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Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Erroneous commission
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Question
QUESTION: Mr. Powers,
I recently resigned my AF commission after I discovered I hadn't yet completed my bachelor's degree. I was separated with an honorable discharge, and am now working to complete the degree. Is it possible for me to reenter the AF as an officer once I graduate, or does resigning permanently remove me from service?
ANSWER: Hi Drew,
Wow! Your guess is as good as mine. I've never heard of someone getting an Air Force commission, only to find out later that they didn't really have a bachelor's degree.
How'd that happen?
Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: I took some summer courses before commissioning and barely missed getting the grade required to graduate (C- rather than C). Historically this hasn't been a problem, since most newly-commissioned Lts have 60 days before going active. If something is lacking for a degree, the activation is put on hold for another semester. I, however, was called active immediately--no idea why--and had to report for duty the following Monday. The fact that I was already working as an officer seemed to throw a kink in the works, and I outprocessed about a year later.
I guess a simpler question might be in order: is there any way for an officer who has resigned to reenter the Air Force?
Hi Drew,
I honestly don't know. The applicable instructions (AFIs) don't say anything about it, one way or the other (it doesn't authorize it, but doesn't prohibit it, either).
My best guess is that they are going to have to handle it as an "exception" and get clarification all the way up the officer recruiting accession chain of command, when/if you ever apply to return. You are likely going to cause some officer accession recruiter some headaches <grin>.
Hope this helps!
Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com
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Answers by Expert:
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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