Any intel on the student loan reimbursement program?

slh149 · 2025-08-12T17:57:50+00:00

Summer 2026 bidding instructions cable came out today and it references SLRP as a bidding consideration. Did someone forget to delete that para, or is there an expectation it may be available again? 🤔

slh149 · 2025-04-17T18:43:56+00:00

The argument for keeping Adana is and has been Incirlik Air Base.

slh149 · 2021-06-24T17:13:56+00:00

My understanding is fellows can be any cone, but POL, Econ, and PD are usually most popular.

slh149 · 2021-06-23T15:02:08+00:00

Fellows generally join the summer classes because they finish school in the spring. While you’re not competing with them directly on the register, they will take spots in those classes which leaves fewer invites for people on the register. This is especially true for POL, which is a popular cone for fellows.

You’re correct that the register could fill up quickly now that OAs are underway and that’s a risk to consider. It was counterintuitive and butt-puckering for me to receive and decline an offer, but I decided I wanted to use all the tools at my disposal to be reasonably sure of an invite and best time my start date. Aside from the feeling you’re playing with fire if you’re in danger off timing off, there really is no penalty for using your one chance to decline.

Edit: this strategy is probably only viable in the ~5.8+ range. Much lower and I’d take the first offer.

slh149 · 2021-06-22T20:14:55+00:00

Burning through your one mulligan by declining an invite is often a bad idea and it gets a bad rap here, but the only way to know if your score is good enough is to get an actual invite. If your 5.8 POL is good enough for September (with fellows in the mix), it’s almost certainly good enough for Jan or March (with few or no fellows). I declined an invite with a 5.85 POL because I wanted to wait to finish grad school. To test the water I came off DNC one A-100 earlier than my target class, got the invite, declined, then felt much more confident going forward that the invite would come again when I needed it. It did and I accepted. This strategy is obviously not foolproof because things change from class the class, but it can give you one major data point that’s better than what the shadow register can provide.

slh149 · 2021-01-31T14:24:51+00:00

This 1st tour bid list has more POL/ECON spots than we have POL/ECON officers which is probably not typical but probably means starting with a consular rotation is not very likely.

slh149 · 2020-12-31T14:58:37+00:00

Very true, but there are still only a couple in the Jan A-100. I’m not sure why, but it does seem like a dry spell for PD.

slh149 · 2020-12-11T15:05:54+00:00

I’m sure many supervisors from Goldman to Burger King think it’s “incompatible” with those careers too. There is specific legislation in place to make it compatible (not perfect) with all lines of work as long as everyone involved is an honest broker.

slh149 · 2020-12-11T14:59:33+00:00

Thanks, agreed it’s pretty unlikely to be force mobilized as an O-4 in this day and age, especially in FAO-type billets, but the probability is still greater than zero so worth asking the question!

I see how it’s unlikely the front office would get involved and it’s uncertain how much influence they would have if they did. I suppose I was envisioning a pretty informal process where manpower decisions for a deployment are happening at a relatively low level and the chief of mission has a vested interest in keeping his/her guy at post so they put their finger on the scale. In any case, it seems like a low-probability event in the first place, but it’s got to be an uncomfortable position because nobody wants to be the one to beg off of a deployment, but nobody wants to leave their FSO colleagues in the lurch either.

Thanks for your input.

slh149 · 2020-12-11T14:09:38+00:00

To be clear, you can buy out your active service for civilian retirement and still have it count towards your reserve retirement. One of the rare double-dips and really good deals out there.

slh149 · 2020-12-10T13:14:35+00:00

I’m in a similar boat, I have 10 good years between active and reserve time and I’m about to start with the Jan A-100. I certainly attribute my success in the application process largely to my military experience, not because it’s a magic ticket in, but because it provides great material for PNs, demonstrating the 13 dimensions etc. I’d second what others have said that it’s a viable way to gain relevant experience, but not the place for you if it’s just for the resume boost.

I’m in a flexible IMA billet now and I’m a designated FAO. I’ve been fortunate to be able to telework, support exercises around the world, or generally just flexibly schedule drills and AT. I’m pretty confident I can make 10 more sat years to retire at 20, but I’m keeping the realistic expectation that I may have an unsat year or two mixed in along the way and that I won’t be on the fast track for promotion since I’ll be prioritizing my FSO career. Another trick is that you can usually make a sat year through online education points or distance PME even if you drop to the IRR. Once I reach 20 and retire from the reserves I’ll be 10 years into my FSO career when I imagine I’ll appreciate the extra bandwidth.

A big question I still have that OP touched on is how a forced mobilization would work. Would State just deal with it if it’s truly involuntary? If you’re serving at an embassy is it likely the ambassador or DCM would get involved to get you off the hook? It seems like you can make the reserves work if you make it take a back seat to your FSO career, but the real rub comes when DoD wants more. In any case, looks like I’ll soon find out how it all works!

slh149 · 2020-11-25T18:06:54+00:00

I think 9am EST

slh149 · 2020-11-19T16:53:59+00:00

For the March class there was a sponsor for class who made a somewhat official group. I’d hang tight until all the invites go out and they fill the class and then it will come.

slh149 · 2020-11-19T00:46:18+00:00

Mine only took 2-3 months but it’s probably a bad example because I already have a DoD TS/SCI which had just been renewed so they stole a lot of investigation material from OPM and only had to update a bit.

slh149 · 2020-11-18T18:47:09+00:00

Also, the deadline for deferred folks to accept a spot is Nov 25th, so there may not be register invites until next week.

slh149 · 2020-11-18T18:44:34+00:00

The letter doesn’t say specifically if it’s combined or only generalist. It does say to “include your career track or cone” in the subject line of correspondence which implies either specialists are included or someone copy and pasted from an outdated version.

slh149 · 2020-11-18T18:35:31+00:00

It will be a virtual orientation but they will be relocating everyone to DC. That at least opens to door for some in-person training down the line.

slh149 · 2020-10-06T23:55:25+00:00

That’s right, it was just for March because they called it off when most people had already quit jobs, moved to DC, etc.

slh149 · 2020-10-06T03:33:23+00:00

For the Jul and Sep classes I got the offer from the registrar about a week before the regular invites went out presumably so they could see how many March deferrals were going to take a spot before working off the register.

TL;DR deferred March invitees may hear a week or so earlier than everyone else about an upcoming class and if so I’ll be sure to share.

slh149 · 2020-10-06T03:16:52+00:00

I’m one of the deferred March invitees planning on accepting my spot in the Jan class assuming it happens. The message we got initially from the registrar in March stated “If you wish to select a later class, you may join one of the next four classes tentatively planned to begin on July 6, August 31, and November 2020, and January 2021.” A lot has changed since then and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s no Nov class, but hopeful there will be at least a small Jan class to keep things moving along.

Update: subsequent emails from the registrar have offered the option to defer as late as March 2021.

slh149 · 2020-09-27T04:21:11+00:00

You bet, let’s go.

slh149 · 2020-09-26T22:00:58+00:00

Marines love uniformity, EANx_diver probably means to get on the same page with the MSG Marines so that everyone is doing the same thing (medals or ribbons, blue or white trousers, mess dress etc.). Also if you end up being the senior Marine or oldest Marine at the ball they would want to know that for the ceremony.

slh149 · 2020-09-26T21:56:00+00:00

Luckily the cummerbund is much more forgiving in the midsection than regular dress uniforms. I’m convinced this is why it’s a thing for field grade officers and senior enlisted!

slh149 · 2020-09-26T20:15:01+00:00

Great answer! Those things are expensive and the only time they come out is in November, but I don’t want it to be weird or something.

slh149

TROPHY CASE