Delayed Entry Program

The Delayed Entry Program, also called the Delayed Enlistment Program, is a program where individuals going onto active duty enlist first into DEP before they ship out to Basic Combat Training (BCT). In actuality, this is an enlistment into the inactive reserves, with an agreement to report for active duty (to ship out to BCT) at a specific time in the future. Under the current regulations, an individual can remain in the DEP program for up to 365 days; after which, the recruit will either have to: a) begin the enlistment process again or, b) become discharged from DEP. The DEP is a legal, binding contract. When the recruit signs the DEP Enlistment Contract, he/she is legally agreeing to being ordered to active duty as a Reservist unless they report to their future duty station (the location of their BCT) by a certain date. If the applicant does not show up to ship out to basic training, the military could legally court-martial the recruit if they desired to.