Former CAF Officers Eligible to Re-Enrol Under Direct Entry Officer Plan

Former fully trained and qualified officers of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) are now eligible to re-enrol in the military, if they so wish, under the Direct Entry Officer plan.

“This amendment applies to a small segment of released officers who would still be considered fully trained upon re-enrolment, but are too close to the compulsory retirement age of 60 to be re-enrolled under the Continuing Education Officer Training Plan, which involves attainment of a bachelor’s degree while serving,” said Derek Abma, Senior Communications Advisor, Military Personnel Public Affairs.

The decision was made to support the military’s reconstitution efforts and increase the CAF’s overall efficiency.

Deviating from Past Regulations

Typically, the CAF requires that all CAF officers, except those commissioned under the Commissioning From the Ranks Plan, are expected to have a bachelor’s degree.

When an occasion arises in which a fully trained and qualified officer without a degree, who was released from the CAF, wishes to re-enrol they are taken under the Continuing Education Officer Training Plan.

“This plan requires the officer to attain a degree while serving within their terms of service, which range from 10 to 13 years, depending on occupation. The Direct Entry Officer plan will be offered to those who would reach the compulsory retirement age before their terms of service are up,” explained Abma.

Additionally, in the past, if a re-enrolling officer was too close to retirement to complete a degree, a Degree Waiver would be requested. However, the waiver process was complicated and delayed re-enrollement, according to the CAF.

“In addition, it increased the risk to lose skilled applicants withdrawing from the recruitment process, while compromising the ability to urgency fill key operational positions. Therefore, amendment to Ref A was deemed necessary in the interest of CAF reconstitution and organizational efficiency,” stated CANFORGEN 126/24.

Specific Requirements

According to the CANFORGEN, there are certain requirements that must be met before a re-enrolling officer is accepted under the Direct Entry Officer Plan.

Aside from no longer requiring an MND 10 Waiver, CAF members wishing to re-enrol can only do so if they enter into an occupation for which the member is assessed to meet the Occupational Functional Point requirements without additional training.

This requirement also applies to skilled officer applicants on Component Transfers (CT) into the Regular Force who are not eligible for CT under the Continuing Education Officer Training Plan.

For questions, CAF members can visit here.

Updated Dec. 4, 2024.