Once you're commissioned, there really isn't much for your recruiter to do. He/She will help you set up your AKO email, set up direct deposit, and introduce you to your Medcom site. On the Medcom site you can file for reimbursement, get info, apply for ADT, Active Duty for Training, and a few other things I haven't done yet.
(All of this has to do with Army specific HPSP things. I'm not sure where and how Navy and Air Force differ in their regulatory sites and emails.)
So until school starts, finish school, quit your job, and enjoy your last free summer! I quit my job with a month left until school. I went to California and relaxed and purchased school supplies. Which, a note on finances: you will not get any of your bonus money or school money until after school starts.
The Army pays on the 1st and the 15th of the month or the closest business day before either date. I started classes (which doesn't include the previous week of orientation) around August 3rd and I got my first paycheck on the 15th.
So the first few weeks of med school were rough financially. If you can, save up, and know it could be a while before you get paid. A friend of mine didn't get his first paycheck until a month into school. There was a clerical error, the first of many for us all. Also, if you decided to take the 20,000 dollar bonus (which not sure why you wouldn't, there is no extra obligation in taking it) then expect to get the first installment a month after you start classes.
Not sure if this was the case for everyone, but my bonus was all given to me in a month and a half and was in increments of 2,000, 9,000, and 9,000, of course minus the taxes taken out. I think I ended up with around 14,000 total after taxes.
The military knows medical school is busy. They don't want you to focus on your military career just yet. They want you to pass medical school. So don't expect much communication from anyone, and if you need something or have a question don't expect to get one from any official lines.
As officers in the Inactive Ready Reserve (what you are while attending school) no one pays us much mind. We go to class, study, take tests and mostly you forget you're in the military.
That is, until you try and get something reimbursed. Keep all your receipts and know that the military won't reimburse everything or every textbook. It has to be a required textbook, so if your request is audited be prepared to show the required book list from your syllabus. I tried to get reimbursement for the ipad they forced all the first year med students to get. It was a required material, so I submitted my request. Denied that day. So that sucked, but at least once I got my bonus money I could pay off the buy now/pay later plan I used to get the ipad.
The goal for us for the first semester was simple: Pass. And so we did.
Next up on ADIT, Army Doc In Training: no one knows anything and thoughts of BOLC.
2LT Lister
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