Posted on Jan 4, 2021
Is your ETS date your last day in the military or first day as a civilian?
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I know it may seem like splitting hairs, but I can't seem to find the authoritative answer. My HR dept. is saying that I am still a Soldier on my ETS date, but I've read elsewhere that the ETS date means the contract (terms of service) is expired and I'm free to be a civilian or enlist in another branch.
AR 635-200 didn't really give me any help. Can anyone answer this definitively with source(s)? it affects my backward planning for terminal leave, outprocessing, and my plans following the Army; only by one day, granted, but still.
Thanks in advance!
AR 635-200 didn't really give me any help. Can anyone answer this definitively with source(s)? it affects my backward planning for terminal leave, outprocessing, and my plans following the Army; only by one day, granted, but still.
Thanks in advance!
ETS/EAS
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Regulation
Posted 4 y ago
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Your ETS date is your date of discharge. That day counts for service, the next day you are a civilian
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SSG (Join to see)
I appreciate the direction; it's not necessarily that I want to prove them wrong (I do, but that's beside the point) - I want to prove them right as well: I just want something definitive in writing that defines the terms explicitly. I haven't found anything in the FMR volumes that does this. The search continues. Oh - the source where I've read otherwise is here: https://hadit.com/ets-stand-army/ - the part that even got me questioning was the line in the preview. Obviously not authoritative, it still served to raise the question which no one seems to be able to answer which, considering how many people ETS every year should be pretty clearly in writing somewhere lol.
What does "ETS" stand for in the army? | HadIt.com For Veterans Who've Had It With The VA
In the US military, ETS generally stands for "expiration - term of service" and is contained in each service member's contract. On the ETS date, a service member's current contract has expired and the service member is free to leave the military or sign a re-enlistment contract.
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Cpl Vic Burk
SSG (Join to see) - In the Marine Corps we used EAS, Expiration of Active Service. I have not idea what ETS stands for but I know what it mean. Time to become a civilian again!
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It’s on your DD-214 no, my EAS and my inactive reserve dates are clearly listed.
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SSG (Join to see)
Yep. The issue here is that a human being writes the DD214, and if they've just been doing what they were trained, who knows? Maybe service members have been working an extra day for YEARS now because nobody has asked this question lol! Maybe I'll ask the lady that's working on my DD214...
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Not sure why you don't trust your HR. You can always ask your HR to help you under stand what you are not clear on and why it is important to you. If things don't turn out as planned, you can always go back to that exact person to have your matter corrected.
AR 635-200 didn't provide a definition of ETS as you stated. Whatever your ETS date is, use the following day as freedom from any current military commitment.
For Terminal leave, you have to count the day the ETS is on as a Terminal Leave day.
For out processing, I recommend you out-process several days prior to taking terminal leave just incase you need to take an action on some matter you hadn't anticipated.
You are not going to be able to swear in to another service on your ETS date, it will have to be the next day.
Hope that helps.
AR 635-200 didn't provide a definition of ETS as you stated. Whatever your ETS date is, use the following day as freedom from any current military commitment.
For Terminal leave, you have to count the day the ETS is on as a Terminal Leave day.
For out processing, I recommend you out-process several days prior to taking terminal leave just incase you need to take an action on some matter you hadn't anticipated.
You are not going to be able to swear in to another service on your ETS date, it will have to be the next day.
Hope that helps.
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SSG (Join to see)
I appreciate the response - it's not that I don't trust HR, it's just odd that literally no one seems to be able to cite any source that clearly defines whether or not the ETS date is your last day in the military or first day as a civilian. Again; I'm not worried about 1 day and I'm not questioning my HR, it's just scientific inquiry at this point and I guess I just have to accept that it's tradition - it's just accepted that the ETS date is the last day in the Army, regardless of any documentation attesting to the same. I'm a guy who likes to dig deep into stuff like this that everyone takes for granted :) Have a great day!
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