Posted on Sep 29, 2020
How many years do you need to stay at your duty station ?
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I just want some clarification because I been told by some that you only need to do 2 years in your current duty station although my contract is 4 years but then others say that is not true ? I’m gonna hit 2 years on my current duty station next year and I’m planning to stay in the army but I want a different duty station
Duty Stations
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PCS
Posted 4 y ago
Responses: 10
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It all depends. The "ideal" time between PCS moves for Soldiers is between 2-3 years per assignment.
HOWEVER, there are some posts that are considered "Black Holes" where you may not ever truly PCS from the post; simply get bounced around between Brigades or Battalions. While I was assigned to Fort Campbell, one of my NCOs, a SSG, had been at Fort Campbell for his entire career, and was just then (2012) getting his first PCS.
The "Black Hole" posts are said to be Drum, Bragg, Hood, Bliss, and Polk. If you're Airborne qualified, Fort Bragg will keep you there for as long as it possibly can. Between deployments and "fences" you may never leave, except for ETS.
The only other possibility is to re-enlist for "Station of Choice." But be aware that each post has it's own flavor of stupid, so if you're trying to get away from stupid at your unit/post, it's futile. Also realize that the "best" posts are: 1.) the one you are going to, and 2.) the one you just left.
Good Luck!
HOWEVER, there are some posts that are considered "Black Holes" where you may not ever truly PCS from the post; simply get bounced around between Brigades or Battalions. While I was assigned to Fort Campbell, one of my NCOs, a SSG, had been at Fort Campbell for his entire career, and was just then (2012) getting his first PCS.
The "Black Hole" posts are said to be Drum, Bragg, Hood, Bliss, and Polk. If you're Airborne qualified, Fort Bragg will keep you there for as long as it possibly can. Between deployments and "fences" you may never leave, except for ETS.
The only other possibility is to re-enlist for "Station of Choice." But be aware that each post has it's own flavor of stupid, so if you're trying to get away from stupid at your unit/post, it's futile. Also realize that the "best" posts are: 1.) the one you are going to, and 2.) the one you just left.
Good Luck!
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SGT (Join to see)
I've felt like the best way to get out of a "Black Hole" is to literally ride it out until your ETS is literally a month out, with the new change you can not re-enlist at the last minute now.
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SSG Paul Headlee
So true! We had a 1SG in Panama who had never been anywhere else except for schools. That was a good assignment though. I didn't want to leave.
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If your initial enlistment is four years, the likeliness of you PCSing are slim. At the two year Mark you may get looked at but the Army probably won’t move you unless you reenlist. You can always go check out Korea your last year.
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1LT (Join to see)
Sometime similar happened to me. I had a 6 year enlistment and didn’t reenlist. At my 14 month mark I came down on order for Korea.
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If you reenlist, it’s two years on station. If your branch places you on assignment, it’s one year on station. If you’re going to training it’s one year on station. For you, training would be Airborne, Flight Paramedic, MOS change, or Independent Duty Medical Technician (IDMT).
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