What can you expect when you RCP out of the military?

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 18:22:36 -0500

Response by SrA David Steyer made Jan 6 at 2016 7:06 PM

SrA David Steyer — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 19:06:12 -0500

I hit HYT (RCP) in the USAF. What do you want to know specifically?

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 6 at 2016 8:56 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 20:56:53 -0500

Since you are affected by this RCP, you may qualify for the National Guard or Army Reserve, but must sign a contract in order to receive their separation pay.

However there are two kinds of sep pay; full pay and half pay.
http://www.armyreenlistment.com/separation-pay.html
I would talk to a career counselor right away to find your options whether they be in the Army Reserves or National Guard, don't delay.

Taxes will be withheld from your separation pay, usually at a rate of 20% or 25%. So far as I know, you cannot change the withholding rate. If you overpay your taxes, you will receive a refund when you file your tax return the following year. Taxes will be handled in a similar manner to taxes on a military bonus.

You may be eligible to join the Guard or Reserves after leaving active duty military service, even if you receive separation pay. However, if you go on to retire from the Guard or Reserves, you will be required to pay back your separation pay. DFAS will withhold 40% of your retirement pay until you have paid back the separation pay you received. There is no option for repaying the balance in a lump sum, but you can request that DFAS increase your withholding to speed up your repayment of the separation pay. Note: The VA will only recoup the after-tax amount from your disability payments (for federal taxes already paid). You have already paid taxes on the amount of severance pay received, so the VA will not withhold beyond the amount of money you actually received.
http://www.dfas.mil/retiredmilitary/plan/separation-payments/vsi-ssb-recoupment.html

Federal law requires the VA to withhold compensation pay for veterans separation pay, severance pay, and readjustment pay, less any federal taxes already paid. This applies to both voluntary and involuntary separation pay. So if you accept separation pay and you file a disability claim, you cannot receive VA disability payment until the entire amount is recouped, thereby causing a delay. The DoD Reg for separation pay is over 60 pages long:
http://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/documents/fmr/archive/07aarch/07a_35_Jun10.pdf

RCP in the Guard or Reserves is a bit different provided you are not on a Title 10 AGR tour.

As part of the RCP, it is mandatory now to attend ACAP when separating whether by retirement, ETS,etc. So take advantage of that for resume writing translating your skills to civilian. You can take your GI Bill and convert to Post 9/11, if you considered it.

My suggestion, is look long and hard and highly encourage to continue your service. If you put this much time in, why stop unless you truly feel you just don't want to do this anymore.

Military Compensation: Separation Pay

Many servicemembers involuntarily separated from active duty may be eligible for separation pay.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 12 at 2016 8:19 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 20:19:46 -0500

I want to say thank you to everyone that left me some input. I really appreciate the positive information. After thinking on it I am going to see our local reserve/Guard recruiters this week see if I would qualify to join either organization if I do in fact RCP. Since I still have a few months to make up the points I lost with the new point system and max out. Again thank you all for your input.