Posted on Jun 6, 2019
I'm being PCSed to Korea shortly before my ETS. How can I ensure that I return to this duty station after the unaccompanied tour?
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In February I was notified that due to my rank/TIS etc. that I would be put on orders for Korea and have approximately 5 months left after the tour until I ETS (my ETS is January 2021). In May I received the official notification from HRC that I would be reporting to Korea in September. I was initially promised that I would be able to return to my current duty station after my 1 year unaccompanied tour in Korea. When I received the notification in May, my assignment was to a different duty station (CONUS) than the one that I am currently stationed at now. Also, I just had shoulder surgery and am currently in the process of recovering and will be on a temporary profile/unable to take and APFT any time soon. My questions are as follows:
1. Is there a way I can request a compassionate reassignment/deletion of orders based on the fact that my wife (who is bi-polar and enrolled in the EFMP)?
2. If I were to sign a dec. statement now, I am aware that I can still be sent to Korea and kept there until my ETS date (which I do not want), but would there be a way to sign a dec. statement once I am in korea and get back to my current duty station to finish my time out?
3. Is there any way that my medical situation would prevent me from an overseas PCS move due to being on a temporary profile/still in the process of recovering?
4. If the worst case scenario happens (I end up going to Korea and having to PCS), what is the least amount of time that I would have to extend for so that I can get out as soon as possible.
Note: My primary concern is not so much getting out of the Korea assignment, but not being able to return to my current duty station once the tour is complete. The job market and cost of living are very good in the area that I am currently located in and I was planning on completing the tour and being able to ETS from here. Thank you all for your help and input!
1. Is there a way I can request a compassionate reassignment/deletion of orders based on the fact that my wife (who is bi-polar and enrolled in the EFMP)?
2. If I were to sign a dec. statement now, I am aware that I can still be sent to Korea and kept there until my ETS date (which I do not want), but would there be a way to sign a dec. statement once I am in korea and get back to my current duty station to finish my time out?
3. Is there any way that my medical situation would prevent me from an overseas PCS move due to being on a temporary profile/still in the process of recovering?
4. If the worst case scenario happens (I end up going to Korea and having to PCS), what is the least amount of time that I would have to extend for so that I can get out as soon as possible.
Note: My primary concern is not so much getting out of the Korea assignment, but not being able to return to my current duty station once the tour is complete. The job market and cost of living are very good in the area that I am currently located in and I was planning on completing the tour and being able to ETS from here. Thank you all for your help and input!
Korea
PCS
ETS/EAS
Profiles
Medical
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 10
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1. Is there a way I can request a compassionate reassignment/deletion of orders based on the fact that my wife (who is bi-polar and enrolled in the EFMP)?
A. You can always try. Make sure you have some docmentation from your wife's doctor, it might help.
2. If I were to sign a dec. statement now, I am aware that I can still be sent to Korea and kept there until my ETS date (which I do not want), but would there be a way to sign a dec. statement once I am in korea and get back to my current duty station to finish my time out?
A. You are correct, you sign a dec but Big Army could just put you on the same orders.
3. Is there any way that my medical situation would prevent me from an overseas PCS move due to being on a temporary profile/still in the process of recovering?
A. Same as the EFMP answer. Get documentation from your ortho doc. The only way this would probably work is if you are unable to be treated for your injury in the ROK.
4. If the worst case scenario happens (I end up going to Korea and having to PCS), what is the least amount of time that I would have to extend for so that I can get out as soon as possible.
A. I'm pretty sure it is 9 months remaining before ETS to PCS. Check with your Reenlistment NCO on that one.
A. You can always try. Make sure you have some docmentation from your wife's doctor, it might help.
2. If I were to sign a dec. statement now, I am aware that I can still be sent to Korea and kept there until my ETS date (which I do not want), but would there be a way to sign a dec. statement once I am in korea and get back to my current duty station to finish my time out?
A. You are correct, you sign a dec but Big Army could just put you on the same orders.
3. Is there any way that my medical situation would prevent me from an overseas PCS move due to being on a temporary profile/still in the process of recovering?
A. Same as the EFMP answer. Get documentation from your ortho doc. The only way this would probably work is if you are unable to be treated for your injury in the ROK.
4. If the worst case scenario happens (I end up going to Korea and having to PCS), what is the least amount of time that I would have to extend for so that I can get out as soon as possible.
A. I'm pretty sure it is 9 months remaining before ETS to PCS. Check with your Reenlistment NCO on that one.
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SSgt GG-15 RET Jim Lint
Hospitals are fantastic in Korea. Do not think about the old days of MASH TV show.
I did have shoulder surgery in 2003ish. I also came back to Korea and retired 90 days later out of FT Meade. It can be done. I did 7 years in Korea on multiple tours. Most tours are accompanied, so you could take your family there. On one of my tours I needed an MRI and 121 Hosp sent me to a Korean Hosp. Koreas live and breath tech...and the internet is 5 times faster then in the US when I was there. Wife was pissed when we got to the states and it was so slow.
I did have shoulder surgery in 2003ish. I also came back to Korea and retired 90 days later out of FT Meade. It can be done. I did 7 years in Korea on multiple tours. Most tours are accompanied, so you could take your family there. On one of my tours I needed an MRI and 121 Hosp sent me to a Korean Hosp. Koreas live and breath tech...and the internet is 5 times faster then in the US when I was there. Wife was pissed when we got to the states and it was so slow.
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SGM Steve Wettstein
SSgt GG-15 RET Jim Lint - Yes I am quit aware of the Korean Tech. My wife of 29 years is Korean and when she does her yearly trip to the RoK she usually gets dental or some small medical procedure.
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Not sure how it works in the Army, but I was at a command where we had a sailor coming in with similar issues to yours. They wanted to give us a heads up, not wanting to get out of anything, but letting us know they had exceptional circumstances. Our XO talked to them, and was able to go back to the detailers and get them reassigned to something better for them, and frankly, for us a deployed unit. You might try talking to some of the senior NCO's where you are slated to go, and see if they can help. Best of luck.
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I don't have any answers for your questions, but I can empathize with you on the shoulder recovery. I had mine on 20 December and recovery can be a bitch. I'm happy I didn't have to go to Korea while finishing up recovery.
Oh, I don't know where you are in the recovery process, but I went to Korea for my first time while still recovering from stress fractures in both legs....a year later I returned to the states while still recovering from a broken hand.
Oh, I don't know where you are in the recovery process, but I went to Korea for my first time while still recovering from stress fractures in both legs....a year later I returned to the states while still recovering from a broken hand.
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SSG (Join to see)
I had the surgery about 2 weeks ago...still doing physical therapy and cant do much of anything other than the basic stretching/resistance exercises that the physical therapist is having me do.
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SSG Laurie Mullen
SSG (Join to see) - Did you have your rotator cuff repaired? My arm was immobilized for about two weeks and then I did start physical therapy, but I was still in a sling for a couple of weeks during it. I was out of work for about ten weeks and on light duty for two and a half months. I just got off it on the 3rd and have a follow up with doc next week.
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SSG (Join to see)
not the rotator cuff- but the ligament that connects the AC Joint (part of the shoulder) to the collar bone, was torn. They actually cut part of the ligament off and well as removed bone spurs from the AC joint. I was also in a sling for the first week and a half and still doing physical therapy.
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