MStryker said:
I am a class B reservist, I successfully CT'd to the RegF. My COS is supposed to be 31 March, I am reading and getting conflicting answers in regards to HHT.
My current MCpl is being a pain, and making it difficult for me to get proper information in regards to HHT as a ResF member going RegF. Most of the relocation directives, literally are so freaking gray. It looks to me that I am covered, however my MCpl is still causing issues.
Most people I speak to say, HHT is allowed prior to COS date, however my MCpl is literally almost trying to force me to wait until my COS date, then go for my HHT. I really don't want to do it, as that is not a whole lot of time for us to get things together. We have a plan that works perfectly if we are leaving on the 31 of March.
Everything I have read in the relocation directive seems to say, in little to no words, that I am eligible. But again the MCpl is causing a lot of headache especially, since she wont read the information I provide.
My CO has approved the dates, should the MCpl just leave it be?
Short answer: Yes, you are absolutely 100% entitled to an HHT.
Long answer: As an Administration Officer/Adjutant at a reserve unit for 3 years, we had several people CT to the RegF and ran into this situation. There are two ways this can be done, but you need to answer 1 question first: are you in the RegF
now, or are you still in the PRes and will become RegF on COS date?
If you are already in the RegF, then it's super simple. The HHT is paid for by Brookfield. YOU arrange everything through the BGRS website, including flights, advance request (get one), etc. Since you are already RegF, conducting your HHT is part of your job, so you CO signs off on it and you just go (no leave required, as some people (albeit rarely) seem to think).
If you are still PRes, it's still paid for by Brookfield, and organized through the BGRS website, but you have to be on contract (i.e. you have to be getting paid) during your HHT. If you are currently class-B, then it's just like being RegF, so just book it and go. If you are currently Class-A, then someone needs to give you Class-A employment over the course of your HHT. Ideally, your gaining unit would pay for it, but I've found (surprisingly) that it is much much harder to get a FIN CODE for pay out of a RegF unit than it is to get one from a PRes unit. So, your own unit could pay for it. 7 days of Class-A pay isn't too much to pay to avoid the headache of trying to get a FIN CODE from someone else to pay for your time while on HHT.
One last thing I will say: just because your COS date is 31 March does not mean you have to have everything figured out and report for duty on March 31st. You are allowed to report for duty (RFD) up to 30 days either side of your COS (with the concurrence of both COs, but they would have to have a very good reason to say no). If it works out that you can't report for duty at your new unit until after your COS date, then you just end up working at your current PRes unit, doing whatever odd jobs they might have for you until you start your move to your new place of duty.
If you have any questions at all about moves, or any issues with grumpy clerk MCpls, let me know.
**(if someone could explain this to me, it'd be great, because it makes no sense: when you start asking for FIN CODES for
things that make sense, you get very different responses from RegF units compared to PRes units. RegF units seem to have no sweet clue how to handle it and are like "oh, I'm not sure about this, is this within regulation? we'll have to staff a memo to our CO for his approval. Hey, CO came back, he needs more information, what's this about again? We can't just be sending FIN CODES out to just anybody, who's approval do YOU have for this? Besides, we can't spend money on this; it's not in the budget that was approved 6 months ago, and we can't be changing our budget willy-nilly like that!". Conversely, when you talk to a reserve unit about it, they're just like "yep, make sense, we just texted our CO with a follow up email and it's been approved. Here's your FIN CODE.")