Expert: Cynthia Bedell - 6/17/2008

Question
QUESTION: i have just joing the delaware army national guard.  my ship date for basic training is 27th august. I am 21E heavy construction equipment operator.  I actually wanted Military police, but would not qualify due to the fact that i had just gotten my green card and it was fresh.  My recruiter at meps told me that just pick any mos and then you can reclass once your back from ait.  My question is i am now finding out that this is not that easy, as he had put it.  the sergents at rsp are telling me different, and i may also loose my signing bonus and or my student loan repayment.  whats the real deal here.

ANSWER: Dear Gaurav,

Generally you need to complete the terms of your enlistment to receive full pay-out of your bonuses.  That includes remaining in the military occupational specialty for which you enlisted.  However, if you change to a lower fill MOS, with higher enlistment bonuses, you may SOMETIMES keep your enlistment bonus.

I recommend you complete the terms of this enlistment, and then apply to change your MOS.  If you do well, you will already be a Non-commisioned officer (NCO) and can attend the MP Basic NCO Course (BNCOC), rather than have to go through MP AIT.  That way you will keep all your bonuses and your student loan repayments, but be an MP in 5 to 6 years.

If you have already completed college with at least a bachelors degree, then, once you receive your citizenship, you can apply for officer candidate school and strive to become an MP commissioned officer.

Good luck to you.  Please write back, if you have additional questions.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your prompt reply.  My Army contract that I signed for is for 6 years with 2 years stand by status.  So when you recommend to complete the terms of enlistment, and then apply to change the MOS, do you mean to be in the same MOS for the 6 years.  Besides that I like your answer and appreciate your suggestions it made a lot of sense to me.  My main goal is to not be stuck in this MOS for a long period of time, as I am working towards my bachleor's degree in Criminal Justice.  I have just 4 more courses to graduate.  Hence I was interested in being an MP.  Any further suggestions.

Answer
Dear Gaurav --

I recommend you serve your first tour after completing AIT.  That will be two or three years.  If by then you are done your bachelors degree, and have your citizenship, I recommend either applying for a change of MOS to MP, or applying for Officer Candidate School to become an MP officer.

If your change of MOS is approved, you are guaranteed to be an MP once you finish your training.  If you go to OCS instead, you are not guaranteed of being an MP, but are guaranteed being a commissioned officer once you complete OCS.

Understand that if the MP MOS is a lower priority for recruits than Heavy Equipment Operator, you may forfeit a portion of your bonus, once you begin training in the MP MOS.  Consider this issue before making your final decision.  As for student loans, if you do not get the loan repayment bonus, you can defer loan repayment for up to five years, if you are serving in the military.

Good luck to you.