USMC to TACP

[J.Bumstead81]

Gentlemen, let me start off by saying I know the topic of going from the Marine Corps to USAF TACP has been covered but my situation is a little different I guess.
The long and short is I’m currently a Sgt infantryman with 3D Marine Regiment in Hawaii. I have the DD368 in hand ready to be turned into my chain of command, however nobody has been able to answer one question. I’m married and my wife is here in Hawaii with me, my question is basically will she stay in Hawaii while I go to Texas for training? It would make sense to me if she did and we just use the BAH for an apartment out in town while I’m away. Or will I have to pay to ship her and our belongings back to the home of record. The only reason I’m bringing this here is because none of the recruiters knew or seemed to care. Thank you

 

[CDG]

She definitely won't come with you. The pipeline is not a PCS. I'm not sure why she wouldn't be able to just stay in HI. I've never heard that you are forced to move back to your HOR after separating/transferring branches.

 

[Raksasa Kotor]

I strongly suggest having her stay in Hawaii. At most, have her shack up with family on the mainland.

You should be classified by the Air Force as a prior service accession; one of the upsides to that is that you will most likely know what your permanent duty station will be before you go to training. If the Air Force offers to move your wife while you're in training - assuming she's comfortable in Hawaii - I would be very hesitant to do that: your orders could change, you could get hurt/recycled in training, etc.

I was 1/3 STA, but I EAS'd, had a break in service and joined the Air Force after Sept 11.

 

[DA SWO]

She definitely won't come with you. The pipeline is not a PCS. I'm not sure why she wouldn't be able to just stay in HI. I've never heard that you are forced to move back to your HOR after separating/transferring branches.

ETS in-place or move back to HOR are the choices usually offered.
They will move you elsewhere if it is cheaper for the Govt.

 

[J.Bumstead81]

Okay all awesome word. I’d Be happy with her staying in Hawaii, she has a good job and we’re pretty settled here. Thanks for all your input gents I really appreciate it!

 

[BloodStripe]

Wouldn't the Marine Corps owe you one last move? Seems they would move you (and by extension your wife) to your HOR. The Air Force would then PCS you to your first duty station upon completion of training.

 

[Teufel]

Why don’t you apply for CCT? Or MARSOC for that matter; they have plenty of JTACs. I think CCT offers one of the best training pipelines out there. I ran into several CCT Airmen in my career and they always impressed me.

 

[J.Bumstead81]

Well I spoke to the monitor the other day and they won’t release me to be a jtac with Marsoc. I guess they’re short on 0341 sergeants. I’ve been looking at CCT and SOWT but I think TACP would be a better transition because I have FO experience and the wife’s cool with me going for TACP but a little standoffish on the length of the pipeline for CCT.

 

[Hillclimb]

Too add onto what Teufel said

You can get to a team as a CSO, and get schooled to be a JTAC on the team, if that's what interest you. Nobody here just wears one hat.

 

[J.Bumstead81]

Yeah I have some a buddies there now for ITC and one going through A&S. I went back in August and ended up tearing my labrum in good ol phase two.

 

[Teufel]

Yeah I have some a buddies there now for ITC and one going through A&S. I went back in August and ended up tearing my labrum in good ol phase two.

You should be careful. An injury at ITC or A&S puts you back in the infantry. An injury in the TACP pipeline puts you somewhere in the Air Force doing something you probably don’t want to do given your current MOS.

Every Recon team also has a JTAC.

 

[J.Bumstead81]

That’s a very valid point, and something I’ve thought a lot about. At this point I’m doing physical therapy which seems to be helping. I’ve looked a little bit into recon only because we had a few in my class, good dudes overall bunch of damn fish in the pool. And the pool like most people is where I was honestly the weakest. I’m comfortable in the water, just not that fast compared to some people.

 

[jsamhake]

Anyone hear back from this guy? Trying to see if the whole DD368 gig actually went through or not.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

Anyone hear back from this guy? Trying to see if the whole DD368 gig actually went through or not.

He has not logged on since May 2018.

To add -

@jsamhake I deleted the intro post you put in another member’s intro. You need to complete your own please; also, do not ask members to respond with help within your intro post....they are for ‘welcomes’ only.