pay entry basic date . . . help

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Thyroid Storm
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Hey guys, after finishing up ROTC and getting commisioned, I went IRR (individual ready reserve) for four years during med school, although I didn't do HPSP (just did an ed delay). Now that I'm coming back onto active duty, the whole pay scale thing is confusing me. I've heard mixed reports about how the reserve time will count toward the basic pay scale. Nobody really seems to know anything though. I found some documents, and I was wondering if anybody with some experience in this area could confirm my interpretation:

The document: DOD 7000.14-R, VOLUME 7A, CHAPTER 1 “BASIC PAY”
states that any active or inactive time in the Army Reserve counts as a "credible service period."

So, does that translate into me getting four years of service when calculating my pay scale? Or does the reserve time add up differently?

Also, there is some form called "DOD Instruction #6000.13" which states that you can get year for year credit during medical school. However, are those DOD instrutions things actually official? Or are they sort of like policies that may or may not be implemented???

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So, I did the HPSP thing after 5 years active and a couple IRR. The way I read the regulations is that IRR years count year for year. Example: get commissioned as a CPT after med school, and you'll be a CPT with 4 years of "active federal service." This has borne out in practice... I actually drilled as an IRR soldier before medical school and was paid as a CPT with 6 years (5 active, 1 IRR). Time spent on HPSP does not count for pay.

Other issues... you may get an adjustment of your pay date for promotions as well, but it doesn't sound like you qualify. They give 1/2 year for every non-medical year of active service. In this case, IRR doesn't help you get promoted sooner. There is also a health professionals pay entry date (HPPED) from which they calculate some bonuses... forget the acronym, but it's $1,000 as an intern, $5,000 for those with < 6 years of medical service, etc. Neither previous IRR time or active duty time counts for this, only active medical service counts.

To recap:
Time in service (longevity) for base pay: IRR+active+reserve (no HPSP)
Time in service for promotion: medical time + 0.5*prior active service
Time in service for health bonus pay (HPPED): time spent as MD only

The year for year credit for medical school that you mentioned is wrapped into the "calculation" that makes you a CPT on graduation instead of a 2LT. However, additional health degrees (MA,MS,PhD) can add on top of that--and that is year for year. A prior service MD/PhD could be commissioned as a MAJ theoretically.

Does that help?

(My wife works at Human Resources Command, St Louis--right next to all the healthcare guys)

--Patrick
 
Sledge2005 said:
Hey guys, after finishing up ROTC and getting commisioned, I went IRR (individual ready reserve) for four years during med school, although I didn't do HPSP (just did an ed delay). Now that I'm coming back onto active duty, the whole pay scale thing is confusing me. I've heard mixed reports about how the reserve time will count toward the basic pay scale. Nobody really seems to know anything though. I found some documents, and I was wondering if anybody with some experience in this area could confirm my interpretation:

The document: DOD 7000.14-R, VOLUME 7A, CHAPTER 1 “BASIC PAY”
states that any active or inactive time in the Army Reserve counts as a "credible service period."

So, does that translate into me getting four years of service when calculating my pay scale? Or does the reserve time add up differently?

Also, there is some form called "DOD Instruction #6000.13" which states that you can get year for year credit during medical school. However, are those DOD instrutions things actually official? Or are they sort of like policies that may or may not be implemented???

copy and pasted from another forum


This is the response I got from CPT Watson who is in his first year of residency:

"When you graduate (and have no prior service), you are paid as an O3 with basically no years in service. The ADT you did will count; however, you only do ADT for a matter of weeks during your four years in school, so it is negligible when you graduate. For those with prior service, their years will count. If they were enlisted, their pay grade will be O3-E, and they will get credit for however many years they served. If they were an officer, they will be O3 with credit for however many years they served, so they will also be eligible for promotion earlier. We have a PGY-2 in our program who is already a Major b/c he had so many years prior service. I hope this helps out."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Russell W. Lake
Charleston, SC
 
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armyguy said:
So, I did the HPSP thing after 5 years active and a couple IRR. The way I read the regulations is that IRR years count year for year. Example: get commissioned as a CPT after med school, and you'll be a CPT with 4 years of "active federal service." This has borne out in practice... I actually drilled as an IRR soldier before medical school and was paid as a CPT with 6 years (5 active, 1 IRR). Time spent on HPSP does not count for pay.

Other issues... you may get an adjustment of your pay date for promotions as well, but it doesn't sound like you qualify. They give 1/2 year for every non-medical year of active service. In this case, IRR doesn't help you get promoted sooner. There is also a health professionals pay entry date (HPPED) from which they calculate some bonuses... forget the acronym, but it's $1,000 as an intern, $5,000 for those with < 6 years of medical service, etc. Neither previous IRR time or active duty time counts for this, only active medical service counts.

To recap:
Time in service (longevity) for base pay: IRR+active+reserve (no HPSP)
Time in service for promotion: medical time + 0.5*prior active service
Time in service for health bonus pay (HPPED): time spent as MD only

The year for year credit for medical school that you mentioned is wrapped into the "calculation" that makes you a CPT on graduation instead of a 2LT. However, additional health degrees (MA,MS,PhD) can add on top of that--and that is year for year. A prior service MD/PhD could be commissioned as a MAJ theoretically.

Does that help?

(My wife works at Human Resources Command, St Louis--right next to all the healthcare guys)

--Patrick

during OBC a couple years ago...there was a pediatric nephrologist who decided to join the army...don't know how long the guy was in practice..however, he came in as an O5/LTC
 
GMO2003 said:
copy and pasted from another forum


This is the response I got from CPT Watson who is in his first year of residency:

"When you graduate (and have no prior service), you are paid as an O3 with basically no years in service. The ADT you did will count; however, you only do ADT for a matter of weeks during your four years in school, so it is negligible when you graduate. For those with prior service, their years will count. If they were enlisted, their pay grade will be O3-E, and they will get credit for however many years they served. If they were an officer, they will be O3 with credit for however many years they served, so they will also be eligible for promotion earlier. We have a PGY-2 in our program who is already a Major b/c he had so many years prior service. I hope this helps out."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Russell W. Lake
Charleston, SC


But isn't the above in regard only to those who did HPSP? There is a specific clause that states time spent during HPSP (and USHUS) does not count toward time in service when calculating your base pay. I thinks thats why there is so much confusion about people who go to med school, but don't go via hpsp or ushus.
 
armyguy said:
So, I did the HPSP thing after 5 years active and a couple IRR. The way I read the regulations is that IRR years count year for year. Example: get commissioned as a CPT after med school, and you'll be a CPT with 4 years of "active federal service." This has borne out in practice... I actually drilled as an IRR soldier before medical school and was paid as a CPT with 6 years (5 active, 1 IRR). Time spent on HPSP does not count for pay.

Other issues... you may get an adjustment of your pay date for promotions as well, but it doesn't sound like you qualify. They give 1/2 year for every non-medical year of active service. In this case, IRR doesn't help you get promoted sooner. There is also a health professionals pay entry date (HPPED) from which they calculate some bonuses... forget the acronym, but it's $1,000 as an intern, $5,000 for those with < 6 years of medical service, etc. Neither previous IRR time or active duty time counts for this, only active medical service counts.

To recap:
Time in service (longevity) for base pay: IRR+active+reserve (no HPSP)
Time in service for promotion: medical time + 0.5*prior active service
Time in service for health bonus pay (HPPED): time spent as MD only

The year for year credit for medical school that you mentioned is wrapped into the "calculation" that makes you a CPT on graduation instead of a 2LT. However, additional health degrees (MA,MS,PhD) can add on top of that--and that is year for year. A prior service MD/PhD could be commissioned as a MAJ theoretically.

Does that help?

(My wife works at Human Resources Command, St Louis--right next to all the healthcare guys)

--Patrick


Thanks a lot, that makes sense. I didn't drill while doing IRR (since I was in med school), but the regs sound like it should still count year for year.
 
Sledge2005 said:
Hey guys, after finishing up ROTC and getting commisioned, I went IRR (individual ready reserve) for four years during med school, although I didn't do HPSP (just did an ed delay). Now that I'm coming back onto active duty, the whole pay scale thing is confusing me. I've heard mixed reports about how the reserve time will count toward the basic pay scale. Nobody really seems to know anything though. I found some documents, and I was wondering if anybody with some experience in this area could confirm my interpretation:

The document: DOD 7000.14-R, VOLUME 7A, CHAPTER 1 “BASIC PAY”
states that any active or inactive time in the Army Reserve counts as a "credible service period."

So, does that translate into me getting four years of service when calculating my pay scale? Or does the reserve time add up differently?

Also, there is some form called "DOD Instruction #6000.13" which states that you can get year for year credit during medical school. However, are those DOD instrutions things actually official? Or are they sort of like policies that may or may not be implemented???


An email sent out to the interns at Wally World said that if you are ROTC only with no HPSP or USUHS, then you are a CPT with 4 years service.

Don't know if your finance people will recognize that down there though. Seems like every place is different. Apparantly everyone down in Eisenhower got the Dislocation allowance at the start of the year, but up here, only those with prior service, USUHS, or with families got it. Those coming onto AD for the first time are not entitled...or so we are told.

DTN
 
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