Sanctuary

[Iloveturtles]

I'm in the Coast Guard also and in the same boat as you, I'm prior service Navy, 7 Yrs Active and 5 Yrs Reserves. 10.5 Yrs Active Coast Guard, I spoke to a 12 year Marine JAG and he said I was protected under Sanctuary title 10 when I hit my 18 year mark and if my Expected Active Duty Termination Date was later then your 20 Yr mark then HYT doesn't effect you and that I was golden. I then called Coast Guard Legal to verify and I was told that USCG members are not protected under Title 10 Sanctuary, which makes no sense to me because every other branch recognizes it, but we are different, so I want to talk to others and see what they have heard, legal is still checking for me on the HYT part because the Marine told me all HYT keeps me from doing is REENLISTING and BEING PROMOTED, Also legal told me that because I was prior service, that I have 22.5 years Active/Reserve time in and I will have over 19.5 years Active Duty on 1SEP2016 when I'm due to be processed for discharge that it could make the Coast Guard look bad. The Alcoast message 039/14 paragraph 8 talks about TERA but as of now only Officers qualify for that and I don't think it will ever apply to the Enlisted community. Please reply back if you know anything this subject and how it applies to the Coast Guard.

 

[Stephen1]

I don't have a definitive answer for either of you but I wanted to comment on ILoveTurtles' remarks.
- You mention the length of your combined active/non-active duty time. For the purposes you are asking about, only the active duty time counts. You would count the entire time toward a Reserve retirement. You might be eligible for a Reserve retirement which, while not granting immediate full benefits (no immediate pay or medical) would provide full benefits after age 60. Check with your legal office about this.
- You use the term "Sanctuary" which usually is applied to members of a reserve component who are on active duty. I could not tell from your post whether you are USCG or USCGR (yes, you can be USCGR on active duty). 10 USC 12686 "Reserves on active duty within two years of retirement eligibility: limitation on release from active duty" is the applicable section for members of a reserve component.
- Flag Voice 410 states: " The Coast Guard received authority to implement a limited temporary early retirement authorization (TERA) for enlisted members from 2013-2018. The use of TERA for members separated by HYT who have accumulated over 15 years time in service, but less than the 20 required to secure a standard retirement, is being analyzed and amplifying information will be provided in future strategic communications." So while there is no program for enlisted yet, the authority was been granted and HQ is working on how to implement it.
- And don't forget, you can always request a waiver to complete that last 6 months.

My experience with military lawyers is generally good, however, there are nuance differences between requirements for DoD and requirements for the USCG/USCGR. Many requirements are the same but some are different. Also, some of the active duty lawyers are not always conversant with requirements that apply to reserves. Good luck and keep plugging away on this.

 

[Iloveturtles]

I don't have a definitive answer for either of you but I wanted to comment on ILoveTurtles' remarks.
- You mention the length of your combined active/non-active duty time. For the purposes you are asking about, only the active duty time counts. You would count the entire time toward a Reserve retirement. You might be eligible for a Reserve retirement which, while not granting immediate full benefits (no immediate pay or medical) would provide full benefits after age 60. Check with your legal office about this.
- You use the term "Sanctuary" which usually is applied to members of a reserve component who are on active duty. I could not tell from your post whether you are USCG or USCGR (yes, you can be USCGR on active duty). 10 USC 12686 "Reserves on active duty within two years of retirement eligibility: limitation on release from active duty" is the applicable section for members of a reserve component.
- Flag Voice 410 states: " The Coast Guard received authority to implement a limited temporary early retirement authorization (TERA) for enlisted members from 2013-2018. The use of TERA for members separated by HYT who have accumulated over 15 years time in service, but less than the 20 required to secure a standard retirement, is being analyzed and amplifying information will be provided in future strategic communications." So while there is no program for enlisted yet, the authority was been granted and HQ is working on how to implement it.
- And don't forget, you can always request a waiver to complete that last 6 months.

My experience with military lawyers is generally good, however, there are nuance differences between requirements for DoD and requirements for the USCG/USCGR. Many requirements are the same but some are different. Also, some of the active duty lawyers are not always conversant with requirements that apply to reserves. Good luck and keep plugging away on this.

Hope I'm doing this properly Stephen1, I shouldn't have even mentioned my Navy Reserve time, I have 17.5 years Active Duty not Reserve, when I make it to my 18 years of AD service. I should be eligible for Sanctuary Title 10 Ss 1176 (Ref to Regular Active Duty). CG legal told me that they don't recognize Sanctuary but if you look at Alcoast 246/14 you see that they do, I realize in the message they are referring to reservists but how would it be different for me? I know I'm AD but it's not logical that the CG could let a reservist on AD orders stay in past 18 and not a Regular Active Duty guy. I'm not sure how HYT can play into all this, I read the Alcoast 39/14 about TERA but I'm not very optimistic about it being offered to the enlisted community because if the were, why didn't they offer it to us when they did for the officers and when I speak to the Gold Badges they all tell me the same story, it starts with "what I'm going to tell you your not going to like". Stephen1 thank you for responding and hope I cleared up some of the confusion. If you hear anything else or have any other comment please share.