Thoughts on coming over from being an Army officer

[LSP552]

Lots of good advice in this thread. I hope this isn’t a derailment but have you considered a federal position as a Contracting Officer? You can look at the 1102 series, Contract Specialist. As an active duty logistics officer, you may already be, or may be able to work on your DAWIA contracting certification while active duty.

I’m a former Army EM from the Stone Age, retired Louisiana State Police Capt, who currently works as a Contract Specialist for the Army Contracting Command. There is a real sense of mission where I work. Just wanted to toss that out to you if you decide law enforcement isn’t where you want to go.

If I was starting a LE career today, it would be Federal for sure. Good luck!

Feel free to PM me if you want additional information on the 1102 series.

[CWM11B]

Ten grand for 4 years is cheap. I bought 3 of my 4 years back a few years ago at about $8500.00/year. That last year will now cost me $30,000.00.

NC is a 30-year-full-pension retirement system. There are other options depending on your age but I started young and they are not applicable to me. They just came out with a 25 year LEO retirement “option” which starts July 1, 2019. Im at 26.5 years now but would lose a retirement supplement (it’s worded as if the employer could negotiate with you...yea, right) that the municipalities have been wanting to get rid of for years. The supplement equals about $1500/month in addition to a full pension. I think I will just stay 2.5 more years and burn my sick time to make the 30.

Yup, buying in the fed is cheap. I was (AM) very interested in an instructor job at FLETC (cant seem to crack the code to get in) and when I was at FITP in Glynco, I asked one of the staff how much his cost, when he told me I was amazed, and thought hell, I can write a check for that. I had to roll over 70k from my 401k to the NC pension for mine. Totally worth it to get me out when it did. I would still have a year to go otherwise.

Im going to come out and say it, your stated number 1 priority is incompatible with local LE in NC. Best case you are going to start out at about 40k per year. I retired from one of the five largest PDs in the state. Pay raises were meager to non existant most of my career. Advancement is a combination of good ol' boy and special snowflake/everything wrong with affirmitive action you've ever been told. The smaller agencies pay even less. I met a detective sergeant for a smallish SO one night on the way home after a warrant service at their jail. At the SO, he was in charge of homicide. At this job, he rang me up for my coffee and snickers bar. He was the third shift clerk at a stop and rob. In my agency, we had officers getting food stamps, and many who were constantly exhausted from working OD gigs (because they had champagne appetites on a Natural Light budget)

If you want to be a cop, go for it, but realize you arent going to be able to afford a lot, especially if you have a family. I can say without a doubt I would not pursue LE if I were starting out today. If I had kids, I would do everything I could to dissuade them from it. If you are hell bent on doing it, pursue federal service. Whatever BS they have to put up with is matched at the local level, however they are better compensated for it.

Don't get me wrong, I got to do a lot of cool things and had fun. But I also saw six colleagues buried and definitely got my share of screwed over. The job definitely doesnt love you back. Most guys I know who retire from local agencies have a love/hate relationship (mine is more hate/love with my former agency).
If it is possible, I would get 20, or at least a high disability rating with payments before jumping ship. We had a few retired mil in our department, and that monthly pension check made their life easier.
Good luck with whatever you decide. Getting hired wont be too big an issue right now if you try. Every agency in the state is screaming for people.

[Duces Tecum]

Deleted. Covered in an earlier posting that I missed reading.

[RJflyer]

I came over to local LE after about 5 years as an active duty mil officer. I can attest to the comments that pay/benefits in LE are no comparison to the military. It was well over a 50% pay cut for me to switch. Taking a part time Nat’l Guard spot helped in that regard, as did having a spouse with her own career/income. But if you’re the sole income earner in your family and have kids, I’d be hesitant to make the jump until you get your full mil retirement.

[ranger]

Cannot speak for Federal LE opportunity, but I would make sure you look closely at the "stay and get your 20 option". MIL pay and benefits while serving and MIL retirement opportunities are significant.

As far as "buying" MIL time, I spent some time in Civil Service and bought 5 years of Title 10 Army service. Well worth the "investment".

[Wake27]

I appreciate all of the feedback so far guys.

You are looking for an exciting job in LE like SWAT starting with a bad knee?

Yes, but I don't know how bad it will be yet. Its a weird injury and it will take some time to figure out how much it will affect me going forward because I have been relatively gentle with it while its healed over the last year.

[HCM]

Depending on how bad you knee is you may want to stay in the .MIL.

As far as salary goes you are going to want a job which is journeyman a LE /6c GS 13. Some options would be FBI, DEA, ATF and ICE/HSI. With all of these though you are looking at an initial pay cut and no guarantee of getting exactly where you want to go. At least initially. If you are willing to do a hardship tour on the border or in the case of the FBI in Indian Country for a few years you can get the location you want.

USSS and FAMS are both hard on their people. USMS is actually a very small agency so odds of getting in are low. Many of the OIG postitionsyou will see in USA jobs are filled with prior 1811s from bigger agencies, particularly USSS. If you are not part of the USSS “mafia” the odds are not in your favor.

Regarding retirement, under FERS retirement is based on the average of your three highest years, for regular civil service time you get 1% of the average for each year of service. Under the “6c” or “covered” LE/Firefighter retirement you get 1.7% of the average for each of the first 20 years of service.

You must do 20 years of 6c/LE Service to get the higher 1.7 % rate. Any 6c/LE Service beyond 20 years reverts to the standard 1% rate. Any military time bought back or prior non 6c/LE civil service time is also at 1%.

So with 10 years military you could do 20 additional years and retire with 44% of the average of your high 3 years. 20 x 1.7% = 34% plus 10% for your buy back MIL time. Plus your TSP and social security.

It’s going to be hard to find a state or local agency in a free state which can match the pay and retirement of the .GOV.

[andre3k]

I would stick it out in Army if I were you. If you're set on being the police then try a few ridealongs with the type of agencies you'd like to work for. The larger the department you work for the more opportunities you will have for advancement and working in different divisions.

If you go to a local agency you will take a pay cut. Rookie pay at any agency wont be the greatest. But pay is across the board and not all agencies pay peanuts. Instead of focusing on starting pay see what your salary will be in 5 years. Also take a look at educational pay, shift differential, overtime, extra-employment (a big deal in some locales), take home rides and insurance costs. Since you're pretty far along in your Army career I would try to find a place that has 20 year retirement.

[Rick62]

I would lean heavily towards staying for your 20. That said, there are some things to consider:

- Pay/Benefits- will vary greatly, unless we're talking the .fed agencies. As an example, my place hired a couple of guys that grew up here and had moved to VA for LE jobs. They came back when they could, and their first year made more than what their LTs made in VA. When comparing pay rates, don't just look at what your starting rate is; see what full rate is, and how long it takes to get there. Also, consider what the folks on the job actually make. Base pay won't accurately reflect OT and court time. Some may not factor in holiday pay and various other money that's "built in" to the contract. Also consider the retirement terms, (20? 25? 30 years?) how the retirement figures are calculated and the health of the retirement system vs it's future obligations.

- Speaking of a contract... the entire union/ non-union conversation could be an entire thread by itself. Which employment situation is "better" is largely subjective. I'll just say that it's something you should consider when looking at agencies. Be aware that the dynamics of the labor/management/public/political relationship in LE can be somewhat unique.

- Rewarding/fulfilling- this part's up to you. The job, like all others, is what you make of it. Don't look for it to fill some void within you. (Not saying that's what you're looking for, but people with unrealistic expectations don't do well in this line of work, generally speaking)

I've left out quite a bit that would be better left for PM. If you or anyone else wants to pick my brain, feel free.

Regardless of how this plays out for you, I hope you end up in a good place for you and your family.

[muddychi]

Am a retired active duty O-5 currently working as a mil contractor. Recommend that you take a hard look at FAs that may interest you. FA's 30,40, 49, 51, 57, 59 and contracting officer offer opportunities after retirement. You will work on a staff for the rest of your career but can still find some interesting assignments that allow you to make major contributions. Challenge you may have is that the Army has been cutting sling on officers who are medically non deployable. Am on the global, PM me for contact info if you wish to discuss further.