How to Read an Enlistment Contract

Everyone enlisting in the U.S. military signs the same enlistment contract, the Department of Defense Form 4/1. This contract is not particularly long; but it is important that you understand its elements before you sign. You should read the enlistment contract with an eye to several key parts and conditions. Read on to learn more.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Know that the enlistment contract for active duty military members is actually made up of two separate contracts. The first contract you will sign applies to the Delayed Enlistment Program (DEP), which includes the inactive reserves. All active duty members sign this contract and are members of the DEP.
2. Be aware that if you sign up for active duty, the contract most important to you is the one for active duty. Its terms will apply to your situation, and anything not included in that contract will not be honored or enforced.
3. Read carefully the first part of the contract that lists all of your obligations to the military and all of the consequences to you if you do not honor these obligations. A clause of the contract points out that some laws which apply directly to you, including those regarding pay and benefits, may be changed without notice to you. This is allowed under the contract.
4. Grasp the fact that the contract allows for changes in the length of your enlistment in the case of war. Section 10 covers these changes. During the course of your enlistment, if the country goes to war, the military reserves the right to extend your enlistment for however long it deems appropriate.
5. Realize that the enlistment contract for first-time members of the military actually applies for a period of eight years. Those eight years can be spent on active duty, in the active Reserves or National Guard or in the inactive reserves. You can read this in Paragraph 10(a) of the contract.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure that you understand the enlistment contract. Find someone to explain it to you if you do not. This contract lists all of your rights and obligations, and you want to make sure you understand it.
• Know that all branches of the military, except the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard, offer a college loan repayment program in their enlistment contracts. Be sure to find out whether this program applies to your particular college loan, because it does not apply to all of them.
• If you accept the College Fund bonus, it will reduce your enlistment bonus. Most of the College Fund money you get through enlistment is available to you anyway through the Montgomery G.I. Bill. You do not need not apply for the College Fund in order to be eligible for this money. The contract makes no mention of this fact.