7 Decisions from Your First Days in Uniform

At reception or in-processing, you’ll be asked whether to enroll in the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB, Chapter 30) by paying $100/month for 12 months ($1,200 total), automatically deducted from your pay. Most new service members aren’t given enough context to make an informed choice. Here’s what you need to know:

If you pay the $1,200: You preserve the option to choose between MGIB and the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) when you use your education benefits. In most cases, the Post-9/11 GI Bill is more valuable (full tuition + housing allowance + book stipend). But there are specific situations — certain vocational programs, flight training, and some online programs — where MGIB pays more. Having both options means you pick whichever is better for your situation.

If you decline: You can still use the Post-9/11 GI Bill (which requires no buy-in). But you permanently lose the option to use MGIB. This decision cannot be reversed. There is no mechanism to enroll in MGIB after the initial window closes.

The bottom line: Pay the $1,200. It’s $100/month for a year — and it buys you optionality that you can’t get back. Think of it as insurance on your education benefit. Those who decline often wish they hadn’t when they reach the education benefits stage of their career.

You’re automatically enrolled in Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) at the maximum $500,000 for about $25/month. That’s an exceptional rate for half a million in coverage. But the enrollment isn’t the decision — the beneficiary designation is.

If you don’t name a beneficiary, the payout follows a statutory order: spouse → children → parents → executor → next of kin → estate. That may or may not be what you want.

What to do: Name your beneficiary explicitly on your SGLV 8286 form. Decide the percentage splits if you want multiple beneficiaries. Update it every time your life changes — marriage, divorce, birth of a child. SGLI does not automatically update when you get married. If you named your parents during in-processing and got married two years later without updating, your spouse may not receive the benefit.

FSGLI: Once you have a spouse, they’re eligible for Family SGLI — up to $100,000 for your spouse and $10,000 per child. This requires a separate enrollment.

Under the Blended Retirement System (BRS), you’re automatically enrolled in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) at 3% of your basic pay. You’ll be asked to choose between Roth and Traditional contributions. This decision has enormous long-term consequences.

Roth TSP: You pay taxes on the money now, but it grows tax-free and withdraws tax-free in retirement. Every dollar you contribute as an E-1/E-2/E-3 is taxed at the 10–12% bracket — the lowest rate you’ll likely ever pay. When you withdraw it at 60, it could be worth 10x what you put in, and you’ll owe zero taxes on any of it.

Traditional TSP: You don’t pay taxes now (the contribution reduces your taxable income), but you pay taxes on everything — contributions and growth — when you withdraw in retirement. If you’re in a higher bracket then, you pay more.

The math is clear for junior enlisted: Choose Roth. You’re paying 10–12% now to avoid paying 22–32% (or more) later. The younger and lower-ranked you are, the more powerful Roth is. If you deploy to a combat zone, Roth contributions from that period are triple tax-free — tax-free going in, tax-free growth, tax-free coming out.

Under BRS, the government matches your TSP contributions up to 5% of basic pay. The match structure is:

1% automatic (you get this no matter what) + dollar-for-dollar match on the next 3% + $0.50 per dollar on the next 2% = 5% total government contribution when you put in 5%.

At 3% (the default), you’re getting a 4% match. At 5%, you’re getting 5%. That extra 1% of free money, compounded over a 20-year career, is worth tens of thousands of dollars.

What it actually costs: For an E-2 with ~$2,250/month basic pay, the difference between 3% and 5% is about $45/month. That’s the price of capturing the full match. Over 20 years with average market returns, that $45/month becomes roughly $30,000–$50,000 in additional retirement savings.

Important: The BRS match uses a monthly pacing rule — you must contribute in each pay period to capture that period’s match. If you max out your annual contribution early in the year and contribute $0 in later months, you lose those months’ matching. Spread your contributions evenly across the year.

This isn’t a form you fill out. It’s a habit you build. And it’s arguably the most consequential decision on this list.

Every time you go to sick call, visit medical, or report an injury, that visit is recorded in your Service Treatment Records (STRs). When you eventually file a VA disability claim — whether that’s in 4 years or 20 — the VA will look for an “in-service event”: proof that something happened during your service that caused or contributed to your condition. Your STRs are that proof.

The challenge: In a culture that values resilience, it can feel like going to sick call means you’re not pulling your weight. But reporting an injury isn’t weakness — it’s building the record that protects you later. A service member who tweaks their knee on a ruck march and skips sick call has no medical record of the injury. Ten years later, when that knee needs surgery, the VA looks for documentation linking it to service — and finds nothing.

What to do:
• Go to sick call for everything — knees, back, shoulders, headaches, hearing changes, sleep problems, mental health
• Every visit creates a dated medical record linking the condition to your time in service
• Ask for copies of any imaging (X-rays, MRIs) and keep them
• If you’re exposed to loud noise (weapons, engines, flight line, explosions), document it — tinnitus and hearing loss are the #1 and #2 most common VA disabilities
• If you experience anxiety, depression, insomnia, or PTSD symptoms during service — report it to medical. Mental health records carry the same weight as physical injury records

The rule: If it hurts, report it. If it happened during service, document it. Your future self — and your future VA claim — depends on the records you create now.

If you have any debt from before your military service — student loans, car loans, credit cards, personal loans — the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) caps the interest rate at 6% per year for the duration of your service. This applies to debts incurred before active duty.

It’s not automatic. You must notify each lender in writing and provide a copy of your orders. The lender is then required by law to reduce the rate to 6% and retroactively adjust any excess interest charged since your active duty start date. They cannot refuse.

Credit card annual fee waivers: Major credit card issuers (Amex, Chase, Citi, and others) waive annual fees entirely for active duty under SCRA or their own military benefits policies. An Amex Platinum ($695/year), Chase Sapphire Reserve ($550/year), or Amex Gold ($325/year) becomes free while you serve — with all the benefits intact. Call each card issuer and request the military benefit.

What to do in your first 90 days:
• List every debt you had before entering service
• Send each lender a written request citing the SCRA (50 U.S.C. §§ 3937–3938) with a copy of your orders
• Call every credit card issuer and ask about military annual fee waivers
• Verify your SCRA status is on file at scra.dmdc.osd.mil

Every military installation has a legal assistance office (JAG) that prepares wills and powers of attorney for free. Most service members don’t take advantage of this until they’re forced to by a pre-deployment checklist. By then, they’re signing documents under time pressure without fully understanding what they’re authorizing.

What you should have:

A will. Even if you own nothing of value right now, a will designates who receives your assets, who handles your affairs, and — if you have children — who gets custody. Without a will, your state’s intestacy laws decide for you. That may not be what you want.

A general power of attorney (POA). Authorizes someone you trust to act on your behalf — sign documents, manage finances, handle legal matters — if you’re deployed or unreachable. Be careful who you name. A general POA gives broad authority. A limited or specific POA restricts it to defined actions (like managing one bank account or signing one lease). JAG can tailor it to your situation.

An advance medical directive. Also called a living will or healthcare POA. Specifies your medical wishes if you’re incapacitated and names someone to make healthcare decisions on your behalf.

All of this is free through JAG. A civilian attorney would charge $500–$2,000 for the same documents. Schedule an appointment with your installation’s legal assistance office within your first month. Update your documents whenever your situation changes — marriage, children, divorce, new property, new deployment.