

Right now you have the option to be a part of one of the COOLEST professions: Naval Aviation. For 8 years after wings. OR you can go enlisted and serve out your 2 years and get out. It's up to you, but as HARD as my journey has been thus far, I'd never go be a civilian now.

All I know is that you REALLY have to get right with yourself if you do choose OCS, because if there is even a SHRED of doubt in your head before you walk through those doors, you'll be DORing in a few days and be headed to great lakes, or you'll be so depressed and unproductive you may get attrited for lack of effort or failure to train.
 
4815162342 said:
...is there any other sources I could talk to first?
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Nice mixing of singular and plural there. Seems as though you're illiterate as well as a quitter. You may want to consult the janitorial staff at your local university for some professional advice, because you're going to be cleaning shitters for 12 hours a day for the first two years of your life after you graduate college, quitter. Yeah, that's much better than flying airplanes off a carrier deck.

Brett
 
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