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FIGMO

By admin on October 14, 2011 in Khon Kaen Retirement / no comments / 365 views

I’m not sure if the acronym FIGMO is still being used today, but it was quite popular when ~~I joined the US Army~~ the US Army joined me back in 1972. It means “Fuck It, Got My Orders”, and was used primarily in Vietnam when a soldier had that ticket in hand and was making plans to head back to the land of the BIG PX, America.

US Army Reserve Retirement Orders

Let me explain how this all came about. I served in the active duty US Army for about 14 1/2 years and then got out and joined the US Army Reserves and spent the next 15 years there as a weekend warrior. All of this time entitled me to retirement next year – at age 60. But, it isn’t automatic.

I have no idea why, but one must apply for a retirement pension from the US Army Reserves no sooner than his/her 58th birthday. This gives the folks at the Human Resources Command (HRC) a full two years to get my retirement straight. Failure to apply results in forfeiting your retirement. One would think in 2011 that the US Army Reserves would have a ton of data on me and know that I retired on 1 September 2001 and have a pension coming on my 60th birthday. Nope, paperwork has to be submitted way in advance.

I already had downloaded the necessary paperwork and had it all filled out, except for the date. And, about one week before my 58th birthday, I got my retirement packet from HRC. I dated and signed the stuff I already had and had my wife mail it.

The only way to know if HRC receives your retirement packet is to enclose a self-addressed stamped postcard. This is fine if you live in the USA, but it won’t do me any good getting a postcard and including Thai postage.

I know. I could have gone to Bangkok and visited the APO at JUSMAG and got a stamp. Or, I could have had my mom or one of my friends mail me one. But, I decided to take a chance.

I was actually thinking about the status of this the other week and was hunting online to see if there was any website that I could access that might lead me to see where my packet was. Too much to sift through online and no website that I could find.

So, anyhow, my father-in-law came over yesterday and he had some mail for me. I use the in-laws address as the Thai postman has a hard time finding our house or the Soi is too wet and he doesn’t want to ride his motorcycle down it.

I spotted a thick envelope from HRC in Fort Knox, Kentucky and didn’t have a clue as to what was inside. I thought it was some kind of survey or something.

I was shocked!

First thing I saw was a letter stating that my application for retirement has been approved. And, to make it all official, it was approved under Title 10, United States Code, Section 12731. The letter also goes on to let me know what my benefits are (actually will be come June 5th, 2012) and where I can go to get my blue ID card. The letter ended with a standard “Thanks for your service”.

Retirement Letter

Next up was another letter letting me know that I had a Retirement Certificate coming, but that there was a delay. Seems there is a new Chief of Staff and his signature has to be on the form letters. I don’t know when it will get here and had no idea that I was entitled to this.

Retirement Certificate

Next up was a copy of how many retirement points I had earned from 1972 to 2001. I already have copies of this, but it was nice to include it. It did make me go and hunt for an online calculator to see how much I would be getting next year. Reservists and Guardsmen don’t get a retirement the same way that Active Duty does.

The way US Army Reserve Retirement works is based on points – 1 point for every day in the Army. This includes all the years of my active duty – so I received a lot of points – 365 per year. The average Reservist gets about 75 points per year. Then there is a mathematical formula for calculating how much money you will get.

Final month’s basic pay times 2.5% for each year of service (total points earned/360) – so total points – 6447/360= 17.90 times .025 times current base pay for a CW4 at $7118 = $3186 – per month before taxes for me.

Retirement Points

Lastly, there was a set of orders. I thought I had received my last orders when I retired in 2001. I, again, had no idea that this would require official orders. I thought I would just get some kind of notification stating that I was in the system and my first check would be deposited sometime around July 2012.

But, I have orders dated 27 September 2011 with an effective date of 5 June 2012. According to the orders I am officially “retired and placed on the retired list indicated”. Further down the it states “Retired list: AUS Retired”. Unfortunately I don’t get to travel anywhere on these orders. The orders also recommend that I contact the nearest Retirement Services Office (RSO) – totally worthless – at least the one at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii was and there is no official RSO in Thailand. Fortunately, we have a dedicated group of volunteers at JUSMAG in Bangkok that provide support to no end.

The orders also have some info about medical benefits through TRICARE which I will have to research and get more info. JUSMAG also provides limited support for TRICARE.

So, kudos to HRC in Fort Knox, Kentucky for putting my mind at ease and getting my retirement orders to me 9 months ahead of time and dated on my wife’s birthday.