Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Prior enlisted looking to rejoin Navy

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Expert: Rod Powers - 10/17/2009


Question
I was in the Navy from 09/2003 to 09/2008 and am looking to rejoin.  It has been a little over a year now since I left as an E-5.  What are the chances that I could go back after a year of broken service and what would be the consequences?

Answer
High Daniel,

As long as you have an honorable discharge and an RE-Code (Re-enlistment eligibility code) of "1" on your DD Form 214 (Record of Military Service), you should be able to re-enlist. However, there are a few things you need to keep in mind:

(1) Prior-Service enlistments don't count against new enlistment quotas. Instead, they count against re-enlistment quotas, and those who are currently in the Navy and want to re-enlist, get first crack at those quotas. In other words, you may have to wait for a prior service slot to become available.

(2) If the Navy "needs" Sailors in your previous rating (job), they may require you to re-enlist in that rating (this saves them money on A-School). If your previous rating is over-manned or "adequately manned," then they may allow you to re-enlist into a different rating.

(3) You will most likely have to re-take the ASVAB and physical. ASVAB scores are generally only valid for two years, or upon discharge (whichever occurs last).

(4) Prior Service enlistments require lots of paperwork (on the recruiter's side), but prior-service enlistments don't count against the recruiter's quota. Therefore, some recruiters are "unenthusiastic" about prior service candidates, and prefer to emphasize their time with new accessions. Sometimes you have to be the "greasy wheel" to keep your case on the top burner.

For more details, see my article about prior service enlistments at: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/a/priorservice.htm

Prior service Navy E-5s are allowed to retain their same rate (rank) as they had upon discharge, as long as they have less than 8 years of service, and it's been no more than 5 years since discharge (see: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/navyjoin/a/psrank.-urF.htm).

For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my US Military information site at: http://usmilitary.about.com

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
About.com US Military Guide
http://usmilitary.about.com  

Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard

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Rod Powers

Expertise

Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.

Experience

Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.

Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).

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