When you go AWOL, do they make you sign a counseling?

Reading your original posts as well as your other comments, there are a couple of things to unwind. Based on the questions you’ve asked previously of the community in other posts, it sounds like you contracted for OCS around mid-2021 and failed OCS (or were in danger of failing) in late-2022.

First, if everything you said is accurate, it looks like "there’s plenty of blame to spread around” - yourself included. To paraphrase an old truism, "ignorance is no excuse." I'm not referring to the transfer, I'm referring to the discharge. If the last you engaged with anyone was in ?April? (emails back and forth from the Readiness NCO (RNCO)), and weeks went by without the expected paperwork coming in the mail, then not following up is all on you.

Having said all that, there is a lot on the other side as well.

Obviously, there is a problem with the processing of your discharge. Either it wasn’t submitted, it was and got kicked-back, it’s been sitting on someone’s desk or in their inbox and wasn’t actioned, etc. TODAY you should be on the phone with your old unit to try and get it resolved. Additionally, TODAY you should contact your old unit’s leadership and let them know your situation if you haven’t already done so.

Regarding the unit transfer - If you still have a military obligation (you do), then you can be involuntarily transferred to another unit, however it must be within “reasonable commuting distance” of your residence. The Army (and NGB) still uses the previous “DoD-wide” definition for units that have “normal drill weekends” (MUTA-4 over two days) which is either “50 miles or under 1.5 hours commute” or “100 miles or under 3 hours commute” (one-way) depending on if the unit provides meals and quarters at the IDT site (NGB 600-200 & AR 135-91).

Your comment about the “new unit is 2.5 hours away” indicates it is in the second category or might be more than 100 miles away. If >100 miles or it’s in the second category and the new unit doesn’t provide meals & lodging on drill weekends, then unless you gave written concurrence (not verbal – it must be written), someone screwed-up.

Regarding an “AWOL discharge with bad characterization” – The characterization part is correct in that a Chapter 12 discharge (Unsatisfactory Participation in the Ready Reserve) is normally an Other Than Honorable Discharge. However, there are steps that must be taken to do a Chapter 12 discharge (AR 135-178, Chapter 12), one of which is being classified as having “unsatisfactory performance” according to AR 135-91*. For you, that is the accrual of 9 or more unexcused absences from a training period within a 12-month window (AR 135-1, para 4-12). Keep in mind that each UTA is a training period, so that would happen on the third drill weekend.

The other factors to keep in mind – you were notified of the transfer in August (based on your post) but didn’t receive any correspondence required by the regulation (or left it out of your comments) for unsatisfactory performance. Technically you’ve missed 8 drill periods already, but you should have received official written notification after September’s drill and October’s drill by certified mail – but that’s a distinction you can use if there is a Chapter 12 discharge being processed and not something that’s going to prevent it from being started.

Personally, from the new unit’s point of view, you were given two additional months to straighten things out about your discharge, so I can’t really hold it against the commander for their intransigence as they likely have no knowledge of the situation other than what a Soldier who hasn’t shown up for drills has given. Going back to ownership of your actions (or lack of them) – you should have been on the phone with your old unit back in August, immediately after the call from the new unit, to find out what was going on.

You never mentioned which state you were in, so I’ll give you general advice on who to contact for assistance.

First, continue to attempt to work it out with the unit leadership (new and old) to determine what happened with the separation paperwork and to try and resolve your upcoming drill status. "Continue to" doesn't mean one phone call and you're done. Additionally, as I mentioned above, make sure the Commander of your old unit is aware of your situation by talking with them on the phone, going in person to talk with them on a drill weekend, or some other form of direct communication - someone telling you that they will give the message to the commander doesn't work in this situation.

If nothing comes from the continued interaction with leadership, THEN you can go one of two routes – either contact the state IG (if there isn’t one that you’re under at a lower level) or a “personnel” individual at higher/state headquarters. Which route really depends on how much leadership is working with you to resolve the issue.

If this was something you were actively engaged with from the time the discharge was supposed to happen, then I would suggest state-level leadership – it’s amazing effect the state’s Army Senior Enlisted Advisor has when Soldiers are on the wrong end of bureaucracy … but less so if the Soldier isn’t showing any effort to resolve the issue before it becomes a crisis.

For the state IG, the only reason I would point you that way is because primarily the unit transfer issue - while the 'rest of your situation' is potentially paperwork foul-ups, the assignment is a clear violation of DoD/Army policy and regulations (DoDI 1215.13 & AR 135-91, para 5-5). In addition, you tried to resolve the issue though leadership (that first step I mentioned) and there was a breakdown in processing of your discharge packet that wasn’t able to be resolved by the unit.

Again, you MUST try to resolve this through the unit first – that’s the very first question an IG will normally ask when you contact them.

Keep in mind the facts of the situation and not the “emotional facts”:
- The sequence of events that should have been happening since April regarding you discharge (i.e., the correspondence from your RNCO, turn-in of equipment, etc.)
- You were notified that you were being transferred to a new unit in August (phone call with _____) and informed them of the pending separation. There was no additional follow-up by the unit until the commander called you in November.
- You didn’t pursue it at the time (the discharge was supposed to happen), but the involuntary transfer to the new unit is outside the reasonable commuting distance as defined by NGB and Army policy and you never gave verbal approval let alone a written one.
- You are working with leadership (now) to see what caused this situation. You were assured the discharge paperwork was pending back in ______ and a transfer to another unit should have never happened (especially one so far away).
- Acknowledge your part in the situation for being passive about the discharge actions (no, you’re not responsible for someone not doing their job, but a responsible individual is expected to raise concerns if something isn’t going right) in that you didn’t follow-up. If nothing else, eating a bit of humble pie goes a long way to establishing legitimacy.
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* DoDI 1215.13 (Ready Reserve Member Participation Policy) - https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/121513p.pdf
* AR 135-178 (ARNG/USAR Enlisted Administrative Separations) - https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/ARN30704-AR_135-178-000-WEB-1.pdf
* NGR 600-200 (Enlisted Personnel Management) - https://www.ngbpmc.ng.mil/Portals/27/Publications/NGR/NGR%20600-200_20210325_v2.pdf
* AR 135-91 (Service Obligations, Methods of Fulfillment, Participation Requirements, and Enforcement Provisions) - https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/ARN8277_AR135-91_Web_FINAL.pdf

Bottom line is, you signed a contract and you obligated yourself for 8 years. This does not change until you have paperwork stating otherwise (has nothing to do with failing to complete OCS). You cannot go to the IRR without an MOS/AOC. It does not sound like you have been discharged. You can either go to drill and schedule training requirements for a MOS or you can continue to do nothing and let your new command chapter you out for unsatisfactory participation (it was in your contract).

You are in until such time as you have received Discharge Orders. Until you receive said discharge orders, you are obligated/required to attend Battle Training Assemblies.

Not having uniforms is not a valid reason to not attend Battle Assembly. There is a system in place to get you new uniforms.

You receive a "U" for Unsatisfactory Participation/Unexcused Absence for every portion of BTA you miss. A standard 2 Day BTA has 4 Pay Lines; morning and afternoon for each day. You miss one of those portions, you get a "U." If you miss the entire 2-Day BTA, you have accrued 4 'U's." You accrue 9 "U's," the Commander begins the Chapter packet for Separation. However, before you even get to the 9th "U," there is some form of attempt to contact you. This includes, but not limited to, personal visit, email, phone call, certified letter.

If you are not reached, or you do not respond to the attempts of contact, you can be chaptered persona non grata and receive a Discharge that would possibly not be conducive to your future.

Since you listed very little information in your post, I would venture an assessment that you and your two units all dropped the ball on this.