i have a question and im not even sure if this is in the right forum.. and hopefully i dont get flamed for it but o well.. ok so heres the deal, my girlfriend is joining the army reserves and is currently a junior in highschool. she already had her physical and was sworn in or wahtever it is. and is supposed to leave for boot camp in june. then after that she has her senior year of highschool and after she graduates she would leave again for training. my question is she is not sure she wants to do it now. i know she already had her physical but she didnt leave for boot camp yet. is there anyway she can leave or get out of it if she decides for sure she doesnt want to do it?

Do you want to know or does she?

Harry's asking a good question. Your question smacks of you thinking or feeling that she shouldn't have made that decision.

it wouldnt matter if i wanted to know because i cant do anything about it. shes the one who is involved, but to answer your question i guess you could say both of us want to know... she isnt sure now and thinks she is stuck in it. she doesnt have a computers so thats why i am the one asking and i figured you guys would know. any help is appreciated.

I think you answered this exact question in another thread gunny. Your in the DEP and if you havent went to basic yet you can walk away, just make sure you and your girl make your intentions known and there might be some paperwork and the recruiter is probably going to get pissy, but its better to deal with a pissy recruter than a 4 year bad decision.

I know. I just wanted to see where veracious was coming from.

Delayed Enlistment Program (DEP)
Once the job counselors have helped you determine what job/enlistment program you are going to enlist in, they will complete the paperwork, and you'll sign an enlistment contract (and take an oath), enlisting you in the DEP (Delayed Enlistment Program). The DEP is a "holding status" while you are waiting for your scheduled shipping date to basic training. When you enlist in the DEP, you are actually in the military. You are enlisted in the inactive reserves, and are legally (and morally) bound by your enlistment contract. (Note: The National Guard does not have DEP. When you sign on the dotted line in the National Guard, you immediately become a member of your National Guard Unit. Some units even allow you to drill and receive pay before you've even attended basic training).

One final thing about the DEP some recruiters may not want you to know: In this program, you enlist, and "promise" to ship out for boot camp on the designated date. This is a binding contract, and if the military wanted to, they could prosecute you for not shipping out on the date specified on the contract. However, current regulations and policies require the military services to discharge you from the DEP, if -- at any time before shipping out -- you apply to be released from the contract (the request should be in writing and should state the reason you wish to be discharged from the DEP). If a recruiter tells you that you will go to jail if you back out of DEP, he/she's lying to you. If he/she tells you that you will never be able to enlist again, he/she is lying to you. If they tell you that you will be "blacklisted," he/she is lying to you. If he/she tells you that you will be given a "general" discharge, he/she is lying to you. In fact, the only bad consequences to dropping out of the DEP, is that if you later want to enlist in that same service, it will be on THEIR terms, not yours. Most services have policies that require a waiver processing for recruits who previously dropped out of DEP of their service. Because of this, many programs (such as guaranteed job) may not be available, should you change you mind (Note: This doesn't apply if you drop out of the DEP of one service, then join a different service).

That being said, if you request a discharge from the DEP, expect your recruiter to be (justifiably) angry. He/she's invested several hours of his/her valuable time in your enlistment, and the military has spent a significant amount of time and funds in your tests and medical physical. Additionally, if you drop out, you're no longer filling a "slot" that must be filled, and the recruiter must now try and find someone to fill that slot. Don't enlist in the DEP unless you are 100% sure you want to join the military.

i understand what you mean gunny. i wish i could explain the situtation better but her mother is one that u wouldnt want to have.. she makes my girlfriend feel like shit and always puts her down. and when it came to my girlfriend thinking about this.. she became so nice and so for it. (probably to get rid of her because she threatened to kick her out before and even put her in foster care before).. well tonight my girlfriend mentioned to her mom she doesnt want to do it anymore and her mom told her she wont let her and they she has to do it now and suck it up (only not in that nice of a way). so as of right now i dont even know whats going on, i just wish her mom treated her good. oh and if i remember correctly is in the army national guard reserves? it was a 6 year term. does this change anything?

More than a few folks have turned to military service to get away from a bad situation at home, only to find they have jumped from the frying pan into the fire. If your girlfriend is convinced that she is joining for the right reasons, she should be ok. Joining up in the reserves will not provide the much relief on the home front, as she will still need to have a home to live in. The reserves generally only drill once a month for a weekend, and depending on where the reserve center is will only be housed during drill periods.

Active duty is full time and the govt will provide for living quarters. (bed and 3 squares a day)

You and your girlfriend need to do some more indepth research.

and if dont decide to jump again soon you wont be able to jump out of the military very easily once in. It can be done you can get discharged early but you have to have a working knowlage of UCMJ and do alot of research.

Out of curiosity, is she in the National Guard or Reserves? And if Reserves, did she join as a will-train soldier, or a paragraph and line number job?

These are things that need to be addressed by someone in the split training option, it is the difference between already belonging to a unit, or being a Future Soldier.

i will have to ask her.. from what i understood its reserves.. 6 years.. and she was going to be a supply specialist?

box-kicker

Let us know how it goes, Im curious to see if the recruiter flys of the handle and out of control or if he is just like oh ok here is the form. Are you and your girl planning on getting married?

Good luck

well she decided to stick with it (mostly because of fear of her mom).. when she mentioned the idea of not wanting to do it her mom flipped out i guess.. and she is like scared to death of her mom becuase of things in the past.

The military will be good for her because it will get here away from her family who seem to be causing her problems. She may find that life is not that simple and that we must live in a world where we make decisions and have to live with the consequences of our actions (or lack of action). The best thing she can do for herself is to make the mental commitment to stick with her training. To quit because it may be unpleasant could quite possibly make her a quitter in life which is not good for anyone.

Let us hope that it gives her the courage to become a better person as we must all continue to do each and every day of our lives. The military is a good place to mature because the structure allows for a certain amount of freedom from the more mundane aspects of life and gives the freedom to grow in others.

Are you still going in though?

ok i guess she doesnt want to go now and she is supposed to leave on monday the 12th for bootcamp.. she told her recruiter she didnt want to do it now and he was just like you shoud do it for the money and that was it.. and he gave her a number to call (im guessing whoever is aboive him) and she called them and they threatend her with if u dont go u will go to jail. i heard they do this just to scare you . so what should she do if she doesnt want to go?

thegunny i noticed in that post about the DEP it says Note: The National Guard does not have DEP. When you sign on the dotted line in the National Guard, you immediately become a member of your National Guard Unit. Some units even allow you to drill and receive pay before you've even attended basic training). what would she be in since she is in the army national guard reserves.. and is still in highschool and has bootcamp on june 12th this summer and would have basic next year after highschool graduation? does this still apply to her or how would she get out since she wants to now. as i said she told her recruiter she wanted out and he told her to contact this other guy who said she would go to jail and that was about it? can she still get out what should she do? request to be discharged from the dep? please post back asap since she is supposed to go to boot on monday. thanks

Sorry, just saw your post this morning. Did she get on the bus already?

veracious:

The National Guard is what we in Recruiting call an instant accession. She signed on the line and instantly "ships" to the unit. Because the Reserves and National Guard are local units, personnel join with a specific Paragraph and Line Number to the job they enlisted for. If she fails to ship to training in a split-option status, she can indeed be considered AWOL or Failure to Report, Unsat Performance, etc. because she actually belongs to the unit. If she is in a will-train status, they will usually Unsatisfactory Performance Discharge her into the IRR(Individual Ready Reserve). We don't have the time or patience to track down every little kid that decides they don't want to ship. So, whether or not she goes to jail depends on how hard the National Guard pursues it. Most likely, she'll be booted to the IRR and the NG will wash their hands of it.