ORDERS!!!!

So I received my orders yesterday!!  usually there is about a full month or two to make arraignments and get going.... not this year!  So I will be reporting in beginning of March to BOLC at Ft. Sam Houston... I decided to drive there (almost 3 months with no car would not be fun).  So I am in the process of dealing with transportation office via (move.mil) and need them to pack my stuff up next week, giving me a few days to spend with my family, then the long drive to TX (1,700 miles).  I am trying to plan it so I will be able to stop in some interesting cities along the way.  New Orleans is #1 on the list and it will be the start of Madi Gras so I'm kind excited to check that out, may even work the schedule so I can stay an extra day there and check out the city.  other stops are TBA, i'm hoping my friend Gina will join me, her brother just moved to San Antonio so I would have company for the drive and she gets to see family (win-win).  Over all orders look just like the example on the BLOC website, I already knew where I was going to be stationed, so this just confirmed that I'm officially going to WRAIR after training is complete.  Well I'm off to a briefing on how transportation office works, and then chaotic last minute verification that I have everything in place for my dogs to be taken care of while i'm gone....

Oath and Contract

I took my oath Jan 8th.  My uncle, a retired MAJ, was able to swear me in.  My cousin (picured above on the left) along with lots of family members, friends, and some work colleagues were there, had some cake and soda after and then family and close friends took me to a nice dinner. 

   In the past people took the Oath and signed a Letter of Intent stating they will serve active duty ect. and attend BOLC.  Now they have changed that up a little bit.  So when you take the oath the first time (yup you caught that...) it is to get into the IRR (Individual Ready Reserves)  at this point you sign your contract (was surprisingly simple since I didn't have any incentives, waivers, or tattoo's) and then you are put in the system to receive orders.  So right now that is the next step, to wait until I get orders to BOLC and then the follow on PCS orders.  I've decided I will most likely do a full service army move, so the only things I am packing up are items to take to BOLC, and I will be leaving a few things at my friends house (Jewelry and stuff I wouldn't trust sitting in storage and having others move around for me).  I also have had to figure out where my dogs will stay while i am at training.... Honestly this was the  biggest challenge... So far it looks like a friend can take one of my dogs, and the other will be going into long term boarding....  I found a wonderful place that specializes in this

http://www.dancingcreekfarm.com

I made a reservation and down payment... I like the fact they don't isolate the dogs and allow them to play and interact with people also, and they have a webcam so I can see whats going on.  Well sorry the updates aren't that interesting right now, but I'm just hanging out and waiting.  I've found some interesting things when I get my orders in that will reduce interest on credit cards, student loans, car loans, and is the official way to get out of  lease without penalty.  It is called the "Service members civil relief act" (SCRA)  the site below has a good overview to figure out what (if any) applies to you.

http://www.military.com/benefits/military-legal-matters/scra/servicemembers-civil-relief-act-overview.html


Also found some nice templates of letters to inform whoever of need to break the lease, here is one example:

http://www.dix.army.mil/LegalOffice/files/LEASETERMINATION.pdf

Until things get more interesting, hope everyone is having a good 2016!!

Scroll Pending and Swearing in

So I haven't updated this in a while, pretty much because there was nothing to update.....  Scroll finally went through and this Friday I will be swearing in.  When this happens there will also be contracts and other forms for me to sign, i'll write about that when I get a look a them and know exactly what they are.  Otherwise I managed to purchase most of my uniforms in December (Uniforms are tax deductible, so instead of having to wait an entire year, and probably loosing the receipts or just forgetting about them, purchase as much as you can in December and file it on your upcoming taxes!) They will give a one time $600 stipend, which isn't much considering the number of uniforms you need to purchase for training (think between $1100 to $1800)  depending if you have things you can use already..... Have I mentioned I didn't even own a single pair of regulation socks.... yup had to purchase EVERYTHING... and it was painful.  The $600 will cover your dress ASU, if you get the bare bones quality one, but if you think you will be wearing it a fair amount then you may want to consider an upgrade in material, Marlowe White is a great option.  The other issue I encounters is my height, i'm 5'9" and female, long arms and legs so need to find longs and extra long in almost everything.... PT clothes do not have this option so my long sleeve PT shirt is a medium, and it looks like i'm swimming in it.... but the smalls look like I shrunk the shirt while doing laundry....  That's it for now.  Hope this is helping someone??

And its HOOORAAH again!!

  I was selected (again), and am pending scroll (for future applicants if you have any waivers for age/medical/ect this is the time they will clear your waivers).  If history is any indicator everyone is off on vacation by the end of this week therefore scroll won't be done till the first week in January.  I was contacted by the assignment coordinator (he is the one that cuts the orders and schedules our Temporary Duty Station (TDY) at Ft. Sam Houston for BOLC training. along with our follow on orders for Permanent Change of Station (PCS).  I am in a unique position where I know the location of my PCS move already so I can avoid the stress of not knowing where I will be stationed.  This allows me to get a head start on learning about the housing rates in the area along with what my BAH will be.
        In the meantime I put together a 3 month workout plan in hopes of getting a 300+ on my APFT test... While attend grad school I made extra money personal training (certification helped increase pay, and allowed me to avoid ramen noodles) so designed a training program focusing on increasing speed and endurance (for the 2 mile run), and working on overall strength with lifts and Plyo exercises that will help with the push-up and sit up tests.  I always throw in some flexibility just for injury prevention...  we will see how it goes, not a big fan of running, never mind running in the winter... but got to suck it up!!!

Latest twist in events

And 3 days later I found out the list they posted on Friday wasn't supposed to be released.  Now everyone that has applied to 71A (Microbiologist) and 71B (Biochemist) is on the OML  (order of merit list)....  Besides the obvious disappointment, no one seems to know what is going on or when the official selection list will be released (Including recruiters)... All I can say is: back to waiting....  with the added stress of needing to figure out if I will have the job that I really want or need to renew my post doc contract for another year... Here's to hoping for good news quickly  (fingers crossed!)

YESS!!!!!! I mean HOOOOAAAH

I will definitely have to work on that HOOOAH thing.... If you couldn't guess from the post title I was notified of my selection today!!!  The next step in this process is "Scroll"  which is essentially getting my name on the record books by SECDEF signing off then I can get orders.... There is a lot more waiting in my future, but knowing I was selected is a HUGE relief.  That's it for now... back to labwork!!

A decision will be made.....

That brings me to today.  My application is in, and I was told the selection committee went over all packets during the last week of October.... so any day I hope to hear the results.  There are 3 potential outcomes:

1. Accepted and pending scroll (I was told this is where congress reads your name... essentially you go into the congressional history book as a commissioned officer)

2.  OML  (order of merit list)  this is a wait list, if anyone accepted declines the commission they may go to this list and select the next highest ranked candidate.

3.  Rejected, there really isn't a nice way to put this so I will just leave this as is.... I will say that when you first talk to the recruiter they ask for your CV and submit that to headquarters to see if they want you to apply. If you were asked to apply I'm guessing unless there is a medical hold or big issue in your application that all non selected applicants would be placed in order of value to the army on the OML.


Well that's all for now, instead of Hurry up and WAIT,  it's just WAIT right now... and keeping my fingers crossed that my desire to join the army and the skills I have learned are both of use and wanted.