Should I submit a DA Form 368 to go AD now or wait until my NG contract ends in October and apply for active then?

2020-05-08T22:30:08-04:00

Any advice would be great
I was active 2016 to 2019 and then signed a 1 year contract with the guard that is up in October of this year.
I want to go back active, is the better option to just ride it out and apply for active come October? Or should I play the game of submitting a DA Form 368 ?

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made May 9 at 2020 9:39 AM

2020-05-09T09:39:08-04:00

I would say theres no risk in dropping a 368, because the worst that could happen is that you wait until ETS anyways. At best, you can leave a bit early. Also, people can ship out months after obtaining their new contract. So if you wait until October, you may possibly not leave to your new unit until 2021. My DD368 (Reservist) got approved in 2.5 months, my ETS being June 16. It saves me about a month and I find it worth it, considering the covid 19 is slowing down the whole process of shipping out. I say go for it , since there will be no consequence for stopping a packet

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made May 12 at 2020 7:54 PM

2020-05-12T19:54:25-04:00

So i'll try to make this short! I submitted my 368 packet Nov 2019 ( the 368 has a 90 day expiration date ) my ETS date was May 15 2020. I did not want to take the ETS route because I am under the older retirement system and I could have ran the chance of having to swap over to the new retirement system it I ETS'D. My unit let my 368 expire, I had to file an IG complaint, get a new 368 from my recruiter then submit everything again ( at this point it was Feb 2020 ) everything got submitted and sent up and my release was approved late April. I went to MEPS last week and now I ship to my first duty station in June.
So it really just depends on how quick you want to go Active, it's not suppose to be a long process, as long as you have the leadership that wants to do their job! Hope this gives you an idea of the (bad) process of a 368.