Correspondence Course Review

[lostSeaBee]

Any updates on getting points added to our records? I submitted some on November 3, 2015. When I called on February 3, 2016 they had not been entered. So it looks like Michael is correct and it is taking 180 days. Is there any way to tell if they received the fax?

 

[atmahan]

lostSeaBee,

I sent my certificates in mid-December and last week (early Feb) I also called NPC Customer Service to see if they were posted.

They were not part of my total Points count but the person on the phone did say that they received them (she could somehow see that on her computer) and reminded me that NPC has 180 to post them.

The way I found out is by simply asking if there had been any recent activity regarding any Points for me and from that she found the entry that told her that they were received.

It could also mean that the points are entered but will not calculate until the end of the Anniversary Year?

Does anyone know?

 

[atmahan]

Are there any courses I can do WITHOUT a CAC? Thanks

Greatly appreciate the help. Where on NETC are the actual courses? Poked around what seemed like the entire site with no actual correspondence courses to be found. Thanks

Its not the NETC site but the NRTC site (there should be a link from the NETC site to NRTC).

There is also NWC and MarineNet on the non-CAC side.

 

[lostSeaBee]

Thanks that is helpful. The person who took the call for me recently seemed pretty unaware of how the point capture system worked. My anniversary year just ended last week, so I don't think they are calculated at the end of the cycle. It must be when they verify that they are "acceptable" courses.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Thanks that is helpful. The person who took the call for me recently seemed pretty unaware of how the point capture system worked. My anniversary year just ended last week, so I don't think they are calculated at the end of the cycle. It must be when they verify that they are "acceptable" courses.

The good news is that seems that it doesn't really matter when the points get credited. Last year I had a 10 point course for which I had to send in the certificate four times. I finally got credit for it six months after my Anniversary month. At that point I had enough points for the year and I retroactively got credit for a good year. It is inelegant but it seems to work out eventually.

 

[gaj29]

You guys are the most encouraging thing that I have seen out there. It is great to have stuff to bounce off of others. I've been in the IRR since 2010 and flying solo. The NETC courses were great, so I was very disapointed when Navy pulled those. This year and last year I completed courses through Emergency Management. They were fairly simple and didn't take that long. There are enough courses to get me through next year but after that I'll have to find something different. It looks like most people completed JPMO which sounds interesting, but I'm more interested in the DAU courses. Are the DAU courses/program hard to get into?

Do NETC courses not give retirement points anymore?

 

[atmahan]

Do NETC courses not give retirement points anymore?

gaj29,

In 2014 a message (COMNAVRESFOR 191101Z AUG 14 ) was sent out stating a new policy that would take effect after Sep. 30, 2014 (the start of FY2015) with the intent of drastically reducing how many points would be available by completing any correspondence course (not just NETC/NRTC).

The intent seemed to discourage, as vxc961 properly described it when he started this thread (1st Post), people from "eek(ing) out an existence in the IRR" and drill in the SELRES instead (or just get out).

Courses would now have to be on an Approved List, available on the NPC website (in the Points FAQ section under Reserve Personnel Mgmt) in order to qualify for Points.

The first and second Approved Lists posted on the NPC website (SEP 14 and JUN15) did not list the NETC/NRTC courses, so during that period, one could not take them to earn points. Other courses from other institutions were on the Approved List(s) but many required a CAC card, but a few, like JKO, did not.

Around SEP/OCT 15 the latest (third?), so far, Approved List was posted on the NPC website and it re-instated many courses from different orgs, but many were now worth less Points.

The NETC/NRTC courses were also back on the Approved List, but many only Approved for specific ratings and all worth 25% less in Points (i.e. a coursse that was once worth 6 points will now only give you 4 points).

The rate specific courses severely limits how many NETC/NRTC courses a person can take (especially for, as the British call them, "Ruperts").

I hope this helps (I am not a big fan of RTFF, especially one that is 36 pages, so far, long!)

(plus it gets my Message count up! )

atmahan

 

[Duncan Idaho]

So here's a fun one. My anniversary year ends/starts in April. Last summer, I called in and was told they had received all my certificates and I had earned over 50 points for the year. Yesterday, I used my newly issued CAC (as a Navy Contractor) to check my record myself. Nope! I'm missing about 20 points worth of courses I took last year and I'm shy of a good year. Yay. So now I'll dig out those certificates, fax them, and start the 180 day wait. Again. *grumble grumble*

 

[lostSeaBee]

Thanks for your post Duncan Idaho, even though it is a painful one. It reminds me that we have to be vigilant in getting courses recorded. It also reminds me of a conversation I had with a PERS-93 staff member. They were very upset that I had the nerve to ask for my points list in writing 3 times in one year. I had to remind them that my record was "my responsibility" and that I could not rely on a verbal confirmation. There are many shortcomings in the world of the IRR, so be careful out there.

 

[Michael Stelig]

Curious if anyone has tried I2WDL, Introduction to Irregular Warfare through JSOU? Thoughts?

 

[vxc961]

Be car

Curious if anyone has tried I2WDL, Introduction to Irregular Warfare through JSOU? Thoughts?

be careful, I think I tried to register for that one and the clerk didn't like something I put in my justification. I think I said something dumb like "I'm hoping to augment to a SOJTF". Then it was a death of a thousand cuts as he asked he drilled down deeper and finally I gave up. I know others have had better luck, so I think if you just proofread anything you put down you should be fine.

As far as the classes go, I thought all the JSOU courses I took were interesting.

 

[SWO-4-Life]

Hi there I am new to the forum and was hoping to find some help with IRR courses. Amazing to me that this seems to be the best resource out there for IRR retirement info, but I'm glad I found it!

For background, I am a surface warfare officer, 7 years active, 3 years active reservist, 3 years now in the IRR, but this is my first year without a CAC (I used to have a DOD contractor ID). I'm mainly concerned with having a good year and what is the fastest way to 50+ points.

I have scoped out MarineNet and NETC non-resident training courses, and there seem to be plenty of available points. Are there other good sites that don't require CAC? Does anyone have advice as to which is better, MarineNet or NETC? Pitfalls of either? Which courses on either are fastest to complete?

Also was wondering, if anyone knows... if I don't get to 27 points (or the points aren't processed by my anniversary date) how long before they kick me out of IRR?

Thanks all.

 

[Randy Daytona]

Hi there I am new to the forum and was hoping to find some help with IRR courses. Amazing to me that this seems to be the best resource out there for IRR retirement info, but I'm glad I found it!

For background, I am a surface warfare officer, 7 years active, 3 years active reservist, 3 years now in the IRR, but this is my first year without a CAC (I used to have a DOD contractor ID). I'm mainly concerned with having a good year and what is the fastest way to 50+ points.

I have scoped out MarineNet and NETC non-resident training courses, and there seem to be plenty of available points. Are there other good sites that don't require CAC? Does anyone have advice as to which is better, MarineNet or NETC? Pitfalls of either? Which courses on either are fastest to complete?

Also was wondering, if anyone knows... if I don't get to 27 points (or the points aren't processed by my anniversary date) how long before they kick me out of IRR?

Thanks all.

Welcome aboard. You will find that earlier on this thread, we openly discussed which courses were easiest - and then Big Navy without warning cut out a bunch of them. Whether coincidence or intentional, we don't know. I will say that you can do FEMA and JKO courses without a CAC.

For the near term, you will have no problems getting 50 points (I would recommend a few more to be safe - the last thing you want is 49 points and not a good year.). Processing date is not relevant to your anniversary year - the only thing that matters is when the course was completed. You will also find that courses get lost while at Millington so be prepared to resend completion certificates - I just resent 35+ points that have not posted yet as I go all in to max out the 130 inactive points per year.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

One can no longer register for DAU courses unless you are signing in from a .mil domain and have a CAC.

From http://www.dau.mil/training/Pages/apply.aspx:

Effective 5 Feb 2016, in order to access the DAU registration sites listed below, users must use a .mil domain or have access through a Virtual Private Network (VPN) access point originating from a .mil domain (i.e. CITRIX). Users must also log into the registration sites using their DOD-issued CAC. Users originating from a .GOV, .EDU, .COM, or other domain will not be able to access the registration sites.

The restriction cited above resulted from the Army Training Requirements and Resources System (ATRRS) being removed from the public facing applications by the Defense Information System Agency (DISA). The URLs for the DAU training registration sites are hosted on ATRRS. DAU is one of the many customers of ATRRS that is impacted by this restriction. The Army G-1 Training Requirements Division is working on possible solutions to restore access for users without a DOD issued CAC and access to a .mil domain. At this time, we do not have a projected timeframe as to when this restriction may be lifted.​

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Also was wondering, if anyone knows... if I don't get to 27 points (or the points aren't processed by my anniversary date) how long before they kick me out of IRR?

I think it takes over two years before they remove you from IRR. In my case, I had two bad years and then they separated me about 6 months later. Now I'm back in IRR and getting points.

SWO-4-Life, are you an O-3 or O-4? Either way, you really don't want a bad year. It will make things impossible or at least more challenging for making 20 years. See the posts about continuation and sanctuary in this thread: https://www.airwarriors.com/community/index.php?threads/promotion-in-the-irr.41335/