NCS is a program of it's own. You cannot transfer from the NCS to Active Duty. Upon completion of your 15 obligation, you will be transfered to SELRES. During this time in SELRES, there are programs you can look into for AD time. FTS, ADT/ADSW. Or you can ask for a release from SELRES to pursue an Active Duty contract. Not always an easy thing to do, but it is possible. Your NCS is appreciated and thank you for serving.
MN2*****- Thanks for your reply. The poster above, 14861333, and myself, and a few others, have been concerned about NCS matters for quite some time now. My interest is on behalf of my son, an NCS Seabee currently at about the mid-point of his 15 months active.
At this point, he very much wants to be active more than NCS will allow, and he doesn't want the break in service which would occur if he reported to SELRES and then tried to get released to active from there. So, I've found a recruiting CPO in my son's homeport city and as soon as he gets back from the current deployment, he's to see this active duty recruiter and start the process of leaving NCS some 8 months before his scheduled separation date. With that much time, and with the experienced assistance of this active duty recruiter, maybe he's got a shot at leaving NCS before he's required to.
I've got to tell you bluntly, this whole NCS matter strikes me as very, very poorly implemented, quite likely due to the information about the true nature of the enlistment program never fully getting down to the recruiter level. Perhaps one only hears from those who have complaints, but I've read many posts from guys who are like 14861333 and my son, guys who weren't adequately informed about their Reservist status and the near-impossibility of becoming an active duty sailor once the Reserve has you. It's shameful, in my opinion, to treat earnest recruits like many of the NCS people have been treated. I don't know how the Reserve expects to retain/re-enlist any of them after the run-around they've gotten in bootcamp, A School, and while active. They've been treated as 2nd class sailors from the get-go, as far as I can tell. I wouldn't blame any of them for leaving the Navy forever as soon as their 24 months of SELRES are over with.
I agree with the statement that they are treated as second class sailors. My son has been trying to get into EOD since August of 2006, when he found out he couldn`t reenlist . He submitted his paperwork when he was released from active duty and into reserve in April. Just found out recently that he has to submit his request to a different office. He is going to keep pursing his dream of getting back into active Navy, but being a NCS person things don`t look good.
As far as the Reserve to Active-Recruiters role goes it is a very small role in the beginning. The recruiter has no impact on wiether an NCS sailor can go active or not. The Recruiter Types up a 368 conditional release request and sends it to the NOSC and then the NOSC sends it through their chain of command which is a day procedure and almost all NOSC commands will approve a 368 request. The problem comes when the request gets sent to Reserve headquarters in Luisianna (I think it is). In 98% of cases they will deny the request there and the reason can usually be summarized in that active duty got their time out of your training and experience and now it is the reserves turn. I had 7 months into my 24 months when I submitted my request and they denied me. But I hear that you have more of a chance for approval as you come closed to your reserve EAOS. And there are quite a few ADSW opportunities in the NAVY. I believe FTS to be a bad idea because you are too locked in and advancement is very very slow. if you are in the active part of your contract no reqruiter can help. there is however a request for extension that you can submit through your command while active but unless you submit it right after ´´A´´ school then your chances of approval start going down. In most cases reserve time is inevitable. The program is how it is. But most commands ignore the special needs NCS sailors have. There is a list on the navyreserve.navy.mil site under NSC sub folder that lists the requirments for a command to prepare a sailor for transition and a guideline of what the future holds for an NCS sailor. I NAVY pulled a good one on me but I still love it. I will resubmit a 368 on my reserve anniversary in march and if denied then I may have to wait till I am out of my contract. But I will sail again. They can take the sailor out of the salt but they can´t take the salt out of the sailor.
