Email To Sylvie Mortimer

-----Original Message-----
Date: Thursday, September 5, 2002
From: Jason Pearce
Subject: Request for reinstatement, re-enrollment, or transfer
To: Sylvie Mortimer
CC: jason@pearce.net

Sylvia,

Thank you for your prompt reply regarding my request for re-enrollment. Your thoughtful timeliness was appreciated.

If I understand your voicemail correctly, you are saying it is Peace Corps policy that volunteers who have received early termination must wait one year before reapplying. And should an early-terminated volunteer choose to reapply after that one-year period, they would have to submit a new application through a Regional Recruitment Office.

Please let me know if I misunderstood your message, for perhaps I did. As I'm sure you would agree, the vast amount of Peace Corps policies, literature, and guidelines can be daunting and confusing.

What I have found, however, indicates that I could be considered for re-enrollment without having to submit a new application. Here's what I've found:

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PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER HANDBOOK
Under some circumstances, an RPCV may re-enroll for another term without having to submit a new application. Re-enrollment is possible if:

  • Within the past two years, the RPCV completed service (COS) or has his/her service terminated early for medical reasons or due to exceptional circumstances beyond his or her control; and

  • The RPCV has particular skills or experience requested by host countries which are not sufficiently available from current applications.

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According to Earl Brown's August 21, 2002, memo, I was given an Early Termination/Interrupted Service per MS 284, 5.0, stating, "The host country (or other cooperating agency to which the volunteer is assigned) requests that the volunteer be removed from service for reasons that would not consist grounds for administrative separation."

So I turn to MS 284, 5.0 to see what it says. It reads:

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MS 284: EARLY TERMINATION OF SERVICE

5.0 Interrupted Service
A Volunteer or Trainee may be separated with interrupted service status if the Country Director determines that circumstances beyond the control of the V/T make it necessary for the V/T to leave his or her present assignment. Because the nature of circumstances leading to interrupted service are beyond the V/T's control, interrupted service should not be used in lieu of administrative separation. All travel options under paragraph 8.0 are open to V/Ts who are separated with interrupted service status, but not in particular that 8.1.3 "Field Exception to Direct and Immediate Return" may be appropriate.

5.1 Grounds for Interrupted Service
Interrupted service may be appropriate if:

[This is the only applicable reason]
There is no viable assignment in country of assignment for which the V/T is qualified.

A V/T who has been separated with interrupted service status may seek reinstatement or re-enrollment to Peace Corps service or may seek transfer to another country.
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So if I understand all of this correctly, as an Early Termination/Interrupted Service (per MS 284, 5.0) Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV), I may seek reinstatement or re-enrollment to Peace Corps service or may seek transfer to another country without having to submit a new application. This is what I am requesting.

If I am not eligible for reinstatement or re-enrollment to Peace Corps service or may not seek transfer to another country without having to submit a new application, please explain why. If there are relevant Peace Corps policies that I am missing, please provide them as well.

Thank you again for your attention to my request for reinstatement, re-enrollment, or transfer; it is kindly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Jason A. Pearce