~posting on behalf of my fiance~

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My fiance is 11B SGT. They want to reclassify to 17C because of interest in cyber and to have better opportunities in the civilian sector, but they are having a tough time getting answers from retention at their post. Rather than being advised on what to do for approval, they were told to give up hope because they do not have certs or a degree (not because they didn't want to but rather them and their fellow soldiers are not given time or told to drop courses because it was getting in the way of their duties to the army). They want to pursue a Sec+ cert to help chances of approval but was told by leadership that they can't pursue a certificate until December because of being on IR, even though the cert is online and the prep course is study-at-your-own-pace not in person. Their ETS is in November so they understand they would need to extend to complete AIT if approved, however they have not signed anything yet as they want a guarantee to do their cert in time to submit the packet and complete AIT within the extension period.

So they want to know: should they just full send it and send in their packet as is, or wait to submit it after they get Sec+? And does their leadership have authority to not let them pursue the cert while on IR even though the cert is online and study at their own pace, meaning they have ultimately extend anyways and wait until December? As they are worried they are telling them that just so they feel pressured into extending and will then still make it hard for them to get the cert.