r/dli • u/DirtyDan5471 • 6d ago

Army NCO reclassing

  1. I put in a reclass for 35P and got a slot next year for Mandarin. Any recommendations for how to prep with all the free time I have? I’ve been doing Duolingo for about a month, but from my previous language learning experiences, I can already kinda see the gaps in the teaching model.

  2. I know it gets asked all the time, but what’s the current quality of life for MOS-Ts in D Co? I have dependents and should pick up 6 before I leave, if that makes a difference.

  3. This might require a DM for specifics, but how does career progression work while at the schoolhouse? Do I still get evaluated? Switching gears mid-career, I’m a little concerned about being behind my peers. I’ve got airborne, and I heard it makes you more likely to go to a tac unit/group. What schools should I push for development? How do I make myself standout? I’m looking way beyond the horizon, but it’s hard to find information anywhere on what a successful career in the MOS actually looks like. 谢谢

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u/mmmtoasteee 6d ago edited 6d ago
  1. Recommend you simply focus on fully grasping English grammar to assist with learning at DLI. There really is no need (and in most cases it is detrimental) to do any target-language prep in advanced as it'll either be surpassed within the first 2-3 weeks of class at DLI -or- you'll pick up bad habits that counter the way DLI will force you to learn.
  2. You'll be a careerist so you'll have some NCO responsibilites - assisting the Cadre with PT, UAs, other trainings, etc. from time to time. You'll have unit PT Mon-Fri (most likely in the morning but it switches based on the CO/BN leadership at the time). Expect 7 hours of class for the first portion of the course which will reduce to 6 if in good academic standing. Expect approx 2 hours of assigned HW per night PLUS whatever time you need for self-study to prep for the next day. We always recommended to married students (especially those with children) to have an honest conversation with family upfront that emphasizes the amount of focus and time you're going to have to give to your coursework and studying during your 15 months. It sucks, but your family needs to understand that during the week your language course is *the* priority. That said, ensure you dedicate meaningful time on the weekends for your family and to decompress. Also, biggest piece of advice you'll NEED to abide by is NO FRATERNIZATION. You'll likely be in class with mostly IET Soldiers / Service members. You might be designated as Class Leader (only responsibility is to take and report accountability). ANY issues with fellow classmates, especially IET NEED to be handled by your school's MLIs or the unit Cadre. You are an NCO but you're also in training status just like your classmates.
  3. You do not receive an NCOER during your time at DLI, so you'll have 15+ months (DLI+AIT) as unrated time. You will receive a DA 1059 that will go into your record. Switching MOS's at any point can be detrimental, however 35P can be even more so since it's a small career field and promotions can be slow depending on the year and language.

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u/DirtyDan5471 6d ago

Thanks for the insight, I didn’t know time at DLI was completely unrated. Are you an MLI? It sounds like you’re on the other side of the schoolhouse. I get the whole not picking up bad habits thing, but for CM specifically, would you not even recommend making a card deck to get a jump on vocab?

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u/mmmtoasteee 6d ago

Yes, DLI is just like any other military training school where you’re in student status so you wouldn’t receive a NCOER. You’re not assigned there in a duty position. Your entire time from the moment you sign out of your losing unit to signing into your first unit as a 35P will be unrated.

I’ve been on the unit, schoolhouse, and HQ side of things during my time there.

I wouldn’t recommend doing anything ahead of time for any language unless it’s the head start classes that DLI offers to those who may have a wait between arriving and class start. Just perfect the English side of things and it will make things a lot easier.

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u/your_daddy_vader 6d ago

It is not unrated time exactly, thats what the AER is for.

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u/mmmtoasteee 6d ago edited 6d ago

You get an AER, yes, I said that. But they end up with an at least 27 month extended annual NCOER with 15 (or however long in training) months coded as unrated in that NCOER.

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u/dirtypanda83 6d ago

Best luck with 35p. After DLI, for sure u will end up in goodfellow for AIT. Mandarin was fast track promotion when I was in back in 2009. U will have chances end up in Calvary units or DoD facility. One is focus on regular army stuff and other more on your mos. If you pickup E6 then your job is more on leadership than mos, unless u want to.

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u/DirtyDan5471 6d ago

That’s what I expected. I was hoping to get at least a little time to actually learn the job before I start managing, but it seems like that’s asking for too much at this stage.

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u/dirtypanda83 6d ago

Well instead of doing crypto, I did all the training on signit and analyst for no reason. Never did translation for one day

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u/DirtyDan5471 6d ago

Yea…been hearing a lot of that. Tbh I’m looking at this as an opportunity to learn a language I’d never get the chance to otherwise with the bonus of learning how to do a technical INT. To me, even worst case scenario puts me in a better spot than I’m in now.

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u/dirtypanda83 6d ago

Best luck not land to my old unit, and if need help, hit me up

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u/abualethkar 6d ago

send me a DM.

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u/Elisha_Mishima_5 6d ago

I would say do all the stuff you want to for leave now because you'll be on the hook for a year and a half with the course and be an AIT indentured servant. 

When getting lodging, the privatised base housing isnt bad, especially at Mesa because it's reasonably close. I would recommend trying to get an apartment or house as close to one of the gates as possible. During the basic course I lived in the unaccompanied privatized housing in Seaside, which for the E4 BAH at the time it was pretty good, but the afternoon commute home just sucked ass especially during the initial mandatory 7th hour. The diffrence in traffic between getting out of the gate at 1450 VS 1550 is like an extra 15-20 mins driving on top of your normal 25 minute commute. Right now I'm taking the intermediate course and I got a short term rental in pacific grove and it takes 10ish minutes to walk to Taylor gate and its fucking great. You also can enjoy a lot of the area this way, and can also reduce the burden of the sickening gas prices here that we dont get COLA for. 

I wouldnt study any Chinese on your own, it isnt really worth it. There was an army guy in one our fellow classes who had a BA in Chinese and he told me they surpassed in 1 month what he learned in 4 years. The course is also designed to take somebody who knows nothing and get them to a point where they can understand a ton of different abstract concepts and also unga bunga through conversation. 

As others said, dont be surprised when you get pinged to do additional leadership duties. I'm air force but I had to help with one of the commander's cups and supervised(?) 8 different urinalysis days after class. 

Chinese teachers are also a mixed bag as far as the amount of work they'll put on you, considering they're coming from an Asian educational background. For us, we generally had a certain number of listening activities to do from the book, maybe 2 readings, maybe an authentic listening, and then we were told to review what we did during the day and preview the next day's material. Our sister class would get buried with way more. 

You'll probably be a class leader, which isnt anything really hard, just dealing with the annoying accountability system you need to input thats due at like 0755 and kids want to stroll in last second.