What are 'Officers Days' and their relation to orders?

[SPAWNmaster]

Hi there,

Have dates for January OTS with a quick follow-on to UPT. I'm feeling pressure at home since when I leave for OTS my wife will have a newborn and will get to pack up the house by herself...so we're trying to get as much done as we can in advance since I won't be much help till I'm back from OTS. We need orders to get the ball rolling on move.mil, SCRA benefits, on-base housing applications, etc....but I'm told that my guard unit ran out of "Officers Days" and unsure when we'll be able to get orders cut. I'm just hoping it's not last minute so I have time to get as much done as I can before I'm gone.

Regardless, can anyone explain to me what Officers Days are and what the relationship is with getting orders cut? I didn't quite understand when it was explained to me by my FSS folks and didn't press the issue at the time as I had a busy drill weekend.

Thanks

[Chida]

Never heard of officers' days. Whoever used this terminology probably meant RPA/MPA that is set aside for officers. Administratively, they might have a certain amount of money that they can pay. An officer requires more pay; so to spread the wealth, they will say we have, for example $100,000 for this year to pay RPA/MPA (aka man days). We'll designate $40,000 for officers and $60,000 for enlisted. So once the $40,000 for officers is gone then they claim they have run out of "Officers' Days".

I can't help you with the rest as I am only familiar with getting PCS orders as the prerequisite for doing actions associated with a PCS. Even if you were to get put "on orders" at your squadron via MPA/RPA, this wouldn't help you with that since they're not the orders you need (PCS/IADT). If it were me I'd be asking the Chief Pilot for help on getting your orders since you have a need to get them sooner than otherwise.

[sky_king]

Just ask your guard unit.  You're going to work for them.  Might as well get to know the system.

[GoGuard]

Good luck.  

If your experience is anything close to the experience of my close relative, you'll find the Guard has no idea what to do with you.  You need to be VERY proactive.  

I wish you the best.  And know the regs. 

 

Edited November 14, 2015 by GoGuard

[BADFNZ]

Good luck.  

If your experience is anything close to the experience of my close relative, you'll find the Guard has no idea what to do with you.  You need to be VERY proactive.  

I wish you the best.  And know the regs. 

 

Ironic username is ironic.

[SuperWSO]

The Guard gets "days" allocated to pay for training. One of the common types is Annual Training (AT) which is distributed separately for Officer and Enlisted. Therefore, you will frequently hear people refer to ATO and ATE days.  Due to the continuing resolution passed by congress, the military is only funded through December 11.  Units have only been given a portion of their annual training budgets. Training days for formal schools is another category. 

Your best bet is to work closely with the unit training manager, and do as much as possible to be ready to go on short notice. I had a 1 week heads up for Nav school and 2 weeks for Intel school.

Good Luck!

 

 

[SPAWNmaster]

The Guard gets "days" allocated to pay for training. One of the common types is Annual Training (AT) which is distributed separately for Officer and Enlisted. Therefore, you will frequently hear people refer to ATO and ATE days.  Due to the continuing resolution passed by congress, the military is only funded through December 11.  Units have only been given a portion of their annual training budgets. Training days for formal schools is another category. 

Your best bet is to work closely with the unit training manager, and do as much as possible to be ready to go on short notice. I had a 1 week heads up for Nav school and 2 weeks for Intel school.

Good Luck!

 

 

Ah - that's it! Thanks for the reply. I was under the impression that they would have more officer school days within the "next week or so" about 2 weeks ago so hopefully that'll work out. But in the mean time we are planning, as you suggest, for the worst and trying to get everything squared away in anticipation of last minute orders.