bogatyr said:
This is a long way in the future, but I always feel it good to plan ahead.
1. When your commitment is up, will the military pay for you to move to your next job? I realize that is kind of a silly question, but what if your last year is in Landstuhl?
2. Also, my wife recently spoke to an ex-military physician spouse who said that in their last year of obligation they didn't receive any of their physician bonus pay/specialty pay, etc. Is that true? Or is she crazy? Thanks.
1. Some of the "old timers" may correct me on this, but I believe the situation is that the military will pay to relocate you to a distance equivalent to the distance to your "home of record." That's where you are officially a resident of as far as the army is concerned. Think of it as your official "state of residence" (i.e., where you are registered to vote, licenced to drive, own property, pay state income tax, etc). It's usually, although not always, where you were living when you came on active duty, but you can change it over time as you move around.
When you ETS (that's Army language for "finally get the hell out"), the Army will pay for your last move to your new home OR back to your home of record, whichever is cheaper. For example, let's say that when you get out of the Army you're stationed at Ft Bragg NC, your new civilian job is in San Francisco, but your home of record is St Louis. Since the distance to St Louis is shorter, you'd only be covered as far as St Louis and have to eat the difference. So I guess the idea is to maximize the distance to your home of record.
2. She's not crazy, just mildly deluded. You will get MOST of your bonuses, but whether you get all of them depends on when during the year you leave. Every year of your payback time you will have to sign a new service agreement to get your bonuses; one of the major doc bonuses (either ISP or MSP, I forget which one) runs from July to July, so if you expect to get it during your last year, you're obligated to stay on active duty until 30 June. This is OK for most docs because they began their active duty with residency on 1 July. However, the other major bonus is paid based on an October to October period, meaning that if you want to get it, you are obligated to hang around for an extra 3 months or so. So, since I plan to flee ASAP (and also plan to do a civilian fellowship starting in July), I can't obligate myself to stick around until October, so I kiss about $15,000 goodbye.
RMD 1-4-23
So although DH will have served in his specialty for a full four years, he was only paid three specialty bonuses.
