As a military couple returning from overseas, why can't we compete for CONUS assignments advertised on the EQUAL list?
Answer. The key word is compete. The overseas returnee assignment process is designed to be fair & equitable by using factors such as the current type of overseas tour you are on, the number of previous short tours you have had, your DOR, etc., to establish a “pecking order” that racks & stacks overseas returnees for each AFSC by grade. In other words, if there were 5 Supply (2S0X1) SSgts returning in a given EQUAL cycle, the above factors would be used to actually prioritize those 5 SSgts, ranking them 1 through 5; then these 5 SSgts would compete (not pick & choose) for the available assignments. In the military couple situation, although there are 2 people, there is only 1 family, and our goal is to keep the family together if at all possible. Moreover, in a military couple's situation, the military members may have different AFSCs or different grades/skill levels from one another. So if we tried to include the military couple in the “pecking order”, one member might be #1 in t
