School me on getting forced out in the military

Jan 8, 17 17:12

Post #1 of 18 (1463 views)

Hey, I'm just curious. I know someone who is a 56 year old Lt. Col in the Air Guard who is being forced out. I understand that the military is a little different than the corporate world in this sense. Where as in the corporate world, they'll pretty much keep you where you are if you are good at your job and aren't overpaid. I've heard that in the military its "up or out." I also understand that you can be forced out as a matter or internal politics. ie There's some guy that someone wants to put in a position somewhere and, hey, if you're gone, then a spot is open.

Anyway, like everything, assume I know nothing (because I know nothing) and educate me.

-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
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Re: School me on getting forced out in the military [BarryP] [ In reply to ]

Jan 8, 17 17:34

Post #2 of 18 (1430 views)

Lots of ways to leave the military. A 56 year old LtCol might be at his statutory limit, assuming he's not being fired for misconduct or something. The law only allows you to serve to a certain number of years based on rank. For a LtCol, the limit is (if I remember correctly) 28 years, if he's not on the promotion list for Col.

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Re: School me on getting forced out in the military [slowguy] [ In reply to ]

Jan 8, 17 17:42

Post #3 of 18 (1414 views)

Somewhat related question. And I am sure the answer is, it depends. I have a nephew, 33-35 years old. Joined army via ROTC post 2001. 3 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know last 2 tours he was a Captain, possibly all 3, not sure. He has now been promoted to Major.

The question, how much does not going to West Point put a ceiling on his career?

I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Re: School me on getting forced out in the military [slowguy] [ In reply to ]

Jan 8, 17 17:58

Post #4 of 18 (1388 views)

slowguy wrote:

Lots of ways to leave the military. A 56 year old LtCol might be at his statutory limit, assuming he's not being fired for misconduct or something. The law only allows you to serve to a certain number of years based on rank. For a LtCol, the limit is (if I remember correctly) 28 years, if he's not on the promotion list for Col.

does that affect the pension amount?

i had a neighbor who had a plan to finish x number of years in the guard then retire to a job in the post office for x number of years so he could draw 2 govt pensions. not sure how that worked out for him since he got transferred across the country a few years back.

who's smarter than you're? i'm!

Re: School me on getting forced out in the military [j p o] [ In reply to ]

Jan 8, 17 17:58

Post #5 of 18 (1388 views)

There is no ceiling due ROTC.

Re: School me on getting forced out in the military [j p o] [ In reply to ]

Jan 8, 17 18:08

Post #6 of 18 (1364 views)

j p o wrote:

Somewhat related question. And I am sure the answer is, it depends. I have a nephew, 33-35 years old. Joined army via ROTC post 2001. 3 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know last 2 tours he was a Captain, possibly all 3, not sure. He has now been promoted to Major.

The question, how much does not going to West Point put a ceiling on his career?

Zero.

___________________________________________________
Taco cat spelled backwards is....taco cat.

Re: School me on getting forced out in the military [slowguy] [ In reply to ]

Jan 8, 17 18:12

Post #7 of 18 (1359 views)

What Slowguy said. It is a Federal law at 28 years for Lt Col. You can get waivers but he or she didn't get one. I retire after 30 years this month I also reached my max for my rank.

Last edited by: stodr: Jan 8, 17 18:28

Re: School me on getting forced out in the military [slowguy] [ In reply to ]

Jan 8, 17 18:17

Post #8 of 18 (1349 views)

So if I understand you correctly, there's a hard limit of 28 years total for anyone of the rank Lt. Col? Does that mean either he'd need to get promoted to Col, or be forced out?

-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...runtraining;#1612485

Re: School me on getting forced out in the military [BarryP] [ In reply to ]

Jan 8, 17 18:27

Post #9 of 18 (1339 views)

Yes but you can get waivers if there is a shortage of qualified individuals. The waivers are for 1 year at a time. Happens a lot in guard and reserve not as often on AD.

Re: School me on getting forced out in the military [j p o] [ In reply to ]

Jan 8, 17 19:42

Post #10 of 18 (1277 views)

j p o wrote:

Somewhat related question. And I am sure the answer is, it depends. I have a nephew, 33-35 years old. Joined army via ROTC post 2001. 3 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know last 2 tours he was a Captain, possibly all 3, not sure. He has now been promoted to Major.

The question, how much does not going to West Point put a ceiling on his career?

Shouldn't have any impact on how far he can go these days.

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Re: School me on getting forced out in the military [veganerd] [ In reply to ]

Jan 8, 17 19:44

Post #11 of 18 (1275 views)

veganerd wrote:

slowguy wrote:

Lots of ways to leave the military. A 56 year old LtCol might be at his statutory limit, assuming he's not being fired for misconduct or something. The law only allows you to serve to a certain number of years based on rank. For a LtCol, the limit is (if I remember correctly) 28 years, if he's not on the promotion list for Col.

does that affect the pension amount?

i had a neighbor who had a plan to finish x number of years in the guard then retire to a job in the post office for x number of years so he could draw 2 govt pensions. not sure how that worked out for him since he got transferred across the country a few years back.

Pension amount takes into account final permanent rank, and years of service. Sometimes, when a senior officer gets in trouble, you'll hear about his being retired at a lower rank; the last rank at which he was found to have served honorably. If I retired as a Commander (equivalent rank to LtCol) at 20 years, I would have a smaller pension than if I retired at 28.

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Re: School me on getting forced out in the military [j p o] [ In reply to ]

Jan 8, 17 19:45

Post #12 of 18 (1273 views)

j p o wrote:

Somewhat related question. And I am sure the answer is, it depends. I have a nephew, 33-35 years old. Joined army via ROTC post 2001. 3 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know last 2 tours he was a Captain, possibly all 3, not sure. He has now been promoted to Major.

The question, how much does not going to West Point put a ceiling on his career?

None.

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR

Re: School me on getting forced out in the military [BarryP] [ In reply to ]

Jan 8, 17 19:46

Post #13 of 18 (1269 views)

BarryP wrote:

So if I understand you correctly, there's a hard limit of 28 years total for anyone of the rank Lt. Col? Does that mean either he'd need to get promoted to Col, or be forced out?

In most cases, yes. Very few exceptions.

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR

Re: School me on getting forced out in the military [BarryP] [ In reply to ]

Jan 8, 17 19:47

Post #14 of 18 (1268 views)

BarryP wrote:

So if I understand you correctly, there's a hard limit of 28 years total for anyone of the rank Lt. Col? Does that mean either he'd need to get promoted to Col, or be forced out?

Yes. By law, he must retire at 28 years unless he is already selected for promotion. As others have said, everything is waiverable, but typically only if you have a specific high demand low supply skill set.

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Re: School me on getting forced out in the military [BarryP] [ In reply to ]

Jan 8, 17 20:46

Post #15 of 18 (1228 views)

a friend of mine was a major general in the british army

he explained to me that once promoted to that rank, he served a fixed period following which his post was renewed for a further fixed period but given that there are only, perhaps 30-40 officers of that rank, so given there were only 9 positions the next rank up, the turnover at that level was high and they were usually not given two terms at the same rank but retired out

At his level there were 40 at his rank, 9 next one up and 5 above them - there's not much scope for up when there's so few positions so most are retired on full pensions

Re: School me on getting forced out in the military [BarryP] [ In reply to ]

Jan 9, 17 6:22

Post #16 of 18 (1090 views)

My sister-in-law's husband has something similar. Marine drummer (instructor). If he doesn't get a new post this year, he'll have to retire in ~5 years at 20 cause he'll hit his limit at what ever type of sergeant he is. The new post, IIRC, would make him a Warrant Officer and he'd stay in another 5-10 years.

Re: School me on getting forced out in the military [j p o] [ In reply to ]

Jan 9, 17 6:48

Post #17 of 18 (1065 views)

j p o wrote:

Somewhat related question. And I am sure the answer is, it depends. I have a nephew, 33-35 years old. Joined army via ROTC post 2001. 3 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know last 2 tours he was a Captain, possibly all 3, not sure. He has now been promoted to Major.

The question, how much does not going to West Point put a ceiling on his career?

Colin Powell was a ROTC grad. Do good work, get promoted (for the most part).

Re: School me on getting forced out in the military [BarryP] [ In reply to ]

Jan 11, 17 3:09

Post #18 of 18 (873 views)

Once you hit 20 years of active duty time (eligible for a Title 10 retirement), your fate gets decided on a yearly basis. You can be "retired" if that's what leadership deems appropriate. As an older LTC type, they probably want to make room to hire a younger Capt that is bailing from active duty and looking to join the Guard. That's my assumption, there could be any number of reasons though.

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