As a prior-service Soldier, does commissioning through ROTC change my pay date?

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 10:07:35 -0500

The pay date on my LES reads as my enlistment date, and I am told this pay date actually needs added to it about a year and some change, and that I owe a lot of money. If I understand it right, it's because I had a break in service and I have to add the total amount of time equal to my break in service to the pay date to ensure I am getting paid appropriately.

I am cautious to share all of my personal career details in the public forum, but could PM someone if you are available to help me further. I would greatly appreciate a second opinion on this. If I owe money, fine. I just want to be sure.

I am transitioning from active to reserves and I am trying to square away my time in service for my DD 214, in fact I have been trying to square it away since I commissioned. I enlisted in ‘08, in ‘12 went into the reserves, and I contracted into ROTC in ’18. I did not enter the SMP, and I have a break in service until December 2019 when I commissioned. I completed a 1506 in 2020 with the finance office at FT. Lee that said all this. We sent it up, I thought I was good to go. Yet, I believe the DD 214 that transitions is showing me now does not reflect this. In order for them to fix it, they need a 1506 from another office and that office is telling me I owe money. Hence my current situation.

Again, I can send details via PM and I would greatly appreciate being schooled up on the situation.

Response by SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM made Dec 9 at 2022 10:11 AM

SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 10:11:40 -0500

They will probably have to recompile your Basic Active Service Date!

Response by COL Randall C. made Dec 9 at 2022 10:48 AM

COL Randall C. — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 10:48:14 -0500

Short answer: Your PEBD will be adjusted.

Long answer: Your PEBD would stay the same as long as you didn't have a break in service (there are a couple of other things that could affect it, but they don't seem to apply in your situation). The time between when your enlistment contract ended (I assume sometime before you contracted in 2018) and your commissioning in 2019 doesn't count.

You can go through the entire process* of determining creditable time, but in your situation it would be easiest for you would be to add the amount of time you had as a break in service to your enlistment date.

Yeah ... sucks. Things they should tell people in your situation about going SMP - if you did, you wouldn't have had a break in service.
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* https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/documents/fmr/archive/07aarch/07a01.pdf

07a01.pdf

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 9 at 2022 2:20 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 14:20:28 -0500

What office did you go to that told you that you will owe money? Career Counselors are the subject matter experts and the ones responsible for completing 1506s.

When you had one done before and it was submitted to finance, did the pay date on your LES change? It sounds like it didn't, meaning your 1506 was returned for corrections or just never submitted. If you get it fixed now you can submit a debt remission packet and it should be waived. If you wait till you separate you won't have that option. Finance does an audit of all the pays you received and should have received when you separate and you would walk away with a debt.

Assuming you were in the Reserves until you joined ROTC, you had a one or two year break in service, so that's how much later than your enlistment date your PEBD should be. Your IRR time if you have any, counts toward pay.

Again, your Career Counselor is the subject matter expert on calculating time in service and 1506 so they can explain your time to you

You don't need to worry about this being reflected on your 214, most 214s don't account anyway, it's irrelevant and not a valid source document for that source of information. The only valid information from that block is the start date and end date.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Dec 9 at 2022 3:23 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 15:23:59 -0500

I went from reserves to AD. The army took my AD enlistment date and gave me credit for all of my AD time from the reserves such as Basic, AIT, and Deployments. My PEBD was computed by the AD enlistment date minus all the AD garnered in the reserves. I was given credit for 17 months for my PEBD.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 10 at 2022 8:03 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 10 Dec 2022 20:03:44 -0500

I went from the Regular Army to the National Guard, then commissioned in the NG, and then went back to the Regular Army. Your DD 214's are only a really summary of your service. They are not the credentialing document. You will have to have a 1506 created to find and adjust your service. When I came back to the RA I didn't get paid for a month due to the process getting messed up. It sounds like that is happening to you.

I can explain the process I dealt with. First, my BASD stayed the same. My PEBD moved up to realign my gaps. My years for service didn't change though. So I am at 20 years for pay but 15 for service. that was what messed up my pay. For you, you shouldn't have to pay anything back. I have a feeling that they are not counting your prior service for pay and they are resetting everything. It took about 4 week for my pay office to get it right.

Response by COL Bill Gross made Dec 12 at 2022 10:31 AM

COL Bill Gross — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 10:31:48 -0500

Are you in a unit now? I include ROTC Detachment with that. Start with the people in the unit who work these issues. Sooner or later it's going to come back to them.