Does the time you are in DEP count in your total enlistment?

[Dan]

My friend said that the time you can be in DEP, counts towards your total enlistment time. Thats incorect right?

[Norm357]

Dan, The year you spend in DEP does NOT cout toward your time in service. Your friend is wrong or misinformed.
Norm

[EricTheBald]

The clock starts ticking the day you get on the bus.

[zander_zye]

Yep - Eric and Norm are correct. The DEP allows the service to schedule the start dates of training and gives the recruit the time to ac***ate to the military (in my case, to party party party like there was no tomorrow - showed up to the bus hung over and shaved bald - lol)

Ooops - corrected my post. I wanted to say that the time starts when you are on the bus, not when you enlist in the DEP program.

[Norm357]

NO NO NO DEP does not count. I enlisted at 16 during my senior year in high school through DEP and it does not count toward time in service. How can you accrue time in grade or service when you are not even there?
Norm


edited to add Eric is correct. THe clock starts ticking when you get on the bus.

[tcsd1236]

I think there is a limit where it doesn't count and
how long the deferred time period is; the year I enlisted , I signed on Feb 6th and was on the bus March 1, and all of February counted towards my time, even though we're only talking a matter of a few weeks......

[Dan]

Originally posted by Norm357
How can you accrue time in grade or service when you are not even there?

Thats what I told the kid, but he refuses to accepet it, he also said that they pay you while you are in dep:rolleyes:

[vadep]

Actually, it does count.... sort of.

Take the Marine Corps for example.... your basic enlistment is eight years, 4 years active duty, 4 years inactive reserves. The time spent in the delayed entry program counts towards inactive reserve time, but NOT your active duty time. I hope that makes sense...

[Barenaked]

Vadep, You can choose to serve your IA, on Active duty so would it count then?

I never thought it counted towards anything. I never understood the whole program. I just signed up and left.

[vadep]

USCG no....

Let me see if I can explain better....

Most people are under the assumption that a basic enlistment is for four years, all of which is served on active duty. This is simply not true. The enlistment is for 8 years, 4 of which are on active duty, followed by 4 years of inactive reserve time. The maximum allowable time that you can spend in the delayed entry program is 364 days (just shy of 1 year).

If I enlisted today (June 2003), and spent no time in the delayed entry program, I would leave for boot camp. This begins my active duty time. I would be due to EAS in June of 2007. From June of 2007 until June of 2011 I would technically still be in the inactive reserves (this requires no action whatsoever, but allows me to be "re-activated" in case of war.) Had I been in the delayed entry program, the time spent is subtracted from what I what have to serve upon completion of active duty.

If you spend a year in the DEP prior to boot camp, you will only owe three years in the inactive reserves upon completion of active duty.

So yes, it counts, sort of.... :rolleyes:

Hope this helps.

[zander_zye]

When I joined, I was required to spend six years active with no years in the reserves (of course I joined in the late 70's so things might have changed). My 9 months in DEP counted towards nothing....

[mcsap]

I went into delayed enlistment in May of '78 and actually began basic training in Oct '78. The 4 months of DEP counted towards the automatic time based pay raises that the USAF offered. Don't know if they still count that way or not.

[summer]

Perhaps, some of you had that built into your contracts. I'll have to confer with my buddy who is a retention NCO on this subject to be factual.

Until then, I'm going to say based on my experience in the Military, the delayed entry program does not reduce any Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR) time. Even though you are sworn in on the delayed entry program, you still have an option to back out. It's not until you are sworn in a second time at your MEP station, before heading to basic, that you are on your 8 year clock.

Once your 4 year tour of duty is completed, then you are on what is call IRR (Inactive Ready Reserve). The Military has the option of recalling you during this period of time.

[kelly]

No it does not count against your enlistment time but it does count against your inactive reserve obligation time because when you enlist you also agree to some period of inactive reserve time once you EAS. Whatever time you spent in the DEP will be deducted from that time.

[knucklehead]

This rumor started mainly because the service members retiring these days can count their DEP time for pay.....

example:

Joined DEP in June 83...went to boot camp in Nov 83...retired in Nov 03

I would actually have 20 years of active service but 20 yrs 5 months for pay which would give you a little more in retirement...

Those of us young bucks ( I have been in 10 yrs.) don't get that benefit anymore.....

but the rumor still goes on.....damn sea lawyers