How do I decline BLC?

2021-12-18T17:33:21-05:00

I’m told I have BLC in a month. However my ETS date is about 10 months out. I recently just went to the reenlistment office and informed them I don’t intend on resigning. He said he will forward that information to medcom. Will this remove me from the list? Is there certain requirement that will allow me to decline BLC? Who do I talk to, my 1SGT? Will I get barred if I don’t attend? It’s just a waste of a spot when I know 100% I’m getting out. Any info helps.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 18 at 2021 5:41 PM

2021-12-18T17:41:58-05:00

I suppose you could sign a dec statement, but I would be 100% sure that you want to ETS before you do that.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Dec 18 at 2021 5:57 PM

2021-12-18T17:57:41-05:00

I can’t count how many Soldiers that I served with said they were not reenlisting and did not wish to attend a program only to sign a dec statement and later regret it. Also, that course will teach you valuable skills that transfer to the private and public sectors

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 18 at 2021 7:40 PM

2021-12-18T19:40:21-05:00

If you're 10 months out from ETS - they're going to send you. I've seen people get sent to BLC with 2-3 months left to ETS.

I have also seen soldiers change their mind about ETSing even close to their ETS. Or seen people ETS and come back in not long after ETS.

You're not going to be able to defer it without a really good reason nor decline it. Just go. It's not going to hurt you in any way. Also no it won't take you out of your slot for BLC at all if you already have a date.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 18 at 2021 7:51 PM

2021-12-18T19:51:15-05:00

Either way, it’s It’s definitely a conversation with your chain of command. Maybe they see potential in you and want it to develop. Maybe they want to use a spot so they don’t lose a spot later. Maybe they think it would be better to end as a CPL than as a SPC. It’s worth finding out.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 18 at 2021 8:29 PM

2021-12-18T20:29:00-05:00

If your ETS is greater than 6 months, you are required to go and there isn’t a thing you can do about it unless you are flagged. A DEC statement, that’s just you stating you are not reenlisting.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 18 at 2021 9:47 PM

2021-12-18T21:47:12-05:00

Fortune 500 companies spend boatloads of money every year bringing in outside people to teach their people about leadership and management. Go to BLC and put it on your resume! Sell it as a management class that teaches you to lead teams of 3-5 people and corporate America will eat it up. How will you differ from your peers applying for that new job?

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 19 at 2021 1:25 AM

2021-12-19T01:25:28-05:00

You may not decline BLC. It's not a waste of a spot, you're still eligible to get promoted, transfer to the Reserves, or come back in later. Of course, "you" won't come back in later. Every person who comes back says they were never coming back, but if you do, you can get promoted.

If you refuse BLC you can be kicked out of the Army. At the very least you will be barred. We actually just had a guy in our clinic refuse and they reduced him so he exceeded RCP and he was separated for RCP.

What will happen to you will be up to your Commander, but since it takes a General to excuse you from BLC, you can be sure your COL level CSM will be involved in the outcome

Response by SFC Ralph E Kelley made Dec 19 at 2021 7:08 AM

2021-12-19T07:08:49-05:00

I've sure you've heard all the "leave your options open, things will get better and COVID has ruined the job market" stuff. You've put your resume out there and have received job offers + plus you've discussed it with your 'significant other' so you're raring to go home.
I do recommend you talk to your direct supervisory NCO and Officer before you turn down the course. You might also consider speaking with the National Guard Recruiter (I'm guessing you still have a Reserve Commitment) in the state where you intend to live once you're out. He may offer options and BLC will be a leg-up in their command structure.
It would seem a waste since you've already served with honor but you are an adult and ultimately the decision is yours. If none of this makes sense - If you are 100% sure you won't reenlist but don't care then just decline, accept the bar, mayhap reduction in grade and even possibly a bad conduct (no college money) discharge.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 19 at 2021 11:24 AM

2021-12-19T11:24:10-05:00

You’re going to BLC. Assuming you’re a soldier in good standing your unit is required to send you. Take advantage of the training you get there and start your ETS process when you get back.

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 19 at 2021 11:44 AM

2021-12-19T11:44:39-05:00

Why are you worried about getting barred if you already know you're "100% getting out".

Shut up and color; go do BLC. You will be surprised what you glean from the course, even though its only a month. Think of it as a vacation from your unit even. You may find you want to stay after you go.

Response by 1SG Danny Vorreyer made Dec 19 at 2021 12:05 PM

2021-12-19T12:05:08-05:00

Since your going to Re-enlist you will still have Reserve years after active duty. BLC will add college credits. If you are good at your job then I would go and break records, Think real hard on why you joined the Army and why are you getting out. I have done both myself. Keeping the military either Active, Reserve is a good thing. One day you could retire. If you wing it on the outside you will never retire and you live on SS when you turn about 70. Think about your decision. The military was always good to me and good for me. Civilian no one helps when you have a need, Financially do this, take your entire pay and divide that by 160. That is your hourly wage. Pay is about 9.50 out right now.

Response by SP5 Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 19 at 2021 2:50 PM

2021-12-19T14:50:28-05:00

SPC Private RallyPoint Member You have received solid advice from some very senior and knowledgeable RP members. Here is one more from an old veteran - never turn down a training opportunity! The course may not have relevance for your remaining time in the Army. It will provide you with foundation information in almost any job you take after you leave the Army.

Response by SSG Eric Blue made Dec 19 at 2021 3:43 PM

2021-12-19T15:43:36-05:00

While I understand your concern, I don't recommend declining BLC as the training can cross over into the civilian sector once you leave the military. The training could very well make you stand above your peers when competing for employment in the civilian sector. If you straight-up say "HARD PASS" on BLC and sign a Deck Statement (DCSS), do so FULLY F---ING INFORMED on the decision you're making as it can bite you in the 4th point HARD! I'm not saying "go ahead and get out" nor am I saying "stay in and see what happens." I AM saying, however, to take some useful tools with you if you decide to exit now. Best of luck to you.

Response by SGT Warren Crutcher made Dec 19 at 2021 3:48 PM

2021-12-19T15:48:43-05:00

You don't decline it. What you do is grow a pair and step up to the challenge. It's two weeks out of your life and it's not like you probably have anything else better to do than get an education on leadership that will help you when you do ETS. You might actually change your mind and reup, Then you will already have BLC out of the way. If not, when your future employer asks what you did in the military, You can tell them you ran away from responsibility I guess.

Response by SSG Brian L. made Dec 19 at 2021 7:15 PM

2021-12-19T19:15:08-05:00

BLC counts towards college... just go and do your best anyway

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 19 at 2021 11:19 PM

2021-12-19T23:19:38-05:00

Think of it this way................ You'll be in the Army during that time away, and you are going to be doing "something". At least this way you will know what it will be.

Yea, yea, you probably wont reenlist, but if you change your mind you'll have screwed yourself.

Then, on the off chance you do bail, but then change your mind after the retention recruiters get a hold of you from the Reserves and you decide you want to go back in, pick up a bonus, or pick up a desirable MOS you'll already have knocked it out and be cleared for SGT.

Finally........... you're not taking a slot from anyone, you are not wasting Army funding. The money is already spent class or not (the buildings are there, the cadre are there, and the housing and food is already there with you or not, it's all paid for), and the Army probably has trouble filling classes with enough bodies that are not flagged in one way or the other. No one is loosing any opportunities even if your ETS day is the day before BLC graduation.

Response by 1SG Ken Bedwell made Dec 21 at 2021 7:57 AM

2021-12-21T07:57:24-05:00

I was getting out too. Just go to school and learn something.

Response by MSG William Wold made Dec 22 at 2021 4:52 PM

2021-12-22T16:52:24-05:00

Well I went to BLC and was told I had to have 10 months after graduation or I wasn't going. I had almost 11. I wasn't sure if I wanted to re enlist but I didn't want to get there and decide to, then be delayed promotions because I sat doing nothing for a year. But a few months after graduation my dad calls, he's buying the store he's worked at for 20 years and wants me to come home and be a partner. Hummm. Do I or not. Even the 1st sgt was bribing me to stay and offered me his boat I repaired for him. Suddenly there was a notice that I could get 120 days early out to do a year in my hometown National Guard but still be credited with 3 full years. That had to be the sign. I signed up. I processed out. But the last minute the store was sold to someone else. NO job, so I went to a semester of tech school, and a dual status Mil-Tech position with the Guard came up. I was accepted and spent the next 29 years doing that. But I would go for it clear to the end. Just in case. A person in the Olympics came in second place in swimming competition because he coasted the last two strokes, and lost by 2 tenths of a second.

Response by Capt Robert Vincelette made Dec 25 at 2021 4:20 PM

2021-12-25T16:20:50-05:00

I took Squadron Officer's School in the Air Force by correspondence in the 1970's. I was concerned about taking it TDY residence because the textbooks and tests were identical and it did not seem proper to waste government money by going in residence. A more senior officer told me that it looks better if you do it in residence even if you do not cover any more information from the course and it is better to do what is better for your career even if it appears wasteful and/or the alleged advantages are rationalizations.
The subjects of the course were on administrative structures that fit Freudian symbolism so consistently that it made it easier to memorize what appeared questionably productive staffs and directive generating bodies.
I do not know if it would have had any relevance on jobs I could find after my time in the military ended with the end of the Vietnam war. But eventually I became a math professor and had to edit "Five Year Strategic Plans" for a department chair who somehow rose up the ladder even though he could not write a coherent paragraph and these plans consisted of recruiting freshmen who could not do 6th grade math (When they added fractions they added numerators and denominators because finding a common denominator was too hard for them.) Part of the "Strategic Plan" to get more STEM majors to further flood the already flooded STEM job market consisted of a concentrated three week remedial math training program that needed records juggled creatively to look like it was working. It all looked so fraudulent.

Response by SSG Jeffrey Leake made Dec 29 at 2021 4:25 PM

2021-12-29T16:25:48-05:00

Don't decline. It's better to go and learn new skills and knowledge. You say you have 10 months left, and you're definitely getting out. A lot of things can change in that amount of time. I know a lot of service members that got out, only to come back in at a later time. Take advantage of the opportunity.

Response by SPC Erich Guenther made Jan 16 at 2022 3:34 PM

2022-01-16T15:34:19-05:00

It's a common tactic by Chain of Commands in an attempt to retain you as a Soldier. You should look at it as a compliment vs unnecessary BS thrown in your direction. They have every right to put you on the BLC list for several reasons, the first being that you may decide not to ETS once your a SGT, second being your military obligation might not end at ETS (IRR or Reserve commitment.....they need SGTs as well and it is harder to get it then), third the Chain of Command is also evaluated by the CSM and higher over the quality of applicants and whom they submit to BLC (regardless of ETS date). There are more reasons as well. I had the same almost happen to me but I pre-empted it from happening by speaking with the 1SG and asking if I could first take on additional responsibility before I went to the school. He went along with that and sent me to Armorer school and made me assistant Armoer but did not relieve me of my line platoon obligations..........so I then had two jobs officially. It worked out well for the 1SGT and for me. 1SGT could report back to the CSM, that I wanted to be in a SGT role first before BLC and I got another Army school in case I changed my mind and stayed in the Army vs ETS. Don't ever sign a DEC statement. That is committing hari-kari to your career and slams shut a number of doors and options you might consider as ETS date approaches.

Response by MAJ Timothy Faulkner made Jan 18 at 2022 7:45 PM

2022-01-18T19:45:34-05:00

Don't burn the bridge, you might rejoin the Army after a short break in service. It happens a lot.