my husband is in korea and his pcs date is nov. 4 they already cut him orders and he started clearing 3 days ago. he has 10 months left on this contract. he plans to reenlist but wants to do it at his next duty station so he can reclass as well, however they have said he has to reenlist at his current duty station in order to pcs, and they can only reenlist him for the same mos for 2 years. is there anyway to get around this? his retention officer said he could possibly reenlist at the same mos for 2 years and reclass when he goes to NDS. i dont want him stuck in korea for another year and i want to make sure he can reclass.. this retention officer isnt giving him enough information and we dont want to get screwed. please help and TIA

What's going on here is a conflict between two different army regulations. Your husband currently does not meet the requirements to PCS from Korea (12 months remaining on contract + leave and travel time), as soon as he signs into his next duty station he must do 12 months there before he is eligible to PCS again. When a soldier reenlists to change his PMOS, he will be reassigned in his new PMOS to which ever vacancy exists in the military for that new MOS which results in a PCS move. You can only do one PCS move in one year.

But if he reenlists to change his PMOS now, he will have to remain in Korea until 30 days prior to his school start date. This is because the Army will not PCS him to a new duty station for only a few months while he is awaiting his school date.

And soldiers are normally only offered the option to reclass through a reenlistment contract on their 1st reenlistment. Once he has reenlisted, he will only be offered the option to reclass if his current PMOS is critically overstrength.

So, if he does the 2 year contract to leave Korea on 4 Nov, he probably won't be offered the chance to change his MOS on his next reenlistment.

So he needs to decide which is better, spend a few extra months in Korea or probably lose the chance to reclass.

I know it's rough on the family and soldier, I did 3 unaccompanied tours in Korea myself.

But this is probably his only chance to change his MOS.

They will involuntary extend your husband in Korea until ETS unless he reenlists. You have to be able to do a full tour at the next duty station before you are PCS eligible. I should know I spent almost two years there because of the same reason in 2nd ID. If your husband is going to stay in and doesn't like his current MOS, stick to the reclass enlistment even if its a few more weeks/months in the land of the morning calm.

If you haven't been keeping up with the news about military force strength, the Army is going to get rid of 50,000 in the next year so being offered any chance to stay in is a good thing.


There is a way around the involuntary extension but consider it the nuclear option and I would strongly advise against considering or using it: AR 600-200 sign a bar to reenlistment and request discharge. It closes every future door with the military, any branch automatic RE4.

ok so he is going to see retention tomorrow.. do you think it would be better to re-enlist for NDS and try to re-class at the beginning of the next fiscal year.. his mos currently is 91b i believe.. all wheeled mechanic and on the milper scale its over-strength, trying to re-class to 68x which is under.. he doesnt want to miss the opportunity to get this mos and if he has to extend to get it then ok..

Its semantics, if he reenlists for a new MOS he will be extended in Korea in his current unit until its time to outprocess to attend AIT for the new MOS which will be less time than if he is involuntarily extended until his ETS date.

As I stated before, the Army is reducing headcount by a minimum of 50,000 bodies starting this year so you will need concrete plans which in my honest opinion would include locking in a contract for the best solution as soon as possible. You can play "what if", but be cognoscente that you might loose options over time as more folks are faced with the reclass or separation choice.

I'm sorry if this was already said, but you're wrong about the 12 months left thing to PCS. It's 6 months. I ETS in Dec '12 and I PCS from Korea in January. Yes, I have orders and have already spoken to my HRC rep.

1. AR 614-30 Table 6-1 Rule 1, 2 and 6 apply.
2. The question the OP asks is about Reenlistment - not PCS eligiblity. Yes soldiers in a Dependent restricted tour need only 6 months (plus leave and travel) to be eligible to PCS back to the states. But once there, they fall under a different Army Regulation that states they must complete 12 months on station prior to PCSing again (if on initial enlitstment contract only)and that includes reenlisting for another MOS school. A soldier on their second or subsequent reenlistment must do 24 months on station to be eligible to PCS again.

3. Cozi you need to read Army Regulations prior to stating someone is incorrect. Yes, you are eligible under Rule 9 to PCS and so were placed on assignment and given your PCS orders. Once you arrive in the states and go to Reenlist a completely different set of Army Regulations will apply to you and to the OP's husband.

4. This was my job for 18 of my 24 years on Active Duty and I spent 3 unaccompanied and one accompanied tour in Korea. Hovey twice, Casey once and Younsan once.