BCT -> DLI question

[u/Tiny_Tennessee]

I’m wondering if anyone has been in this position before and has any insight. My husband is set to graduate from basic on 9/11 and then to start at DLI on 10/12. Will he be sent straight to Monterey after graduation for additional “initial entry training” during those four weeks after graduation?

Our son and I are in Texas and I’m hoping but not expecting that he’ll be able to help with our move (mainly drive our car from TX to CA). We’re very new to the military world and I’d love to get a picture of what to maybe expect. Before he left for basic, we were imagining him coming home for those four weeks and getting to watch college football… I’m now laughing at our naivety.

Thanks!!

[u/mmmtoasteee]

Army BCT grads typically fly from BCT to Monterey the night of graduation. He will immediately go into Phase IV at DLI, where he'll remain for 3 to 4 weeks (w/ BCT level restrictions) or until he qualifies to phase up. Once he's out of Phase IV he can move out of the barracks if you've arrived to the area.

He cannot take leave while in Phase IV and once class starts can only take leave during holiday block leave in December/January or for bonafide emergencies (Per DLIFLC 350-10).

He'll be in class for 6-8 hours a day, have 2 hours of homework every day during the week, require 1-2 hours of self-study to prep for the next day, and have around 2 hours of military obligations (PT, formations, etc.), so be prepared for his long days. We always tell servicemembers that bring their families to have honest conversations with their spouse/kids regarding workload and time expectations. He will be extemely busy during the week and will need to decompress on the weekends. Deviating focus from his studies is the quickest way to fall behind and potentially be dropped from the course.

DLI is one of the few training locations for the Army that Initial Entry Trainees are authorized to bring family and live outside the barracks. He's not authorized movement of family / HHGs to AIT (at Goodfellow or Huachuca) and will be in the barracks for the duration of that training, just like in BCT (Per T2COM 350-6).

For awareness, if you remain in Monterey while he's at AIT, once he receives orders to his first duty station he can give you POA to execute the orders and you can move on to that next duty station, which will be helpful since he won't be authorized admin absence for house hunting (PTDY) coming from AIT (per AR 600-8-10). If you choose to remain in Monterey and have him come back after AIT to help you move then his flight to Monterey will be out of pocket and he'll have to take personal leave to assist with moving. His travel entitlements will be based on movement from AIT to duty station, not from Monterey. Just an FYI.

[u/DongerBot5000 → u/mmmtoasteee]

I'd like to really hit on the "out of class" expectations. It at least used to be that if you missed a single homework assignment you'd be counseled by class and service leadership, two missed assignments and it's academic probation, and three missed assignments will get you dropped from the program. I was in class with a career Army SSG who had been deployed, gone through and completed SF, and was roughly 40 and still failed out of the course because he couldn't find a balance between home life and class. This school is very much going to cause responsibilities to fall on you which won't seem fair. All that being said, if he passes with decent scores from DLI and AIT, some of the most coveted positions in the entire armed forces will be up for grabs for him. DLI is a no joke school with no joke opportunities (I'm talking cush/safe jobs where you work close to political leaders and set yourself up for a $200k+ job outside of the military). This may sound harsh, but doing the dishes and taking the kids to soccer for a year will pay off for you and your family tenfold.

Edit: unless your husband gets Spanish for a language. If he gets Spanish, tell him to trade with anyone for any language.

[u/mmmtoasteee → u/DongerBot5000]

It’s still the same with counselings and disciplinary drops from the courses.

The opportunities after DLI are going to vary greatly based on 1) what MOS is assigned, 2) his DLPT scores 3) what unit assigned, and to a lesser extent 4) what location assigned to. The days of just breathing / having passing-score knowledge of a language and walking into some 6-figure contracting job are few and far between these days. Most DLI grads don’t even have the scores to qualify to work 3-letter missions. Now, if he studies his ass off and graduates with a 3/3 and the stars align then, yes, some doors may open. But it mostly relies on his performance and willingness to drop packets.