HHT Benefits

[MStryker]

I am a class B reservist, I successfully CT'd to the RegF. My COS is supposed to be 31 March, I am reading and getting conflicting answers in regards to HHT.

It's difficult for me to get proper information in regards to HHT as a ResF member going RegF. Most of the relocation directives, literally are so freaking gray. It looks to me that I am covered, however my MCpl is unclear on this.

Most people I speak to say, HHT is allowed prior to COS date, however my MCpl is literally almost trying to force me to wait until my COS date, then go for my HHT. I really don't want to do it, as that is not a whole lot of time for us to get things together. We have a plan that works perfectly if we are leaving on the 31 of March.

Everything I have read in the relocation directive seems to say, in little to no words, that I am eligible.

My CO has approved the dates.

 

[Lumber]

I am a class B reservist, I successfully CT'd to the RegF. My COS is supposed to be 31 March, I am reading and getting conflicting answers in regards to HHT.

My current MCpl is being a pain, and making it difficult for me to get proper information in regards to HHT as a ResF member going RegF. Most of the relocation directives, literally are so freaking gray. It looks to me that I am covered, however my MCpl is still causing issues.
Most people I speak to say, HHT is allowed prior to COS date, however my MCpl is literally almost trying to force me to wait until my COS date, then go for my HHT. I really don't want to do it, as that is not a whole lot of time for us to get things together. We have a plan that works perfectly if we are leaving on the 31 of March.

Everything I have read in the relocation directive seems to say, in little to no words, that I am eligible. But again the MCpl is causing a lot of headache especially, since she wont read the information I provide.

My CO has approved the dates, should the MCpl just leave it be?

Short answer: Yes, you are absolutely 100% entitled to an HHT.

Long answer: As an Administration Officer/Adjutant at a reserve unit for 3 years, we had several people CT to the RegF and ran into this situation. There are two ways this can be done, but you need to answer 1 question first: are you in the RegF now, or are you still in the PRes and will become RegF on COS date?

If you are already in the RegF, then it's super simple. The HHT is paid for by Brookfield. YOU arrange everything through the BGRS website, including flights, advance request (get one), etc. Since you are already RegF, conducting your HHT is part of your job, so you CO signs off on it and you just go (no leave required, as some people (albeit rarely) seem to think).

If you are still PRes, it's still paid for by Brookfield, and organized through the BGRS website, but you have to be on contract (i.e. you have to be getting paid) during your HHT. If you are currently class-B, then it's just like being RegF, so just book it and go. If you are currently Class-A, then someone needs to give you Class-A employment over the course of your HHT. Ideally, your gaining unit would pay for it, but I've found (surprisingly) that it is much much harder to get a FIN CODE for pay out of a RegF unit than it is to get one from a PRes unit. So, your own unit could pay for it. 7 days of Class-A pay isn't too much to pay to avoid the headache of trying to get a FIN CODE from someone else to pay for your time while on HHT.

One last thing I will say:  just because your COS date is 31 March does not mean you have to have everything figured out and report for duty on March 31st. You are allowed to report for duty (RFD) up to 30 days either side of your COS (with the concurrence of both COs, but they would have to have a very good reason to say no). If it works out that you can't report for duty at your new unit until after your COS date, then you just end up working at your current PRes unit, doing whatever odd jobs they might have for you until you start your move to your new place of duty.

If you have any questions at all about moves, or any issues with grumpy clerk MCpls, let me know.

**(if someone could explain this to me, it'd be great, because it makes no sense: when you start asking for FIN CODES for things that make sense, you get very different responses from RegF units compared to PRes units. RegF units seem to have no sweet clue how to handle it and are like "oh, I'm not sure about this, is this within regulation? we'll have to staff a memo to our CO for his approval. Hey, CO came back, he needs more information, what's this about again? We can't just be sending FIN CODES out to just anybody, who's approval do YOU have for this? Besides, we can't spend money on this; it's not in the budget that was approved 6 months ago, and we can't be changing our budget willy-nilly like that!". Conversely, when you talk to a reserve unit about it, they're just like "yep, make sense, we just texted our CO with a follow up email and it's been approved. Here's your FIN CODE.")

 

[MJP]

If you are still PRes, it's still paid for by Brookfield, and organized through the BGRS website, but you have to be on contract (i.e. you have to be getting paid) during your HHT. If you are currently class-B, then it's just like being RegF, so just book it and go. If you are currently Class-A, then someone needs to give you Class-A employment over the course of your HHT. Ideally, your gaining unit would pay for it, but I've found (surprisingly) that it is much much harder to get a FIN CODE for pay out of a RegF unit than it is to get one from a PRes unit. So, your own unit could pay for it. 7 days of Class-A pay isn't too much to pay to avoid the headache of trying to get a FIN CODE from someone else to pay for your time while on HHT.


**(if someone could explain this to me, it'd be great, because it makes no sense: when you start asking for FIN CODES for things that make sense, you get very different responses from RegF units compared to PRes units. RegF units seem to have no sweet clue how to handle it and are like "oh, I'm not sure about this, is this within regulation? we'll have to staff a memo to our CO for his approval. Hey, CO came back, he needs more information, what's this about again? We can't just be sending FIN CODES out to just anybody, who's approval do YOU have for this? Besides, we can't spend money on this; it's not in the budget that was approved 6 months ago, and we can't be changing our budget willy-nilly like that!". Conversely, when you talk to a reserve unit about it, they're just like "yep, make sense, we just texted our CO with a follow up email and it's been approved. Here's your FIN CODE.")

I am not at work so can't look at the name of the designation of monies nor an expert but have run into this issue a few times.  Mostly revolving around trying to employ PRes soldiers on exercise with ref F units.  Most Reg F units do not have the requisite authority and allocation of funds to pay reservists.  For example many only have L101 funds which are for O&M and can't be used for PRes pay or infrastructure upgrades/construction. So they can get a Fin Code but they have no authority under L(insert whatever PRes pay is here) to expend funds in that way, and the scope to re-purpose monies into different designations doesn't always exist.  For us we generally have to go to our L2 Div HQ to be able to employ PRes soldiers which can take time to organize but is the work around we utilized.  There are a few smart Fin folks on here that can likely fill in the gaps.

PRes units can make it happen cause they are strangely enough authorized to expend funds under PRes pay designation!

 

[MStryker]

Short answer: Yes, you are absolutely 100% entitled to an HHT.

Long answer: As an Administration Officer/Adjutant at a reserve unit for 3 years, we had several people CT to the RegF and ran into this situation. There are two ways this can be done, but you need to answer 1 question first: are you in the RegF now, or are you still in the PRes and will become RegF on COS date?

If you are already in the RegF, then it's super simple. The HHT is paid for by Brookfield. YOU arrange everything through the BGRS website, including flights, advance request (get one), etc. Since you are already RegF, conducting your HHT is part of your job, so you CO signs off on it and you just go (no leave required, as some people (albeit rarely) seem to think).

If you are still PRes, it's still paid for by Brookfield, and organized through the BGRS website, but you have to be on contract (i.e. you have to be getting paid) during your HHT. If you are currently class-B, then it's just like being RegF, so just book it and go. If you are currently Class-A, then someone needs to give you Class-A employment over the course of your HHT. Ideally, your gaining unit would pay for it, but I've found (surprisingly) that it is much much harder to get a FIN CODE for pay out of a RegF unit than it is to get one from a PRes unit. So, your own unit could pay for it. 7 days of Class-A pay isn't too much to pay to avoid the headache of trying to get a FIN CODE from someone else to pay for your time while on HHT.

One last thing I will say:  just because your COS date is 31 March does not mean you have to have everything figured out and report for duty on March 31st. You are allowed to report for duty (RFD) up to 30 days either side of your COS (with the concurrence of both COs, but they would have to have a very good reason to say no). If it works out that you can't report for duty at your new unit until after your COS date, then you just end up working at your current PRes unit, doing whatever odd jobs they might have for you until you start your move to your new place of duty.

If you have any questions at all about moves, or any issues with grumpy clerk MCpls, let me know.

**(if someone could explain this to me, it'd be great, because it makes no sense: when you start asking for FIN CODES for things that make sense, you get very different responses from RegF units compared to PRes units. RegF units seem to have no sweet clue how to handle it and are like "oh, I'm not sure about this, is this within regulation? we'll have to staff a memo to our CO for his approval. Hey, CO came back, he needs more information, what's this about again? We can't just be sending FIN CODES out to just anybody, who's approval do YOU have for this? Besides, we can't spend money on this; it's not in the budget that was approved 6 months ago, and we can't be changing our budget willy-nilly like that!". Conversely, when you talk to a reserve unit about it, they're just like "yep, make sense, we just texted our CO with a follow up email and it's been approved. Here's your FIN CODE.")

Thank you so very much,

now if only I had actual directives  : : : I may show your response to the MCpl, as a bit of proof.

 

[mariomike]

For reference to the discussion,

House Hunting Trip (HHT) Lore (merged)
https://navy.ca/forums/threads/44861.50
4 pages.

 

[Lumber]

Thank you so very much,

now if only I had actual directives  : : : I may show your response to the MCpl, as a bit of proof.

Your "directives" are you posting message and the IRP.

Your posting message will indicate that you are approved for a cost move and give you directions on how start the process with Brookfield. The only exception to that would be if you weren't getting a cost move (say, for example, you were a reservist in Pet and were joining a RegF unit in Pet), and so you wouldn't need an HHT, but if that were the case, I don't think you'd have posted the question in the first place.

So, your answer is to first show him the posting message showing you are entitled to a cost move organized through Brookfield, and say "I have this", and then show him the entire IRP, and say "which means I'm entitled to literally everything here."

 

[PuckChaser]

It would clearly state on your posting message NO COST MOVE if this was the case. I CT'd to the RegF and my message had that very clearly on it along with missing any references to BGRS as I was staying in the same geographical location.

 

[Zoomie]

As already stated - RegF units have L101 money, this cannot be used to fund a Class A.  Your gaining unit isn’t expecting you to hit the ground running, reach out to them and organize a suitable RFD followed by an actual reasonable timeline of  in-clearance and relocation leave.

More details as to your current status, trade and posted location would help a bit.

 

[ballz]

I am not at work so can't look at the name of the designation of monies nor an expert but have run into this issue a few times.  Mostly revolving around trying to employ PRes soldiers on exercise with ref F units.  Most Reg F units do not have the requisite authority and allocation of funds to pay reservists.  For example many only have L101 funds which are for O&M and can't be used for PRes pay or infrastructure upgrades/construction. So they can get a Fin Code but they have no authority under L(insert whatever PRes pay is here) to expend funds in that way, and the scope to re-purpose monies into different designations doesn't always exist.  For us we generally have to go to our L2 Div HQ to be able to employ PRes soldiers which can take time to organize but is the work around we utilized.  There are a few smart Fin folks on here that can likely fill in the gaps.

PRes units can make it happen cause they are strangely enough authorized to expend funds under PRes pay designation!

Pretty much bang on. L101 is Reg Force O&M, C127 is PRes money (pay or PRes O&M depending on commitment item). Reg Force units, and Brigades, don't get any C127 so even though this stuff is pocket change, we can't just go ahead and do it. Sometimes the PRes Units or CBGs make this more difficult because they don't want to pay even pocket change for an activity that isn't theirs, even though it might be a great opportunity for their own guys and they have more PRes Pay than they could possibly use that year (this is all very personality driven.... you can't fix stupid).

I've tried getting a small amount of C127 in our allocation for just these types of things $5,000 - $10,000 which is literally pocket change, but no dice.

Converting of funds is a more onerous issue and only happens through the quarterly reporting framework, so it's not even really an option to ask for usually.... and for such small amounts of money they would never convert.

 

[Lumber]

Pretty much bang on. L101 is Reg Force O&M, C127 is PRes money (pay or PRes O&M depending on commitment item). Reg Force units, and Brigades, don't get any C127 so even though this stuff is pocket change, we can't just go ahead and do it. Sometimes the PRes Units or CBGs make this more difficult because they don't want to pay even pocket change for an activity that isn't theirs, even though it might be a great opportunity for their own guys and they have more PRes Pay than they could possibly use that year (this is all very personality driven.... you can't fix stupid).

I've tried getting a small amount of C127 in our allocation for just these types of things $5,000 - $10,000 which is literally pocket change, but no dice.

Converting of funds is a more onerous issue and only happens through the quarterly reporting framework, so it's not even really an option to ask for usually.... and for such small amounts of money they would never convert.

Yea, that's why I said it'd be so much simpler for his current PRes unit to pay for his HHT. What's 7 days of Jr NCM Class-A pay compared to THAT headache.