Pentagon Gouge: Photo Studio

First, quick advice for other navy officers in the audience:  Do you have a service record photo in your current paygrade?  Just in case that isn't clear:  If you're a LCDR, then you should have an official photo in your service record of you wearing gold oak leaves on your collar.  If not, get it done now so it isn't a crisis before your next promotion or screening board. 

For anyone in the DC area who needs a service record photo or portrait, the OPNAV staff has a photo studio down in the RSAC on the first floor of the Pentagon.  I had no problem making an appointment.  They had plenty of open slots on their calendar and were happy to accommodate whenever I wanted to come in.  I went and had a portrait taken and was very pleased with their professionalism. 

As recommended on the PERS-42 website, they took photos of me in summer whites with my cover on and off and in my service dress blues with my cover on and off.  They emailed me the photos a few days after they were taken. 

Here's the flier the photo studio emailed out to all the OPNAV staff with the hours and contact information for the photo studio:

(click on image to enlarge)

Advice to Junior Officers Index

Here's an index to previous unsolicited advice to Junior Officers topics in my blog. Like the other index and favorite lists on the right side of my blog, I'll periodically update this post whenever I write a new post in this category.

Here are the things I've written so far:
- Award and Eval Gouge
- DAPA / Alcohol Issues
- Intrusive Leadership and LES- Nuke Bonus and Thrift Savings Plan
- PCS / Travel Entitlements 
- Social Networking Groundrules
- Tax Withholding Status
- Timing of signing a nuclear officer continuation pay contract
- Uniforms and Formal Functions

Gear for Deployment:
- Comfy shoes
- Don't buy a Zen MP3 player for use on deployment
- Headsok
- Adapter for foreign power outlets

Not so much advice as just information:
- Submarine Officer career path

Advice to Junior Officers: Timing of signing a contract

My junior officers on my previous boats have heard me explain this before, but I thought I'd post it here for a broader audience.

First, a disclaimer: This is NOT an attempt to convince you to Stay Navy by dangling dollar signs in front of your face. This is also NOT directed at any particular individuals who either currently or previously worked for me.

IF you aren't sure about staying in the submarine force, then stop reading here. Make your decision about whether to continue your career as a steely-eyed killer of the deep first.

IF you are already thinking about staying in for a department head tour, then be advised: you are financially better off signing a contract for Nuclear Officer Continuation Pay ("COPAY" - remember from this post "eets naught a bohnus") BEFORE you reach the end of your Minimum Service Requirement (MSR - i.e. 5 years from your commissioning date).

Here's why:

IF you sign a contract BEFORE the end of your initial service obligation ends, then you have the option of receiving one payment more than the number of years in your contract (see Paragraph 7.c.(1)(a) on page 7 of OPNAVINST 7220.11B).

In other words, if you are signing a 5 year contract, then you can elect to receive 6 payments. You receive the first payment as soon as you sign the contract, and then you will receive each of the follow on payments on your anniversary date.

Allow me to illustrate using two examples. Let's say these two guys were both commissioned on 21 May 2004, so their initial five year obligation ends on 21 May 2009.

Example #1. LT Procrastinator waits and doesn't sign a contract until after his obligation expired on 21 May 2009. He signs a 5 year contract for $30k per year.

Example #2. LT Smartguy passed his PNEO exam, is gung-ho about the cool tactical missions we do on the pointy-end of the spear. He wants to go back for a department head tour. He signs a 5 year contract on 1 Mar 2009 and elects to receive 6 payments.

Here's how that works.

In both cases, 5 years x $30k per year = $150k total value of the contract.

In LT Smartguy's case, $150k total NOIP divided by 6 payments = $25k per payment.

LT Smartguy will get $25k (minus taxes) immediately upon signing the contract on 1 Mar 2009. Then he will get another payment for $25k on his anniversary date of 21 May 2009 and every year thereafter.

In LT Procrastinator's case, $150k total NOIP divided by 5 payments = $30k per payment.

That might seem confusing at first. You might be saying to yourself, "Self, aren't $30k payments better than $25k payments?"

Well... not exactly. TWO $25k payments in rapid succession are much better than ONE $30K payment. When LT Procrastinator received his first $30k payment on 21 May 2009, LT Smartguy received his SECOND $25k payment. So in May 2009, LT Smartguy now has $50k plus the interest he earned on the initial $25k from March through May and LT Procrastinator now has $30k.

Now, when these two lieutenants transfer to shore duty and are each looking to buy their first house, one of them has $50k and the other has $30k to use toward a downpayment (minus taxes). Even if they both made $30k downpayments on their respective houses, LT Smartguy still has enough extra money to finish the basement or remodel the kitchen.

You might say to yourself, "Self, in the long run it's the same amount of money either way, right?" The answer is no. If you invest the money, then the time value of money (compounding interest over time) is going to make a big difference. At the end of that first 5 year contract, the lieutenant who took 6 payments and invested the money could have in the ballpark of $10k more in the bank than the lieutenant who waited and only took 5 payments.

In order to illustrate this to the junior officers on my last boat, I put it all into an Excel spreadsheet to show them Option A versus Option B (and also took into account interest rates and tax rates). I don't know how to post an Excel file here in my blog, but I'm happy to send it to you via email if you'd like to see it.

So, to sum it all up, if you're going to stay in for a department head tour, then don't wait. Sign up for the bonus as soon as you finish PNEO and elect to receive the extra payment.

To see the reference documentation on Nuclear Officer Incentive Pay, please visit the PERS-42 website.

Deja vu... Sea story rerun

As I was walking from the bus stop to my office building a couple of days ago, I said to myself, "Self, this headsok ROCKS!" It was 18 degrees out, -1 degree with the wind chill, but my headsok protected my face and kept me nice and toasty warm.

I had a flashback to my first sea tour in Groton and a port call to Esquimalt, British Columbia during my second sea tour. I started composing a blog post in my mind to share those sea stories with you all, but then I had a feeling of deja vu.

I said to myself, "Self, is it possible you've been blogging long enough that you don't remember what you've blogged about before?"

So I did a search on my blog for Esquimalt, and sure enough, I already wrote about it. So hey, if you're new to my blog, I invite you to click the link and read it.

Gear Recommendation (sorry, JT - "Kit" Recommendation for you folks who've been expats for a while):

Get yourself a headsok. Even if you're in a homeport like San Diego, sooner or later you'll have a port call someplace like Esquimalt, BC, or Ketchikan, Alaska, or Yokosuka, Japan in the winter, and you'll be glad you had it tucked away in your locker for just such an occasion.

Advice to Junior Officers: LES monitoring

A few things came to mind that I thought were worth mentioning for the junior officers that read my blog. As I was writing, this started turning into a really long post, so I broke it up into three parts. Part 1 was about tax withholding. Part 2 was about the Nuke Bonus and Thrift Savings Plan.

Part 3. Leave and Earnings Statements

Nobody likes getting a letter from PSD saying, "We regret to inform you that you have been overpaid $9,999.99, and we intend to deduct it from your next 10 paychecks." This can be a readiness issue for your division, your department, and your command. If a sailor doesn't check his LES, gets overpaid, then all of a sudden gets a letter from PSD saying they're going to dock his pay to recoup his indebtedness to the U.S. government, then chances are he's not gonna be 100% focused on that rig-for-dive checklist... or that electrical safety checklist... or that precrit... or that heavy moving piece of equipment... You want your guys focused on those important things, so it's best if they're not stressed out or worried about being able to pay their bills.

It used to be that your Navy Leave and Earning Statement (LES) was delivered in paper copy to your ship's office. The ship's office would then distribute them to the division chiefs. The division chiefs would then examine their guys' LES to make sure they weren't getting shafted (e.g. overpaid or underpaid) and distribute them to the guys.

In an effort to move toward paperlessness, the Navy no longer provides the LES paper copies, and the division chief and division officer have no ability to get a copy. The responsibility has been completely shifted to the individual sailor to:

1. Open his MyPay account on the internet once in a while (while you're in port... and he has access to a computer... and he's done reading all his email and facebook and myspace and iTunes and news and blogs and everything else that interests him)
   
2. Actually look at his LES
3. Recognize when something isn't right on his LES
4. Actually remember the next day to follow-up on it and ask his chief or the ship's office if his pay is messed up.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of young sailors out there who don't know any better to look at their LES, and even if they do look at it they might not have the experience or wisdom to realize when something isn't right.

Whether you're a division officer or a division chief or even a leading petty officer, you should ask your guys to bring in a copy of their LES periodically.

Make it part of your check-in process for a new sailor reporting aboard your boat. Ask the new guy to bring a copy of his LES to his check-in interview with you. This will give you some reassurance that he knows his MyPay logon & password and knows how to access his LES.

Ask each of your guys to bring in an LES. Maybe not every month, but maybe every three months just to check it out and back them up. Heck, make it part of your mid-term counseling. You should pay special attention to this at a few important times when paychecks routinely get messed up.

Okay, so you followed my advice and had your guys bring in their LES. Now what?

Here are a few things to look for when you review a guy's LES:

- What is his withholding status? (See part 1 of this series about not giving the government an interest free loan). Underneath the Entitlements, Deductions, and Allotments blocks, look at the line that starts with "Leave" and scan your eyes over to the right where it says, "M/S" and "Ex". That's either "Marital Status" or "Married/Single" and "Exemptions."

- Is he getting paid what he's supposed to get paid? Hopefully, for the submariners out there, you should see Submarine Pay and Sea Pay in that left hand entitlements block.

- What is his paygrade listed on his LES? What rank does HE think he is? I know this may sound silly, but you would be surprised. I have had sailors in previous commands that either (a) weren't getting paid for their new higher paygrade after a promotion, or (b) were somehow mysteriously promoted in DFAS records and getting paid for a paygrade higher than they were wearing on their sleeve. And yes, I've had this happen and the sailor not realize he wasn't getting paid the right amount. It happens.

- Are there any extra things in the entitlements block that don't belong / aren't on anybody else's LES? Be particularly alert for some of these:

- COMRATS. (Commuted Rations) Normally, the Navy is obligated to provide 3 square meals per day for every enlisted sailor. Your Chop gets money from the Navy to buy food to serve to the crew for this purpose. (Aside: Officers are different. We get paid Basic Allowance for Sustinenece (BAS) and thus have to pay the Chop for the food we eat.) However (comma), sometimes the galley shuts down because you're in the shipyard or some major maintenance availability makes the boat an industrial environment and not safe or sanitary to eat on board. If the galley will be shut down for an extended period of time and it's not feasible for the crew to get to the base galley, then your ship's office will submit the paperwork to get your guys COMRATS. This puts money in their paycheck so they can afford to go out and buy their own food.

The danger is that when the galley reopens and the Chop is providing food for the crew to eat, the COMRATS is supposed to STOP being paid to your guys' paycheck. If you've just come out of a major maintenance availability or shipyard period where your guys WERE receiving COMRATS, then I highly recommend having your guys bring in an LES and prove to you that they're not receiving COMRATS anymore. Likewise, be alert for this when a new guy checks aboard - especially if he is transferring to your boat from a boat that was in the shipyard. It'll save you (and more importantly THEM) the hassle later on by preventing those letters from PSD telling your guys' they are indebted to the government to the tune of thousands of dollars.

- Family Separation Allowance (FSA) is a little extra pay the married guys get when you spend more than month away from home. So a month into deployment, your ship's office will send a letter or message to PSD to start FSA for all the married guys. Again, after you return from deployment, the FSA should stop. If you've been back from deployment for a couple of months and you see one of your guys has FSA in his LES, then you need to contact the ship's office and PSD and get that stopped.


Wrap Up

It would be nice if the Navy would give official command representatives like the ship's office yeomen the ability to print LES hard copies for the guys in your command and distribute them to the crew. Or, in the interest of saving paper, the yeomen or the division officer or division chief could be granted permission to just view the LES online to help their sailors out. In the meantime though, you can help your guys out if you ask for their hard copy LES and back-them up on receiving the pay they deserve and not a penny more - because PSD will eventually find out and come to take it back.

Advice to Junior Officers: Nuke Bonus and TSP

A few things came to mind that I thought were worth mentioning for the junior officers that read my blog. As I was writing, this started turning into a really long post, so I broke it up into three parts. Part 1 was about tax withholding.

Part 2. Nuke Bonus
For those of you who just signed up for the nuke bonus, take heed! Although you commonly hear people call it the "nuke bonus," the actual, official name for it is Nuclear Officer Incentive Pay (NOIP). In other words, cue Arnold Schwartzeneggar voice, "Eets NAUGHT a BOHNUS!" If, like me, you want a chunk of change from your "bonus" to go to the Thrift Savings Plan, then you need to remember it's really a type of PAY.

A common error that many people have made with their first nuke "bonus" (including me) is to enter a number in the "bonus" column on the MyPay website for TSP deductions, and then you are surprised and annoyed when the bonus comes and the DFAS people don't put any of it in your TSP account. You need to go back to the MyPay website and put a number in the "Incentive Pay."

Note there is a link on the bottom for "What is Special, Incentive, and Bonus Pay?" at the bottom of that screen shot.

Also, don't forget to scroll down and click "Save" before you click away from this page.

Advice to Junior Officers: Tax Withholding

A few things came to mind that I thought were worth mentioning for the junior officers that read my blog. As I was writing, this started turning into a really long post, so I broke it up into three parts. Hindsight/Afterthought: This first part is actually applicable to just about anybody, not just junior officers.

Part 1. Tax Withholding.

It's a new year, so you may want to take a quick look at your tax withholding status, especially for those of you who...

• bought a house
  
• sold a house
  
• got married
  
• had a baby

Back when I was a newly-commissioned Ensign, someone taught me the basics of setting up your tax withholdings. Your objective should be to neither owe taxes nor get a big refund from the government at the end of the year. I know a lot of people like to set it up so they get a big tax refund at the end of the year like some sort of annual "bonus" (initially, I fell into that category as a young ensign).

Here's the thing though. If you are having too much money taken out of your paycheck each month and then getting paid back a bunch of it at the end of the year, you are in essence giving the government an interest-free loan. Now, maybe you find some nobility in helping fund the billion dollar bail-outs of the banking and auto industries, but you're financially better off if you have just the right amount of taxes withheld each month. The extra money that was going to the government could be going into your savings account and earning interest for YOU. ...OR!!! It could be going to paying for a babysitter and a nice dinner for you and your spouse to have a date without the kids each month.

When we lived here in Ashburn before, we were married with two kids and a mortgage, and I had my withholdings set to the maximum (10 on the MyPay website), and we still got a few hundred dollars of a tax return at the end of the year.

While we were in Hawaii living in Navy housing (so no mortgage), I turned our withholdings down to 4 because I expected to pay more taxes.

Now that we're back in Ashburn in a very similar situation as our last tour here, I cranked our withholdings back up to 10.

How do you know how many withholdings to claim? You can use this calculator at the IRS website.

How do you change your tax withholdings? For military service members, go to the MyPay website. After you log in, select "Federal Withholding" from the main menu under "Taxes."

Note this page also has a link to the IRS withholding calculator. At the bottom of the page, you can change your number of exemptions.

Don't forget to click "Save" before you click away elsewhere from that web page.

I periodically get emails from junior officers and midshipmen asking for advice on stuff. If you have a question, please feel free to email me. I might not know the answer, but hopefully I'll at least be able to point you in the right direction where to find the answer.