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RE: join the army...sort of
I believe the 15 month enlistment is a product of the life-cycle manning discussed above. Once the Soldier is in a life-cycle manned unit, they either leave or are forced to stay. Let just say Private Joe is confronted by his commander and is asked "You going or staying? Come on, what’s it going to be? Real men stay in." What will Private Joe do? He’s eager to please and to prove he is a man. He’s going to say, "Well my contract is for 15 months, what’s another 13!" Its the perfect ploy for the Army to use at the birth of life-cycle manning. Come in under the belief that you’re in for 15 and you’re staying for at least 36 whether you want to or not. I have seen this numerous times in the past 6 months alone. Its pure genius! Well deserving of an ARCOM for whomever did the beer math on this one.
RE: join the army...sort of by milhous
Come in under the belief that you’re in for 15 and you’re staying for at least 36 whether you want to or not.
Not completely true. The new MILPER Message # 05-123 addresses this issue.
I don’t think the Army has completely figured out how they are going to manage these life cycle units. There are a lot of legal implications and loose ends to tie down. Especially regarding enlistment contracts and bonuses. I would not be surprised to see some sort of bonus for officers extending in life-cycle units in the future. To me it seems unfair for soldiers to continue getting monetary compensation for re-enlisting, yet officers are "expected" to put their life on the line. Only time will tell before someone raises the "discrimination" flag.