Long story short, my husband and I are dual-military with a kid, and after much back-and-forth and attempting to find a solution, I am ending up taking a Family Care Plan chapter.
So now I am facing the situation where my time in the Army is suddenly ending (after 5 years in) and I have had little to no time to prep for it. I had my Phase 1 physical this morning.
We don't have a lot of money saved up, so me finding a new job fast is of paramount importance. On that note, I have quite a few questions.
-After my phase 1 physical today they told me to take the papers to my normal clinic to schedule phase 2. Do I have to do that right away or can I put it off a bit?
-I just had a dental appointment last week and they told me I needed some work done, to include getting my wisdom teeth out. Can I still get this done before I am chaptered?
-I have a memo requesting that I am able to clear without orders. In it, my first sergeant put that my estimated ETS is August 10. Holy shit, that's fast! Is this a hard date, or something I can delay just a bit? (Like, til September or so?)
-I assume I will have to ensure my son is listed as my husband's dependent or something like that so his (my son's) Tricare benefits are not interrupted? (Hubby is also active-duty, but son is currently listed under me)
-Does my SGLI vanish now? What about my Thrift Savings Plan?
-I have 5 years in as of August 7th. I'm an E5. I spent 3.5 years working as a PATRIOT Launching Station operator/maintainer, and the past (almost) 2 years as Public Affairs (essentially journalism). Any suggestions for a civilian job that would generate about the same amount of money per year?
I'm pretty nervous about getting out. I'm worried I won't be able to find a job that pays the same. Most of hubby's money goes towards child support for his kids from a past relationship, we primarily use my paycheck for bills and such. Most job listings I've been looking at online require more experience than I have. I DO have my bachelors degree, however, so that's a plus. If you have any resources you can recommend, I'd love to hear about them. I don't have a resume or anything yet. I'm trying not to freak out.
We had discussed that this (the chapter) might come about, but the last time I spoke to my 1sgt/commander, they were talking like they really didn't want me to get out, they were going to work with my husband's unit, etc, try to find other options. SO I thought things were on the back burner for a while. Then suddenly last Friday Top called me in to the office and had me sign the paperwork and BAM! I had a Phase 1 this morning. And I'm a little taken aback at how fast everything is going. Help?
xposted to a couple military comms
So now I am facing the situation where my time in the Army is suddenly ending (after 5 years in) and I have had little to no time to prep for it. I had my Phase 1 physical this morning.
We don't have a lot of money saved up, so me finding a new job fast is of paramount importance. On that note, I have quite a few questions.
-After my phase 1 physical today they told me to take the papers to my normal clinic to schedule phase 2. Do I have to do that right away or can I put it off a bit?
-I just had a dental appointment last week and they told me I needed some work done, to include getting my wisdom teeth out. Can I still get this done before I am chaptered?
-I have a memo requesting that I am able to clear without orders. In it, my first sergeant put that my estimated ETS is August 10. Holy shit, that's fast! Is this a hard date, or something I can delay just a bit? (Like, til September or so?)
-I assume I will have to ensure my son is listed as my husband's dependent or something like that so his (my son's) Tricare benefits are not interrupted? (Hubby is also active-duty, but son is currently listed under me)
-Does my SGLI vanish now? What about my Thrift Savings Plan?
-I have 5 years in as of August 7th. I'm an E5. I spent 3.5 years working as a PATRIOT Launching Station operator/maintainer, and the past (almost) 2 years as Public Affairs (essentially journalism). Any suggestions for a civilian job that would generate about the same amount of money per year?
I'm pretty nervous about getting out. I'm worried I won't be able to find a job that pays the same. Most of hubby's money goes towards child support for his kids from a past relationship, we primarily use my paycheck for bills and such. Most job listings I've been looking at online require more experience than I have. I DO have my bachelors degree, however, so that's a plus. If you have any resources you can recommend, I'd love to hear about them. I don't have a resume or anything yet. I'm trying not to freak out.
We had discussed that this (the chapter) might come about, but the last time I spoke to my 1sgt/commander, they were talking like they really didn't want me to get out, they were going to work with my husband's unit, etc, try to find other options. SO I thought things were on the back burner for a while. Then suddenly last Friday Top called me in to the office and had me sign the paperwork and BAM! I had a Phase 1 this morning. And I'm a little taken aback at how fast everything is going. Help?
xposted to a couple military comms
Comments
SGLI should not be going away until after four months past your final out date. If you qualify for VGLI (you probably do) you can sign up for it within that time without a physical exam being required; beyond four months after your final out date they'll require an exam and will put limits on your coverage if your exam reveals anything justifying a limit (in their eyes).
Your TSP is going to stay exactly how it is until you actively a) move it to another valid (IRA) account, b) cash it in, or c) start making new contributions. If you have less than $250 of contributions in it, though, they'll force you to either accept it all in a lump sum (after taxes) or move it somewhere else within 60 days. I'm going to assume that after you 5 years you have well over $250, though.
10 August doesn't seem to give you enough time to do everything you need; see if you can get an extension out to at least 30 days later. You should also be able to do TAP (a big must if you plan to use VA benefits to any degree once you're out), and get all your medical appointments done before that date.
In summary: don't put any of this off, do everything as soon as you possibly can- even if you get to push back your final out date 30 days or more. People doing the paperwork can and will invariably screw things up- give them (and you!) as much time as possible to get everything in order beforehand. I very nearly had some serious medical- and financial-related screw-ups due to bureaucratic incompetence that I couldn't have fixed if I didn't start early and get on them to correct as soon as I discovered them.
You should be able to delay it as long as it doesn't extend your rotation date or enlistment.