Best & worst of in-processing & out-processing?

BEST part?
Probably Squadron/Platoon tour since that's when you meet all the people you're going to get to know best.

WORST?
Finance. They always hold the oddest hours they can get away with, there's always a line, the waiting area is usually too small, and there's always something wrong with or missing from your paperwork.

And tomorrow is a day when they aren't even open, unless it was today.

For Outprocessing it's juggling packing and being mostly packed in the last week before you leave and having people give you gifts that now have to be packed that's the worst. Best part depends on too many external factors to pin down, but I'll go with unpacking at the next stop.

The best in processing experience I ever had was unfortunately my first assignment…..so I thought it was the standard. Back when 3ID was still in Germany I got put in 2/15 Infantry as a grunt. That was Audie Murphy’s unit. In processing consisted of sit down, shut up, and watch To Hell and Back.

I've mentioned this elsewhere on RP but while I was stationed with 2ID in Korea, I got my PCS orders back to the states with my departure date a bit over a month before my DEROS. I knew it was a mistake and I did my best to report the error. The entire chain of command insisted "orders are orders" -- so I out-processed IAW those orders. Of course with all the usual hassles with CIF (who expect you to somehow turn in better TA-50 than anything they issued), finance, medical, etc., etc. Finally 48 hours prior to by scheduled departure, I had completed clearing and was ready to report to the Turtle Farm for transport to Kimpo the next day.

That day the Army finally realized their mistake and amended my orders to by correct DEROS. It was a Division Training Holiday with no around, but the [several-explitives-deleted] CQ managed to track me down to hand me the amended orders! Oh well, now I have to hang around another month in Korea.

But wait... it gets worse....

The unit was going to the field the following week, so the Co Cdr decides he can't afford to leave an "experienced tank commander" behind so I need to go back to CIF and draw another issue of field gear, as well as in-processing (or un-out-processing) everywhere. I honestly tried (not happily, but I did try). Fortunately both the MEDDAC and FAO had the good sense to tell me to just keep my records because neither was confident that they could in-process my records (without arrival orders), file those records, then have the records ready for me to clear again two weeks later. The PAC also decided that since my orders were only amended, not cancelled and new orders issued, they were not going to give me a new clearance packet -- I should just keep my (already signed) clearance papers and have everyone initial them again when I cleared again.

So, I picked up a complete CIF issue (including a lot of stuff I didn't need) for a one-week field exercise, and checked in with most of the other agencies. We spent that next week in the field (where I used as little of the field gear as possible). When we got back, it was time for me to clear again. As mentioned earlier, I still had my medical records and finance records, so the only major hurdle would be CIF. I got everything ready and headed to CIF. The clerk at CIF could not find any record of my issue (from 2 weeks earlier), but did find the record showing that I had turned everything in 3 weeks ago, so he told me to "Get the hell out of here... and take that crap with you!" So I did. I went back to our Quonset hut, kept a couple of items for myself and left the rest of a complete CIF issue for the platoon. The day before my new departure date, I signed-in at the Turtle Farm and then rode the bus to Kimpo.

But wait... It gets worse...

The Army had figured out their mistake and had amended my orders... but they had never bothered telling the Air Force about the change in my departure date! The Air Force had me recorded as a No Show for my original departure flight (which the Army had not cancelled). They had no departure scheduled for me now. And, because I was a "No Show" for my last scheduled flight, they refused to schedule a new departure for me until the Army explained why I was a no show.

Another 24 hour delay, but eventually the Army and Air Force agreed to send me back to CONUS.