How to Leave the DEP

You can leave the Delayed Entry Program before you ship with no penalty — it’s an uncharacterized Entry-Level Separation, no DD-214, no RE code — by sending a signed discharge request to your recruiting commander.

1. 1

   STEP 1

   Confirm you’re still in the DEP

   Have you shipped to basic training yet? If not, this is you.

   The Delayed Entry Program — the Army calls it the Future Soldier program — is the window between signing your enlistment contract and actually shipping to basic training. If you haven’t shipped, you are not yet on active duty. You signed a piece of paper; you have not started performing the contract. That is exactly the situation this walkthrough covers.
   
   This matters because the rules are completely different the day you ship. Before you ship, leaving is your decision and it’s clean. After you ship, you’re active duty and a whole different set of separation rules applies. If you’ve already shipped, stop here and call the GI Rights Hotline instead.
2. 2

   STEP 2

   Write the signed discharge-request letter

   A few sentences. Addressed to your recruiting commander.

   Write a short letter to the commander of your recruiting battalion or station. Keep it simple. State that you wish to be discharged from the Delayed Entry Program and that you do not intend to ship to basic training. Sign it and date it. You don’t owe anyone a reason, an apology, or a debate — the request itself is what triggers the separation.
   
   Changing your mind is allowed, and there are no adverse consequences. You don’t need your recruiter’s blessing or cooperation to send this. A sample structure: who you are, that you’re in the DEP, that you request discharge and will not ship, your signature.
3. 3

   STEP 3

   Send it certified mail, return receipt — keep copies

   Create a paper trail nobody can argue with later.

   Send the letter certified mail, return-receipt requested. Keep a copy of the letter and keep the receipt. That return receipt is your proof of exactly when the recruiting commander received your request — which starts the clock and ends any “we never got it” conversation.
   
   Simply not reporting on your ship day also results in separation, but the written, certified request is the clean, documented route. Discharge requests are typically processed within about 30 days.Because it’s an Entry-Level Separation, it’s uncharacterized — no DD-214 is issued and no RE code is assigned.
4. 4

   STEP 4

   If you get obstructed, escalate

   They can’t legally stand in your way. Go over their head.

   Recruiting personnel are prohibited from threatening, coercing, manipulating, intimidating, or obstructing your separation request. If a recruiter pressures you, sits on your letter, or tells you that you “can’t” leave — that’s the behavior the regulation exists to stop, not a sign you’re stuck.
   
   Escalate over their head. Your options, in roughly the order people use them:

   • →Recruiting battalion commander — The CO above your recruiter. They own the obligation to process your request cleanly.
   • →Inspector General (IG) — The IG investigates abuse of authority and obstruction. A documented obstruction complaint moves things.
   • →GI Rights Hotline — A free, confidential, non-government counseling service that walks people through DEP discharge every day.

Common Questions