UQR and ACAP, Two Parallel Processes

So there is a little confusion in terms that I want to set straight.  There are two processes involved in ETSing (early termination of service).  One is ACAP, which stands for Army Career and Alumni Program.  ACAP is a service or office on your installation that helps you transition out of the Army.  It can also be called "Soldier for Life" and "TAP (Transition Assistance Program)."  In addition to providing you help finding a job and advice on benefits as a veteran, it is also the mechanism your installation uses to ensure you've received all of the transition briefings.  At the end of your ACAP experience, you'll receive a counseling form that confirms you completed "ACAPing", and you will present this form to the Retention or Separation office.  Without this form you will not be able to receive the all important DD214 separation paperwork.  Without that, you're not officially out of the Army.  But ACAP does not actually start the separation process, it just is briefings to help you in your transition.  To start separating, Officers need to submit a "UQR" or UnQualified Resignation packet.

The UQR packet should include a few memoranda, in accordance with AR 600-8-24.  These forms include a memorandum you sign directed at HRC requesting an Unqualified Resignation from Active Duty and a transition into one of the reserve components for the remainder of your total obligation.  You can opt for National Guard, Reserve, or Inactive Ready Reserve.  The last one means you do basically nothing except update your address once a year in an online system.

The second form is a SHARP statement in which you divulge whether or not you were sexually assaulted while in the Army, and whether or not that experience has contributed to your desire to resign.  This memorandum is also directed at HRC.

Next you will have two separate memoranda, one signed by your Battalion Commander affirming that he or she has counseled you on your options in the military and ensured you have a good transition plan.  The second one is signed by your Brigade Commander and states the same thing.

The final memorandum for your UQR packet is from your local Guard/Reserve Retention office.  This memorandum verifies your inactive obligation, confirms that they tried to sell you on going into the Guard or Reserve, and confirms your desire to go into one of the three reserve mechanisms for your inactive obligation.

With those five memoranda signed, you can then submit the packet to HRC.  Word is it takes them approximately two months to process.  Again, a word of warning, the earliest they are authorized to release you is six months AFTER HRC approves your release.  So if they take longer on your packet than you anticipate and you don't get approval from them until 3 months from your desired ETS date, then you'll have to stay on for at least 3 more months past that date.

Initial In-Person Preseparation Counseling

Last week I began the process with Soldier for Life Transition Assistance Program (SFL-TAP).  I'm not sure what the difference is between "ACAP" and "SFL-TAP", it may just be a regional difference or SFL-TAP may be the new acronym for what ACAP used to be.  The Army likes to change acronyms for things every few years as a way of showing "progress" and being responsive to critique.

This week I finished the Initial PreSeparation Counseling with an SFL-TAP counsellor and was scheduled for the formal briefings required before receiving the all-important DA 2958, which your CO signs off on and gets submitted as part of the UQR (Unqualified Resignation) packet to BDE and HRC which ultimately results in your DA 214 release from active duty form.

During Initial Counseling I was required to Register on the eBenefits website (https://www.ebenefits.va.gov) and MyHealthEVet website (http://www.myhealth.va.gov) with a username and password so they can be accessed without a CAC card after transitioning out.  I also was shown how to print out my Verification of Military Experience & Training (VMET, https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/tgps) and Joint Services Transcript and Summary (JST, https://jst.doded.mil), which is like a college transcript and description of all of my military schools and how they apply to the civilian world, so that a civilian employer can better understand what my job in the Army was like in brief, general terms.  A lot of transition benefits were described to me as well, and the counsellor offered assistance with a resume.  I had one already created, and had already applied to two jobs, which happened to be a requirement for SFL-TAP as well, so I met those requirements during the initial counseling.  The counsellor said that these are the hardest parts for most people, because most people in the Army have never had to write a resume or apply for a job.  Having done this already made the counseling session go by very quickly, but most of the time this counseling can take an hour to an hour and a half.

The earliest I could get scheduled for the mandatory, full day, week long briefings was Dec 7th, nearly two months from now, and I am on a small post with not many permanent party residents.  The short months in the Fall and the natural personnel cycle of the Army means Fall is a big time for separations, so plan accordingly.  I am investigating if I can do any other paperwork between now and the mandatory briefings so the time is not simply idle.  The briefings include a Transition Overview and creating an Individual Transition Plan, an MOS Crosswalk description and the creation of a GAP Analysis (how your military job experience benefits your future civilian career, as well as an exploration of what careers might interest you), a Financial Planning Seminar and the creation of a 12 Month Post-Separation Budget, and three days of Dept of Labor Workshops with the creation of a Resume rough draft.  Finally there are two VA Benefits Briefings.  I am also supposed to visit the on-post Guard/Reserve for "Continuum of Military Service Counseling" which is counseling on the benefits of staying with the military part-time as opposed to going into the Independent Ready Reserve (IRR).  This week of briefings is scheduled for all day, 0900 to 1700, but the SFL-TAP counselor wants us to show up in business professional attire instead of duty uniform, in part to get us used to the civilian professional environment, I reckon.

Again, as a word of warning, I recommend starting the ETS process as soon as you possibly can.  You can always pull back your packet after you've explored the option, but if you start too late then you won't be able to submit the paperwork on time for your desired ETS date!

Beginning the Process with Soldier for Life

It's been almost a month since I began in-processing and I am finally getting into a routine, so I began the process of starting my ETS paperwork.  From what I found online and at my local "Soldier for Life / Transition Assistance Program" (SFL-TAP) office, you must first take an online briefing, of course powered by a Flash website designed for Internet Explorer 6.0.  This means that I cannot access it using my home computer, because I have actually purchased a computer since 1996, unlike the U.S. Government.  So I am forced to go to the on-post Library.  This online briefing is basically one long video that asks you if you want more information on about 380 different transition assistance programs offered by the U.S. Government.  It gives you a couple minute blurb about each, asks you if you want more information, and records your "yes" or "no" answer so the counsellors at SFL-TAP know what to tell you about in greater detail, apparently.  So, the online briefing takes over an hour and a half and there's nothing you can do about it.  After you're done with it, which I am not yet, you'll sit down with the TAP counsellor and get to hear it all over again, I'm sure.  Anyway, this process gets you a DA 2648 or 2648-1 form which confirms you have received the Preseparation Counseling, the first step toward separation.  From there, the counsellors will help you produce an Individual Transition Plan and schedule you for mandatory coursework.  These include briefings that describe how your military skills are applicable in the civilian world, how to manage your money and produce a budget, creating a resume, and describing VA benefits.  SFL-TAP also offers a ton of other resources and tracks hiring fairs and stuff if you don't have a job lined up, as well as info on how to use your educational benefits.

The website for this briefing can be found at: https://www.sfl-tap.army.mil, then hover over "Transition" and click on "Preseparation Counseling".  My local SFL-TAP office has so far been helpful in directing me through this step, and has offered computers in their office to help with my transition needs such as performing this online briefing or working on my resume and job materials.  I recommend checking with your local office if you're thinking about ETSing, as I have been advised by colleagues that your paperwork needs to be blessed off on by HRC well in advance of 6-months out, as the earliest one can ETS is 6-months from the date that HRC completes your packet.  So, even if you have an October ETS date, and you submit your packet by April, if they take two or three months to process it, then you're not leaving until December at the earliest.  So START EARLY, definitely begin by 12 months out (24 is recommending if retiring).  If you have less time than that, definitely go to your local SFL-TAP first thing and tell them your situation.  In fact, if you're thinking about doing it, just go ahead and start the process, because I believe you can pull your own packet and stay in the military even up to the last minute.  It's better to get it approved, in my mind, so you know you have it in your back pocket.  The website above also should have links to help you find your local office.

One interesting thing I learned from the briefing is that, on top of your terminal leave time, you are also authorized 20 or 30 days of Permissive TDY (depending) for post-military career/job and house hunting.  If you don't use it, you can add it on to your terminal leave and get out a month ahead of time while still getting a paycheck.  I did not know that, so my terminal leave date just got bumped up a month, as I believe I can get all of those things done with passes or on four-day weekends.

Also, the policy seems to be that a unit cannot or is not supposed to derail an ETS or retirement that has already been approved at 6-months out.  So if you're already approved for ETS and your unit gets orders to deploy a few months before your ETS date, then you should still be okay.  If I find the specific regulation on that then I will come back and update this post.

All in all, so far it seems like an easy process.  

Arriving at My New Unit

I knew for months, nearly a year, that I was going to leave the Army, but actually starting the process was both more difficult and easier than I expected.  What would my new commander think of me?  I had heard horror stories about people being practically abused for wanting to ETS, for "abandoning" the unit or the Army.  These people get talked down to and lots of work dumped on them.  Would my new commander be the kind of person to do that?  Would he have had more than his share of the Kool Aid?  Regardless, I knew that ETSing is what I had to do, for myself and for my family, so it wasn't going to change anything.  I could put up with about anybody for 10 months.

Fortunately, the unit seems like a pretty relaxed one so far.  When I arrived and started the installation in-processing, I stopped in at the unit to find out the story.  They did not know where they were going to slot me when I arrived.  Apparently they got word that I would be arriving prior to my promotion being published, so the had my rank wrong and did not have a slot for my rank anywhere.  I had to wait to interview for my position, so a few days later I finally got the opportunity to step into my XO's office and told him my story.  I simply said, "Sir I am planning on ETSing," and he was supportive.  My ETS date minus terminal leave was only 10 months away and he told me he would be sure I had plenty of time to transition out of the Army.  I was given a spot assisting staff and from what I gather it will not be a very time consuming job.  The unit is beginning a rotation a few months before my ETS date and it was implied that I would not be needed for that rotation and I would ETS on time.  The commanders and the staff are all at NTC (National Training Center, Fort Irwin, CA) for an OTC cycle (Observer/Trainer/Coordinator) right now, so I will not meet them until next week, but of the assistant staff and everyone else here right now, it seems like I will not get any pushback at all for wanting to ETS.

The next 10 months look like smooth sailing.  This ruck sack and IOTV (Improved Outer Tactical Vest) should be my last.  Now I just have to finish in-processing, meet the commanders when they return from NTC next week, and talk to S1 about getting my UQR packet compiled.

Introduction

I started this blog to capture what it was like for me when ETSing from the U.S. Army.  For a lot of us, it can be a difficult process for many reasons.  Maybe you believe your command will not react favorably to you when you announce your decision, or maybe the idea of the great unknown outside of Army life is too much.  For me, the biggest hurdle to starting the process was inside myself.  I was raised to believe that quitting was not something a self-respecting person does; and ETSing felt a lot like quitting.

Serving in the military is more than just a job, it is a 24/7/365 commitment.  It is all-consuming, fast-paced, and demanding.  It is a lifestyle.  Army life is extremely hard on us, and just because something is hard isn't a good reason to quit doing it.  But Army life is also hard on our families and our loved ones.  I began to see that I could no longer ask my family, the people I cared about most in the world, to continue to make the sacrifices required.  They were my number one priority.

The polar shift, the critical moment for me was when my son was conceived.  It took me almost a full year to realize it, but being a father changed my entire world view.  I knew that it was my responsibility to bring this kiddo up right, to be there to teach him, to make sure he becomes a person that will contribute to the world.  Time and time again the Army ordered me to be absent, kept me from being present for him and my wife.  And I don't even mean deployments but even the little tasks, the midnight phone calls, the daily issues that seemed less and less important relative to my family.  Little frustrations began to add up, and that's when I knew that I would not be able to do my job the way the Army needed it to be done.  Little by little I was unwittingly leaving the Army Team and became part of the Jeremy and Stephanie Team.  I decided it was best for everyone involved to make that transition official.

When I began to search on the internet about the process of ETSing (Early Termination of Service, also called UQR or Unqualified Resignation) at the end of my active duty service obligation, I found some helpful information but it seemed there was a lot more about the process I needed to learn.  I thought that my experiences might help someone else down the road, so I am recording them here.  If you have any specific questions about part of the process, or even my specific experiences, please feel free to comment or send me a message.  While I intend to make this about the process I went through, I do not intend to hide behind the anonymity of the internet.  If any Army official reading these posts wants details about my personal experiences, I am happy to provide them in the hopes that we can work to improve life inside the Army and the processes with which Soldiers are faced.  I am grateful that there are as many in America willing to volunteer for the difficult life of serving their country in the armed forces, and I am grateful that they allowed me to serve with them.