National Call to Service

[forcast5]

Hey Devil Docs,

First off I would like to thank you for all you do for our Marines. I am looking into the NCS program as a HM. I was wondering do you have to volunteer to be with the FMF or are you just put into it?

Thanks

Forcast5

[desertdoc]

Go for it,

Your 15 months of AD start AFTER you finish all of the schools. Boot,A school, FMSS and then the clock starts ticking.:shock:

[Da-Chief]

NCS program.

Right now as I type this (16 Feb 2006) Students who are in the NCS pipleline are going from BootCamp, to "A" School here then to FMSS, and off to the Marines. You will "NOT" I repeat "NOT" be going to a Naval Hospital.

If for some reason you get hurt while in the pipline and are unable to perform your duties to get to FMSS and then to the Marines, you will be admin Sep'ed.

This is a "RESERVE" Program. Like mentioned before, you have to do 15 months of Active Duty time but your clock does not start until you finish FMSS. So the time through Boot Camp, "A" School and FMSS does not start until after FMSS.

Follow?

Also you are not eligible for "C" Schools even though your recruiter might tell you that you are.. They will tell you that FMSS is a "C" school which it is not.

You are not eligible for the GI bll (FULL).

You cannot reenlist into the NCS program, after your 15 months, you can extend up to 24 months (At which time you are then eligible for the GI BILL sign up then if you extend.)

IF after you have done your 15 months and the 24 months and you still like the FMF canoe club and want to stay in , you can submit a "Perform to Serve" package to ship over to the full active duty side to get a "C" school on Reenlistment if one that you want is availible. You will also be eligilbe for Bonus'es at this time. You will also be on full active duty, not affilliated with the Reserves.\

Ok, now.. if you just want to do 15 months and get out, after which you have to affiliate with a Reserve Drillling unit. And since you are already a hard charging "FMF" warfare certified person, you will most likely be affiliated with a MARINE Reserve unit as thier doc. BTW, they deploy all the time to IRAQ as well.

Ohh and did I mention that we are at war, and the Marines Deploy to fight such war all the time??

The reason I say this, every day I do a avail brief here at NHCS and I would say 75% of the people who join say they do it to "GO TO COLLEGE"

My repsone..

Did you know we were at "WAR?

Nuff said..

Hope this helps you make a educated determination.

HMC(AW) Crone

The-Chief.

[DocChez]

And to add to that, you MUST serve your 15 months with good conduct. Ijust checked into Parris Island and one of my NCS sailors got busted for drugs. Not only did he lose 1/2 months pay for two, restriction, extra duty, and an OTH discharge, he also lost his $5,000 sign-on bonus. As my CMC said, that was one expensive joint!!!

[Da-Chief]

Hey any way you could email me the name of the "TWIT" who did this?

;-)
The CPO Community would like to know here at NHCS.

:dude:



Thanks!
Chief

[Da-Chief]

forcast5,

Most if not all NCS go with the Marines. A few of late have been going to Portsmouth, VA (Naval Hospital). I myself am partial to the Green side.

My old SGTMAJ laughed at me when he heard I was going back to a "BUMED" command as I was a bit crusty with the Marines. He told me I was going to have to go "PC" ..

;-)

Learn Powerpoint etc..

Marines are more straightforward. GET THE DAMN JOB DONE!!!

Semper Gumby,

HMC Crone

[Theresa2689]

I just found this website and it looks like it will be a God send for me!! I hope I am allowed to be here as I am not a Corpsman nor am I military at all. I am the very proud Mother of a Corpsman though and I would like to thank you for this website!! My son graduated yesterday from FMSS in North Carolina and is now at the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth. He is attached to a Marine battalion and from what I understandwhen they are deployed, he will go where they go. He is also NCS which was not what he intended to be but his recruiter signed him up this way and I don't think my son understood what that means. I must admit I don't either although your explanation has been helpful. I think his biggest concern is that he says there are alot of options that are not available to NCS and when his 15 months are up he cannot re-enlist. This is all very confusing to me and I would like to be able to help him make the decisions of what to do when the time comes (around September, 2007). From what you have posted, it actually sounds like he could re-enlist if he wants to. I guess I don't really have a specific question for you, but if you have any advice, words of wisdom, or know where I can find good factual information for me to pass on to him, I would greatly appriciate it!! Thank you again for the help, information, understanding and all that you are doing!!

[puckmedic]

Theresa- The navy began this new program apparently somewhere between my falling off the planet and now (last four years I was in Guam and retired last year). This is the first I heard of a reserve program like this, however Chief Crone (AKA Da-Chief) is well versed on this NCS stuff.

I do know the perform to serve package so let me see if this helps. After he's run out of all extensions on the NCS track, he can submit a "Perform to serve" application/package.

This is where the powers that be review a person's record. If he simply comes to work every day and does nothing spectacular, he won't be asked to stay. This process was developed so that only our best young sailors benefit form a stream lined service.

We spend a bunch of money on training, and we expect the best results. Those that don't want to or can't meet or exceed those new standards aren't asked to stay.

Performing at assigned tasks is just one of the things. They will look at PRT scores, off duty education, navy correspondence courses, volunteer efforts, does he seek out demanding and diversified assignments or is he content to sit in health records all day and not venture to other areas to either help or get practicle hands on experience in areas like radiology, lab etc. ?

they're going to look at evaluations, both the numbers and what his immediate supervisors think of him and his work. They going to look at him as if he's applying for a job (which in a sense he is).

My advice for him is to not slow down one second while he contemplates a future in the Navy. Even if he begins to think he won't stay in, he needs to stay on course so that in the event he changes his mind, he'll have the chance and the option won't be gone due to poor foresight.

I had an opportunity to discuss this program with a senior enlisted person at great length before I retired. I told him it was about time we started expecting our junior sailors to perform or get out.

I have permanent neck and shoulder aches from all the slack I took up for other less enthusiastic soles in my day.

Your son may always use us old guys as resources, confidants, and career counslers. I strongly encourage him to go to his LPO and CPO at his very first command and ask what he needs to do and ask them to map it out for him.

He will do well if he stays motivated and willing to endure plenty of long days to reach the end result. I wish him well, and feel free to give him my email adress.

I retired but I can still mentor right guys?

[oldavt]

Chief, I wish I had know of this site before last April, it might have saved a lot of frustration, but maybe not. I just got off the phone from my son, currently in HCS Great Lakes, and an NCS sailor. When he signed his enlistment papers, everyone understood ( and stated explicitly, I talked to the recruiter myself) that at the end of the 15 month of active duty, he would have the opportunity to extend active for another 24 months, just as you have described. He took this route because he was promised that this was the fastest way to go green side with the Marines. That's his life's ambition. His first day at HCS, he was told by the career counsellor that that wasn't going to happen, and all NCS enlistees would be going reserve after 15 months. He was also told that he wouldn't be able to go to a deploying unit if the scheduled deployment lasted even one day past his NCS EAOS. He wasn't real happy with this, and is learning all he can to try to maximize his chances of retaining his goals for service.

Oh, well, he'll deal with whatever, he's a sailor in the US Navy.

What really bothers me though, is his complaint that as soon as some of the instructors at Great Lakes find out he's NCS, they either stop discussing the future with him, or dump on him for enlisting as a reserve to avoid hard duty. This grates on him no end, because that was never his intention. In fact, had he understood that this was a "do not pass go" reserve enlistment, he would have never signed the contract. What gives? Are the instructors there to train Hospital Corpsmen who volunteered to serve in a time of war? It's tough enough to find you're going to have to fight the Chief of Naval Reserve for the right to extend on active duty as an E-nothing without having the Petty Officers assigned to train you treating you as a leper.

I served long ago, when another war was becoming very unpopular, and I can't ever remember instructors at Corps school being any less than enthusiastic and helpful no matter who walked through the door. It's a great disappointment to hear that some don't understand their responsibilities.

Chief, keep up the good work yourself. Maybe there is somebody out there who can advise an enthusiastic NCS Hospital Corps student what to do to stay active and stay green. Let me know.

[Da-Chief]

OLDAVT,

I don't think you are getting the whole story, and as scuttlebutt goes around the school house....

I have never I repeat "NEVER" seen anyone treat NCS people bad, quite the contrary, they usually fight for these sailors. We just had 2 chief's and myself fight all the way to the CNO to get things changed for those who want to go "SPEC-WAR" as even they could not switch. No one treats NCS people bad, trust me we are all frustrated with this "ABORTION" of a program. The only way he can get out of this is if "YOU" write your congressman and express "YOU" went wtih him etc and he was told these things and that "YOU"heard this.

Reason being, A lot of sailors bitch, but I do know that the MCPON who was just here stated that if the recruiter lied, then there is something to be done.

Let em know if you need any help.

Thanks!
HMC

[Sgt O.B.]

Chief,

I read with some interest about the 3 recent graduates and their voluntary efforts to 'help' the Navy, in that they had a $20K bonus but no FMSS or FMF clause in the contracts. I commend them and you for getting it all straightened out. They deserve a well earnedSalute.

Now what is the Navy going to do to unscramble their NCS program? They have their recruiters out there telling the young men and women that want to go Corpsman/FMSS/FMF that there are no billets availible unless they go with the NCS and that they will get to go active after two years. Obviously this isn't happening and the NCS guys/gals are quite disillusioned when they find they cannot go FMF after FMSS. They can't even volunteer for Seals, Recon, etc. In fact all the NCS folks are 'forced' to sign an extension with the threat of Captains Mast or 'no leave' after they finish Corps School, because their contracts specifically state that they only have to serve 15mo. active after training. So the Navy has a totally screwed up program with a lot of good well intentioned recruits that they are continuing to shaft and no one seems to know what to do about it.

I think the Corps school is treating the NCSfellows admirably. I hear from acouple of recent graduates that they felt they were treated the same as all the rest and were not singled out in anyway by the instructors or staff as beingillegitimate or 'lepers'. Their onlycomplaint is that they were led down the path by recruiters to sign up for something that in no way reflects their original intentions.

[5thRasDoc]

I am currently here at 1MARDIV and have many NCS friends who are being allowed to extend their AD time to fulfill a deployment but once their AD time/Deployment time is up they are told that there is NO way that they can extend. That they must fulfill their reserve obligations. Might just be a command policy but that is something for anybody interested in getting in to think about.

[0311_DoC]

I just saw this on a email I received:



Navy clarifies National Call to Service policy
(NAVY TIMES 20 SEPT 06) … Mark D. Faram
Navy officials released a NavAdmin message Sept. 21 clarifying policy for National Call to Service enlistees as thousands are expected to reach the end of their active service by the end of fiscal 2007.

The problem is, many NCS sailors are asking to stay on active duty. The service is reluctant to approve too many to stay active because those extensions would rob the Selected Reserve of sailors it needs to fill critical part-time billets.

“In fiscal year 2007, we are expecting roughly 2,000 NCS sailors to finish their active-duty obligation and transition into the Selected Reserve,” said Senior Chief Personnel Specialist (SW/AW) Dean Cheves, NCS policy coordinator on the staff of the Navy’s chief of personnel in Arlington, Va.

Cheves said the program was designed and implemented to help stock the Navy Reserve in areas of critical need. Each year, as those needs are identified, recruiters are updated on what ratings are authorized for NCS contracts.

But once in the Navy, many NCS sailors are asking to stay on active duty, something the service is reluctant to do.

To date, 5,041 sailors have been enlisted under the NCS program. So far, 1,002 of them have asked to stay on active duty. Just under half of those, 414, have been approved, with 320 signing extensions so far.

But according to the NavAdmin, only sailors in undermanned ratings needed to support the current wars will be allowed to stay on active duty, such as hospital corpsman and master-at-arms. Other ratings are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, Cheves said.

“This program is needed to give the Selected Reserve qualified and trained sailors to immediately fill critical billets,” Cheves said.

Those enlisting under the NCS program must serve 15 months on active duty after completing boot camp and “A” school and a minimum of two years in the Selected Reserve to complete their obligation.

[Da-Chief]

See that is the story... but here is the message that says otherwise..



RAAUZYUW RUENAAA0201 2651756-UUUU--RUCRNAD.
ZNR UUUUU ZUI RUEWMCF4362 2651751
R 212126Z SEP 06
ZYB MIN ZYW PSN 738184K31
FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1//
TO NAVADMIN
INFO RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1//
RUENAAA/CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1//
BT
UNCLAS //N01133//
NAVADMIN 264/06
MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N1/SEP//
SUBJ/NATIONAL CALL TO SERVICE PROGRAM POLICY UPDATE//
GENTEXT/REMARKS/1. THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM (GWOT) REQUIRES A
STRONG AND VIGOROUS NAVY RESERVE COMPONENT (RC) BUILT UPON A
FOUNDATION OF TRAINED AND EXPERIENCED JUNIOR PERSONNEL. THE
NATIONAL CALL TO SERVICE (NCS) PROGRAM IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE
STRATEGY TO FILL THESE CRITICAL RC MANNING SHORTFALLS AND ALSO MEETS
ACTIVE COMPONENT (AC) SHORT-TERM WORK REQUIREMENTS.
2. NCS IS AN ENLISTMENT PROGRAM DESIGNED TO SHAPE THE RESERVE FORCE
TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF GWOT. NCS SAILORS WILL SERVE IN THE
FOLLOWING MANNER:
A. INITIAL TRAINING (RECRUIT TRAINING AND "A" AND/OR "C"
SCHOOL), FOLLOWED BY,
B. FIFTEEN MONTHS ACTIVE DUTY, FOLLOWED BY,
C. TWENTY FOUR MONTHS IN THE SELECTED RESERVE (SELRES).
D. UPON COMPLETION OF THEIR SELRES OBLIGATION, NCS SAILORS ARE
SUBJECT TO THE SAME POLICIES AS ALL OTHER NAVY VETERANS (NAVET) WITH
THE FOLLOWING EXCEPTION: THEY MAY ELECT TO SERVE THE REMAINDER OF
THEIR MILITARY SERVICE OBLIGATION (MSO) IN A QUALIFYING NATIONAL
SERVICE PROGRAM UNDER THE GUIDELINES PUBLISHED IN MILPERSMAN
1133-080.
3. BY TRANSITIONING THESE TRAINED AND EXPERIENCED JUNIOR PERSONNEL
FROM AC TO RC, WE ARE PROVIDING THEM A CONTINUUM OF SERVICE TO A
POSITION OF GREATER NEED. WHILE A 24 MONTH ACTIVE DUTY EXTENSION
WOULD SATISFY THE DRILLING OBLIGATION, NCS SAILORS WILL ONLY BE
AUTHORIZED TO REMAIN ON ACTIVE DUTY WHEN IT CLEARLY SUPPORTS NAVY
TOTAL FORCE REQUIREMENTS. EXAMPLE: SAILORS SERVING IN UNDERMANNED
RATINGS THAT HAVE UNIQUE AND SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS FOR GWOT.
4. NCS SERVICE MEMBERS CAN BE IDENTIFIED BY A SPECIAL PROGRAM
INDICATOR (SPI) CODE OF Q IN COLUMN B ON THE COMMAND ENLISTED
DISTRIBUTION VERIFICATION REPORT. EACH COMMAND SHOULD IDENTIFY
THEIR NCS SAILORS AND ENSURE THEY ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE POLICIES
CONTAINED IN THE FOLLOWING REFERENCES:
A. MILPERSMAN 1133-080 (ESTABLISHES OVERALL PROGRAM POLICY).
B. NAVADMIN 192/05 (PROCEDURES FOR NCS PARTICIPANTS TO REQUEST
AN EXTENSION OF ACTIVE DUTY).
C. NAVADMIN 189/06 (ACTIONS REQUIRED TO SUPPORT NCS
PARTICIPANTS TRANSITIONING FROM AC TO RC).
D. NAVY KNOWLEDGE ONLINE (NKO) CONTAINS LINKS TO ALL REFERENCES
AND POINTS OF CONTACT. TO OBTAIN ACCESS, LOG ONTO NKO AT
HTTPS:/WWW.NKO.NAVY.MIL AND TYPE KEYWORDS "NATIONAL CALL TO
SERVICE" IN THE NKO SEARCH ENGINE. MEMBERS WILL THEN BE DIRECTED TO
THE APPROPRIATE LINK.
5. POC:
- REQUESTS TO REMAIN ON ACTIVE DUTY: PSC(SW) MARLON RAMSEY AT (901)
874-4457 OR EMAIL AT MARLON.RAMSEY@NAVY.MIL.
- ACTIVE TO RESERVE TRANSITION PROCEDURES: YNC(AW) TONI BANKS AT
(703) 614-3675/DSN 224 OR EMAIL AT TONI.BANKS@NAVY.MIL.
- NCS POLICY: PSCS(SW/AW) DEAN CHEVES AT (703) 614-6864/DSN 224 OR
EMAIL AT DEAN.CHEVES@NAVY.MIL.
6. RELEASED BY RDML E. MASSO, N1 (ACTING).//
BT
#0201

Da-Chief

[puckmedic]

We can't keep folks in and we came up with a program where we can tell some one " Gee thanks for the 15 months go home"?

What rocket scientist came up with this idea?

I tell ya, I don't worry about the future of this Navy, but somedays I wonder what the leaders of today's Navy are doing?

Scares me to think some one actually thought this was a good deal to offer folks.

[popsie]

Well, I see some things never change. I've been out since 1979, it seems the story line is the same. Just different characters and different subject. However, story board same. The civilian sector is just as screwed up.

[BrOwN]

I just graduated NHCS and after graduation they made all us with a NCS contract sign an "extension" paper. They told us if we didn't sign it we would be put on hold. I was wondering if anyone else had to do the same or knows whats going on with that.

[HM_ChrisG]

Extension paper?

Please do explain what this had written on it and what you were signing for :)

This could be good, or bad.

Thanks,

Chris

[Da-Chief]

The Extension Paperwork (Which was explained to this member) is to keep them getting paid while on A/D. The 15 Months of A/D does not start until they complete school. So say you were going to Boot Camp, NHCS, then FMSS as all NCS Students do, they try to project out a period of time it would take to complete it all.

For reasons that vary, Students may take longer then the Navy Planned, I.e holiday season, Waiting for FMSS class to start etc, the member has to have active duty time on their contracts to keep getting a paycheck.

Irregardless, they are seperated to the Reserve Component unless they ask for a extension to stay on active duty after 15 months.

By what I hear, and this was just a few moments ago, NCS Sailors are being extended on request here and there. They have to be "SHIT HOT" though and must stay on a deployable status and deploy.

Hope this clears it up..

V/R
HMC

[HM_ChrisG]

OHh-rah Chief!

Just an update on me.. I got a bit behind before the holiday break but am ready to catch up and pull ahead again with the start of the first week back. Im still trying to shoot for graduating in February and hopefully make it to the March billets for FMSS. I hear the slots are filling fast though so I guess I will see.


Thanks Chief for the info!

[draconis11]

Chief,

I'm hoping i can find some help around here. I am NCS contracted and stuck here at Naval Hosp Camp Lejeune. I was told that there were no female billets when i came up for orders out of NHCS and got stuck here. How can i go about getting to FMSS from the position I'm in? Do you have any suggestions? I want to be a greenside Corpsman and I really don't want to be sent to a Navy squadron when i have to serve my reserve time.

I'm also looking into staying active or if the FTS program is available to me. I hope you can help or maybe you know someone who can.

Thanks,

Draconis

[Da-Chief]

10 January 2007
NCS---NPSB UPDATES

[/b]We will be adding 2 new pages off to the left probably tomorrow.

(MAIN PAGE http://www.corpsman.com)

They are NCS and NPSB Info pages. I spend a lot of time in the Scuttlebutt area answering the same questions over and over. I don't have a problem doing that, but the page I am putting up and will be updating is the same info I get to relay the news to you. Understand, the Navy is black and white. If it is writing, then that is the law until they re-write something. Word of mouth is just that, word of mouth. Always ask to see it in writing if you have a question and something seems a bit hinky.

(ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE DEALING WITH A RECRUITER!!! ALWAYS GET IT IN WRITING WHAT YOU ARE BEING PROMISED!!)

I hope this service helps you all and after reading, please drop me a line inside the forums and I will go further in depth for ya..

Da-Chief

[draconis11]

PrettyWheelchair,

OK. In a nutshell, or at least a blog as brief as I can make it. You are going to go through Corps school and come up for orders near the end of your tests, around test 10 or 11 if its still the same. If you decide to stick with your NCS contract this is when you will go see CHIEF CRONE, not the regular command career counselor. As MALE your are automatically assigned to FMSS, this is not only an NCS thing anymore. As female, NCSdoes NOT gaurantee you a seat when you come up for orders. However, if you go see Chief Crone, he will hook you up no matter what and get you there as NCS. NCS females have the option of going FMF but unless you get it gauranteed in your contract, thats all it is, an option.When you come up for orders is when you will choose where you will spend your next 15 months. More than likelely it will be with a Marine Unit, and if you go to FMSS here in LeJeune, you will more likely than not end up w/ the 2nd Mar Div. However, alsways push for other options if you want them. You have the potential to be deployed with you Marines during 15 months but you wil ONLY go if they are returning before your 15 month rotation date arrives. If they aren't scheduled to be back by your rotation month, they go and you don't. NCS is NOT like an active duty contract with just little changes in the reserve dates. You will only do 15 months active duty, then you will do 24 months at a reserve center with a drilling unit where you will more than likely be deployed, then you will spend 5 1/2 years as inactive reservist. I strongly suggest if you want to be active duty with the marines, trash your NCS contract and get an active duty contract with FMSS gauranteed in it. If you want to be reservist with the Marines, trash your NCS contract and get a reservist contract with FMSS gauranteed in it.Another downside to NCS is you cannot re enlist until the end of the 8 year contract, and then you have to sign a whole new contract, you can't extend your own. NCS is a program gone wrong. If you like the 15, 24, then 5.5 years idea then stick with it. But I would strongly encourage you to get rid of this contract and sign a short 2 year active duty term contract. That gives you time to know your rate and decide what yu want to do w/out being trapped for 8 years. Remember, nothing is final until your ship date. Normally it would be until you swear your second oath but you are considered a reservist, you won't swear in a second time, but until you process OUT of MEPS to leave, nothing is final no matter what they tell you.

BTW: FMSS freaking rocks!

Good Luck~* Draconis

[prettywheelchair]

Hey, thanks for the info...mucho appreciated. A 2 or 3 year active duty contract was actually my initial plan, I had heard that they were available prior to my discussions with recruiters. However, I was told...and just called my recruiter today to confirm, that active duty contracts only come in 4,5 or 6 year flavors. Is he full of it, or did the NCS program take over for the 2 year contracts?? I would prefer a straight away active duty contract, in lieu of a reserve program...but I seem to be getting contradictory information. I have been flirting with the idea of a 4 year active duty contract, but in the end this seems like it may be too long of a commitment...I am trying to put medschool applications together, and do not want to wait another 4 years. Are there indeed reduced time commitment active duty contracts for corpsman, or is NCS my best bet?

[draconis11]

As far as NCS covering for the active duty 2 year contract, no, that is definitely not what it does. As far as getting a 2 year active duty, i don't see why you couldn't get one, but i will ask around and see if i can get a confirmation on it. from the sounds of it however, NCS may work out for you well. But remember, you will be sent to FMSS and you will not be sent to a NAVY reserve unit. you will be assigned to a MARINE one and as Chief has pointed out they deploy ALL THE TIME. so going to school is definitely possible, but you will more than likely end up deployed while you are assigned to the ready-reserves, which is where you do the weekend warrior thing for two years. I will ask around some and see what i can find out here, but reallyt here shouldn't be any reason you can't get a two year contract, I'm stationed with quite a few corpsman who are two-years active assigned. Ill ask our command career counselor, it might not be until Monday though that she'll be able to get back to me.

[Da-Chief]

The 2 years are usually 2 year recalls. They have volunteered to come back on Active Duty through a recruiter.

There are no "1st" term 2 year contracts.

If your signing up and want all the bennies.. you have to do 4 with a one year extension tacked on for a total of 5. (Although I have heard they have been doing away with the extensions of late but cannot confirm this.)

Later

HMC

[DeeDee]

Is it possible AFTER signing an NCS contract and going through boot camp to get it
re-written while in "A" School to an Active Duty contract? And who would be the person at "A" school to talk to about doing this?

Just checking

Thanks

[Da-Chief]

Dee Dee,

no and no one unless he were to do like I told you before with the spec-op program.

V/R
HMC

[prettywheelchair]

okay, hoping for a bit of insight here. I have "more or less" made up my mind to trash my NCS contract, and move over to the active duty side of things. To an extent it is difficult to try and weigh my options fully...being in the DEP program allows me time to think about it, but offers no real taste of what Im getting into. NCS looked nice on paper, but Im becoming more skeptical about the program...and am somwhat wary of pot holes down the road. Has anyone else gone through the same debate? Any pearls of wisdom, pros vs cons?? I have been reading about the differences between the two...but I am getting the impression that until I am actually serving out my contract, any decision I make will just be based on a pile of papers. I want to be an FMF corpsman, and either contract can take me there...I just don't want to short change myself in the end. Any ideas??

[prettywheelchair]

another quickie...Should I deploy with a marine unit under an NCS contract, are there any differences with regards to benifts received by veterans (excluding GI bill)??

Sorry to clog the forums with annoying questions, I just want to be sure of my choices when I sign the dotted line. I appreciate the time you guys put into answering my remedial confusions... heh, if anyone ever has questions on microbiology, fire away

[oldavt]

Just my take, but from my experience with NCS, run as fast as you can from this mess, and enlist regular Navy, or standard Reserve component if you want to enlist. FMSS is still coming after Corps school, and the Marines are always looking for a "Few Good Men (Hospital Corpsmen)". Promotion opportunities in the US Navy currently are scarce, so don't look to make rate fast, just enjoy the ride.

[draconis11]

Hey, as far as deploying as an NCS you dont get any special anythings for it. You just are with the Marines. You get all the regular stuff that goes along with deployment such as your combat pay and sea duty pay, but nothing that is specific to NCS.

[Da-Chief]

Draconis,

Your right in that they don't offer anything special for NCS, but being deployed is the "ONLY" way they are extending people now.

V/R
HMC

[prettywheelchair]

Interesting. I didn't mean benifits specificto the NCS program necessarily. I know GI bill and sign on bonus distributions vary quite a bit between the programs...just curious if I could have overlooked somthing else. Buuuuuuuut, in the end I think I am going to go with a 4 year enlistment, and even try and bump my departure date a bit closer. Paper work is (hopefully....?) being put in, and hopefully with in the next few days I should be solid. Thanks a lot for the info...glad I decided against an NCS while I had the chance.

[ggeorg]

I got sworn into the Navy in January 2004. When I was trying to get orders to become a Hospital Corpsman, the people in Indiana issuing orders told me the only way I could become an HM was to go NCS, so not knowing any better I jumped for it. I read through my contract thoroughly before signing it and it seemed like a sweet deal. 15 months active duty and then you get to decided if you'd like to extend for 24 months active or if I wanted to just go Reservist for 24months and then go into IRR for the rest of the time. It seemed perfect for me because I was unsure of making the Navy as my career. Well, I left for boot camp July 2004 and then went through Corps School (where everyone was especially nice by the way and treated everyone equally except for the shitbags of course). When time to pick orders came up, I figured they'd put me through FMSS, but just in case chose Naval Medical Center San Diego. I got it. I went straight to the ICU as soon as I got here to SD. As soon as I was settled and heard rumors about having to file for an extension, I spoke to my chain of command. They showed me how to file for an extension and I spoke to the Career Counselor several times as I was waiting for a response. Months went by and no response. I finally went down and got a "Oh, you haven't heard anything yet??? Lets take a looksee". I had to wait until he got a response via email and went back to get a "Oh your extension was denied". I know I applied late, my chain of command did not tell me anything until I found out through other NCSers about the filing for extension. I should've filed earlier apparently, but I had not heard anything about it! I was very angry especially since I was supposed to deploy with the USNS Mercy as soon as I got to the ICU but nooo because I was new. Then I volunteered for the next deployment, but I was rejected because my EAOS date was too close. I ended up going into the Reserves May 2006. I traveled around and chilled out for a few months and finally got a job as a Medical Assistant at Camp Pendleton as a contractor in Oct2006. I was recalled into active duty Nov 2006. The way I found out was through the Medical department leaving a phone message during my reserve drill time to request to look at my record. When I brought it over, they were the ones who told me I was getting activated. The people who was supposed to call me to tell me never got in touch I guess. I ended up going to NH Lemoore. I was in the Dental clinic for a few months and then transferred to the Pharmacy because they were lacking people and I requested to be placed there for OJT. I was supposed to be activated 1 year but it was cut short and in May2007 I was sent back home. Currently, I am a GS at Naval Medical Center San Diego (just can't get enough of this place!) and drill at the Pharmacy, hoping to apply for Pharmacy Tech "C" School once I've done a year at my civilian work place.

I don't like the NCS program at all. It screwed a lot of fresh from high schoolers who enlisted into the Navy by throwing them back out into the world with nothing to their name. Luckily for me I was able to get experience to add to my resume through the ICU. I know a lot of people who ended up at admin jobs though and could not even apply to become a Medical Assistant after becoming a reservist. The reserves is ok. Just ok. I feel like the Navy's rag doll. But oh well, I'm making the best of it. My chain of command is amazing and they've really helped me out. I'm hoping to place a package to get in but I worry that my service record isn't good enough.

I heard they did away with the NCS contract? Is that true? I hope so.