Navy officials are opening up opportunities for sailors in select ratings to switch from the regular Navy into the reserve full-time support community, providing those eligible with more career opportunities including better re-up and advancement chances.
FTS sailors are a separate component of about 8,500 full-time sailors who belong to the selected (drilling) reserve.
Going FTS means active-duty pay and benefits and retirement accrual. But where it differs is that most of the billets are at reserve centers or reserve aviation squadrons providing training and other support to drilling reservists. For many, this means duty outside fleet concentration areas and fewer deployments.
And right now, for sailors with the right skills, this move can be a career booster. That's because FTS sailors advance separate from active-duty and for the last few exam cycles have posted the best overall advancement from E-4 through E-6 compared to the regular Navy with nearly 30 percent shot to move up this past cycle. For comparison, the regular Navy was just below 25 percent this fall.
It's always been possible to re-up into the FTS community from the active component, but with changes announced Oct. 28 in NAVADMIN message 243/16, it's easier than ever. Officials say these changes will remain in effect until further notice.
"The change in the NAVADMIN is the ability for active duty sailors to request re-enlistment into the open or balanced FTS skills once they've been [at their current command] for at least 24 months, before they enter their C-way re-enlistment window," said Sharon Anderson, spokeswoman for the chief of naval personnel.
But not everyone can qualify to make the switch, only those already trained on one of the 22 FTS skills are initially eligible for the program.
In addition, at the time a sailor requests to make the switch, their skills must be either considered open — undermanned — or balanced — properly manned in the FTS world to get approved.
The good news here is that currently, 19 of the 22 FTS skills meet that threshold and are available for immediate conversion.
And it's a good deal for sailors in eight skills that are open or balanced — conversion eligible — in the FTS force but are currently considered overmanned in the active force.
Converting for these sailors is a great opportunity because to stay on regular active duty will require them to compete in C-Way to stay. And chances are that they'll get immediate approval to switch as well as have easier chances to advance once in the FTS community.
To be approved, sailors must first be otherwise eligible to re-up and have been at their current duty station for 24-months.
If there's any bad news, it's that there is little or no chance for Re-up bonus in the FTS community. The only exception to this right now is for Navy Counselors in the career recruiting force who can collect up to $45,000.
Most of the opportunities are for E-6 and below sailors with less than 14-years of service. The way to apply is by submitting a "Special Circumstances Convert Only" application in their current rating or NOS in the C-WAY-REEN module once they've been at their current command for two years.
For those E-6 and E-7 sailors over 14 years should submit an Enlisted Personnel Action Request 1306/7 through their chain of command to Navy Personnel Command's Enlisted Active Programs Branch requesting authorization to execute a component change re-enlistment.
Mark D. Faram is a former reporter for Navy Times. He was a senior writer covering personnel, cultural and historical issues. A nine-year active duty Navy veteran, Faram served from 1978 to 1987 as a Navy Diver and photographer.
