my son has obligated service of almost 2 years after his A school. I have a picture of him swearing in on the Arizona Memorial for his extension...today he went in to work and found out that somehow there is no obligated service, that somehow someone did not do the correct paperwork? and he will be able to leave at the end of his 4 year contract in January. This will require some hard thinking on his part, thinking he thought he had more time to do. I don't think he planned on making a career of the CG as much as he has enjoyed his service thus far....however he acknowledges he needs a plan before he ops out. Just wondering~ is this unusual for this to happen?

He needs to let his YN know about the discrepancy. If it doesn't get corrected he could be dealing with some serious issues later on.

Ok spoke to my son and he said his YN is the one that gave him the info today. Said he got official paperwork asking if he 1) is planning on staying in 2) definitely getting out or 3) doesn't know. He chose 3 doesn't know as he was completely surprised. This is the second time his obligated service didn't "stick". He extended before he went to A school and then when he arrived in Petaluma there was no record of it so he extended while in Petaluma at A school yet there is no record of it. He says he went online and his official paperwork also has him able to leave the CG at his original contract date. Earlier this year he got his TS clearance, not sure why they would bother if they thought he might be leaving within a year but perhaps there is no connection when they determine who will get that. The entire thing is rather puzzling...

I don't want to speculate on this situation. He needs to work with his command to make sure he's meeting the obligations for his A school.

Gears since he got this info from his YN, and since he doesn't want to have any issues in the future [looking in to possible police or customs work if he doesn't stay in]-How would you suggest he look in to this further?

He should run it by his Chain of Command. If his paperwork ever gets audited (which it can) he could be held accountable for that time. Worst case, he needs to keep copies of EVERYTHING he has as far as extensions, orders, etc. Just in case.

Ok if he did an extension there should be two paper trails. One would be the actual form he filled out stating his intentions and then the actual contract. If somehow both of these were lost TWICE then someone has really messed up somewhere. Also there would be something in Direct Access showing that he has extended. He can try contacting the Pay and Personnel Center's Customer Care Division. More information can be found here http://www.uscg.mil/ppc/ccb/.

He seems genuinely confused over what is going on. I even asked him if it was possible there was someone with the same name! He has always known he would have obligated service, always planned on it...and I know he went to Petaluma as I flew out for his graduation from A school! AND as I said previously I have the picture from his extension on the Arizona Memorial in Hawaii. I am passing on information/ideas you both have suggested

I extended in a-school and it didn't "stick" for me either. I think the YNs there just aren't all together (heck, some of them just graduated and got orders there)

between the last time he extended and now how many times has he checked on this? also since he obligated service prior to a-school (because he had to) that should be stated on his orders. which would be another record. it should also be stated on his orders from a-school to his next unit. i feel the spo needs to be involved in this immediately, not some random yn. but his immediate supervisor should also be helping him out with this, mainly because that's their job. either way does he have copies of any of his extension paperwork? if none of those individuals can't seem to him out, i recommend looking into a bcmr.

well it is 6 weeks since I first posted this so I figured I would update....and the update is..for whatever reason, and whatever paper snafu.there appears to be no record of his obligated service and he has until Oct to decide if he is staying in or not. Unfortunately it appears he doesn't want to make a career of the CG. He has made a lot of new friends and enjoyed the traveling he has done but it looks like he will say his goodbys. I think he may be looking to see if he can extend without re-enlisting for a year but that is about it.

If he is looking at going into law enforcement, I'd recommend he start deciding where he wants to do that and get the process started as soon as he can. Backgrounds can take a while even in civilian LE, and the positions are difficult to come by on top of that.

Why didn't he keep any copies of his extension paperwork? I've never heard of anyone not keeping their own copy. Whether there is a record or not, he owes that time to the service for taking his orders to A school. Is he not talking to his chain of command? This needs to be addressed before it becomes a serious matter. I understand he wants out, but he can't let that prevent him from doing the right thing, which is to talk to his chain and produce his copies of the paperwork.

So what happened and what do you mean by a serious matter? what would happen? how would that person possilbly be responsible for that missed time?

updated-my son did a 1 year extension. 3 weeks after he did that..up pops info regarding obligated service extension...so basically a wash...still in, waiting to see what he gets for a transfer-decision on contract to be made after that...

regardless of whether he transfers or not, or accepts orders or not, they might still make him stay in and fullfill his obligated time from a-school. if this last extension fullfills that then they might make him stay at his current unit or move him somewhere else where he will have less say in the matter.

Bells he is in almost 5 years now. Will be 5 1/2 at end of this enlistment which does cover his obligated time. Guess I will find out what he decides to do some time in January?? I think that is when he will find out his new billet??

The obligated service is from the time of "A" school graduation. You said he swore in for that around July 2013. That would put his 2 years around July 2015.

mkelly-sorry for the confusion. He graduated from A school April[?] 2012. I posted the question in July of 2013 when he was unexpectedly told by his YN that he should start thinking about whether he wanted to stay in, extend, get out. He had expected to serve his obligated service through 2015. For some reason there was confusion about his obligated service