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Hello, fellow Marines. My name is Sarah Louise Ray, Captain, U.S. Marine Corps, Retired. Recently, I abruptly left our blessed Corps due to medical reasons. During my transition, I experienced multiple setbacks primar- ily due to administrative procedures, and realized there are a few steps and/ or anticipations we can each plan for to ensure we all properly integrate and transition into the 1st CivDiv.
Separating/Retiring
Once you realize that you will be leaving the ranks, you should imme- diately go to the Integrated Personnel Administration Center (IPAC) office and submit the necessary documents. There are multiple forms, both elec- tronic and standard snail-mail, that they will have to generate and submit to ensure you receive your final pay- ments. First, they'll need your end of active service (EAS)/retirement date, your estimated leave balance, and the date of your final day of work to calcu- late how much terminal leave you'll take and how much you'll sell back. It is im- perative that you plan how much leave you'll take before commencing terminal leave and that you don't deviate from that plan; if you do deviate, it will just delay the processing of your NAVMC 11060 separation travel pay certificate. The separations clerk generates your basic information in Marine Online via a resource callcd the Document Track- ing Management System, attaches your orders, and electronically submits it to the closest disbursing office usually on your exact EAS date. Unfortunately, and assuming there are no administra- tive errors, this means you won't get your final leave payout for about 10 to 20 days after you officially depart the Corps. For example, I officially retired on 30 December 2012, and didn't re- ceive payment for my leave until nearly 20 January-and Τ was the adjutant!
Selling back your leave. If you are already receiving the basic allowance lor housing (BAH), selling back your leave is the best option. However, make sure you take enough terminal leave to allow yourself a ''buffer zone" of time for admin to get all your paperwork together. If you are not receiving BAH, take as much terminal leave as possible. You get BAH while you are on terminal leave, and...