{"id":50109,"date":"2018-11-26T22:42:12","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T22:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/11\/26\/army-commanders-can-start-the-separation-process-for-some-non-deployable-soldiers-immediately\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:41:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:41:53","slug":"army-commanders-can-start-the-separation-process-for-some-non-deployable-soldiers-immediately","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2018\/11\/26\/army-commanders-can-start-the-separation-process-for-some-non-deployable-soldiers-immediately\/","title":{"rendered":"Army commanders can start the separation process for some non-deployable soldiers immediately"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Army\u2019s new non-deployable policy<\/a> takes the Defense Department\u2019s 12-month limit and chops it in half for soldiers sidelined due to administrative issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if your leadership is pretty sure you can\u2019t get on track? They can move to administratively separate<\/a> you right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A directive signed Nov. 8 by Army Secretary Mark Esper deals specifically with administrative non-deployables<\/a>, deferring regulations for those on medical or legal hold to the Defense Department standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the first time, actually, we\u2019ve ever put down on a piece of paper, no kidding, this is what constitutes deployability,\u201d Maj. Gen. Joseph Calloway, the G-1\u2032s director of personnel management, told reporters on Nov. 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While 80 percent of the Army\u2019s current non-deployables are medically sidelined, this new policy is meant to chip away at about 10,000 of them who can\u2019t deploy because they\u2019re behind on medical exams or they\u2019re a single parent without a family care plan in place, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to say it was accepted, but it was a sort of understood cost of doing business, and people, over time, started getting used to that,\u201d Calloway said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those soldiers are now subject to separation if they are non-deployable for six consecutive months, or six months out of a year-long period. Further, if their commanders don\u2019t think an issue can or will be resolved, separations can start immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army has also made some tweaks to how it defines some non-deployables, reclassifying the classic dental and health exam absentees as deployable, and labeling soldiers with temporary profiles \u2015 of a month or less \u2015 as partially deployable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new policy does not apply to legal or medical non-deployables, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soldiers under investigation or facing criminal cases are still non-deployable for the duration, and those with long-term injuries or illness will still go through the Integrated Disability Evaluation System to determine their eventual fitness for duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe bureaucratic rule in the system was you are not deployable if you hadn\u2019t been to the dentist in a year, because everybody is supposed to go to the dentist,\u201d Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told Army Times in September. “We looked at it and we said, \u2018Well, does that really make sense?\u2019 “<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You still can\u2019t go to Afghanistan without getting your teeth checked, but for all intents and purposes, you\u2019ll be counted toward the Army\u2019s readiness \u2015 and your commander will make sure you see that dentist before you get on a plane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Armor crewmen assigned to Task Force Raider load Sabot rounds onto an M1 Abrams tank during a pre-deployment training exercise Aug. 18, 2018, at Fort Hood, Texas. (Sgt. Sarah Kirby\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Reserve component soldiers who have been skipping their monthly drill requirements are also considered non-deployable. Going forward, commanders are expected to track down their absentee soldiers and begin the separation process if the soldiers are not fulfilling their duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, commanders can also grant waivers for soldiers who may be permanently non-deployable, under certain circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A soldier who cannot secure a family care plan but who is in a high-skill area like cyber may be allowed to stay in the Army, Calloway offered as an example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making progress<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been a big year for \u201cnon-deployable\u201d as a buzzword, but Army leaders have been questioned about the largest service\u2019s outsize number of sidelined troops for years, and so, behind the scenes, they have been making efforts to bring the numbers down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five or so years ago, 15 percent of the total force was non-deployable. That number is down to about 6 percent of the service\u2019s million-plus end strength, Calloway said, and in the past month, about 7,000 more cleared the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was largely done through word of mouth for soldiers with admin issues, with guidance from leadership about soldiers taking personal responsibility to straighten out their readiness, while encouraging chains of command to allow soldiers time to get to a health exam, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials aren\u2019t ready to say how much of a dent the new policy will make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re going to have a really good feel for that until we\u2019re a little further along,\u201d Calloway said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the other end, the Army has been making headway through a long backlog of medically disqualified troops dealing with service-connected injuries, mental health struggles or the aftermath of off-duty accidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those soldiers are largely at the mercy of the Integrated Disability Evaluation System, a series of boards to determine whether a service member will be able to return to duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For active-duty soldiers, the Army has been able to get that wait time down to 180 days from 260 a few years ago. For Reserve and National Guard soldiers, it\u2019s down to 185 from more than 300, Calloway said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t