confused about re-enlistment

[madd55]

Okay. So, Dh was in the gaurd for 3 years. he re-enlisted (active duty) for 4 years. He is only now into his 2nd year of his 4 years of active.
He is deployed right now and told me that "they" already offered him to re-enlist. WTF? i dont get it. i dont know all the details because my husband is a man of VERY few words ( i have to pry so hard to get a detailed description of a situation, i dont even bother lol) so that's al he told me. I just dont get WHY they would be "offering" him to re-enlist when he his ETS is Nov. 2011?!?! wtf? lol anyway, i told him to tell them to get their asses in gear and give him his damn E-4, which he earned and deserved and was told he was going to get about 5 months ago (and at re-enlistment..but we know how recruiters are lol) AND THEN talk to him about re-enlisting lol.
anyway, anyone have a clue what this might have been about? maybe offering him a new MOS or duty station? or maybe tacking a year or two onto the 4?? *SIGH* silly dh never giving me all the info.

[Chelsea.]

well he doesn't HAVE to take the offer right now at all..He can wait. And so I suggest thats what you do...or at least I would do that.

[madd55]

yeah i definitely agree, he should wait at LEAST a year lol, i mean, things could change so much. i just dont get it, i guess i think that they talked to people about re-enlistment until their ETS was coming up in the near future. I wonder if he can be like "yeah sure, but THIS has to be my duty station or i wont do it" lol. i'm tellin you, the Army is so confusing, but even more confusing for me because i have to hear **** through the grapevine lol.

[amdo_wife]

Yeah, they're just giving him a heads up, I think. That's what I heard from a lady I know. That's what happened to her husband. My husband doesn't have contracts so I wouldn't really know.

[Saigon]

I know you can only have so many months on your contract. DH went to re-enlist in May and was going to sign a 6 year contract, but because his original enlistment was not up until July, he could only sign 5. Something about only being able to owe 72 months to the service.

[monkeyinabarrel]

i don't know if this is still the case because a lot of stuff has changed recently but you used to get a bigger bonus if you reenlisted "in country" (i think that is the term) so that might have been why they offered it to him. but like i stated before stuff changes all the time so that might not be true anymore.

[*~Robyn~*]

Originally Posted by monkeyinabarrel i don't know if this is still the case because a lot of stuff has changed recently but you used to get a bigger bonus if you reenlisted "in country" (i think that is the term) so that might have been why they offered it to him. but like i stated before stuff changes all the time so that might not be true anymore.

Bonuses are calculated based on a "magic formula" time in, how many re-enlistments and then how long. It's all based on his job. It will only seem bigger if he's in a tax free zone because he won't pay tax on it. At the same time too, they do take some of the bonus away if you are re-enlisting before you're due to. Again, it goes back to that "formula of confusion".

[madd55]

ahh i see, so they are either 1.trying to screw him out of a good bonus (very likely lol) 2. trying to give him a heads up (also very likely) or 3. doing something else strange that we dont know about (again, very likely). lol
but at least i know it's not some weird thing that doesnt usually happen. because at first i felt like it was totally unheard of and was very confused as to what the heck was going on.
well thanks girls.

i just dont get it though, if he still has 2 and a half years left on THIS contract, wtf would they even be talking to him about a new one??? can they "add to" or "change" this contract? i mean isn't a contract, well, a contract? legally binding? lol weeeird.

[madd55]

Originally Posted by shelliegreeneyes Bonuses are calculated based on a "magic formula" time in, how many re-enlistments and then how long. It's all based on his job. It will only seem bigger if he's in a tax free zone because he won't pay tax on it. At the same time too, they do take some of the bonus away if you are re-enlisting before you're due to. Again, it goes back to that "formula of confusion".

haha it must be magic cuz it sure as hell isn't logic!!

well if he can get a tax free bonus and pick his duty station, i'd tell him to go for it. but they're so damn squirrely it's hard to figure out what they're really trying to do.

at first i didnt want him to re-enlist AT ALL, nothing, nada, back to civi life. I cant stand the seperation. but then i was like, well, by the time his contract's up, that's 7 years done with, what's 13 more? lol

[*~Robyn~*]

Originally Posted by madd55 yeah i definitely agree, he should wait at LEAST a year lol, i mean, things could change so much. i just dont get it, i guess i think that they talked to people about re-enlistment until their ETS was coming up in the near future. I wonder if he can be like "yeah sure, but THIS has to be my duty station or i wont do it" lol. i'm tellin you, the Army is so confusing, but even more confusing for me because i have to hear **** through the grapevine lol.

You can negotiate orders too when you're up for re-enlistment. My DH wouldn't re-enlist unless he got the gun school he wanted. Once we had orders and moved, then he committed for 6 more years. Re-enlistment is always a great opportunity to get what you're looking for. Esp. if the military needs people.