Combined NFCU and USAA Commisioned Officer Loans

Hey all,

So I've been reading through this sub for awhile regarding this topic, but have not actually found a definitive answer regarding this question, so I figured I would chime in for any future officers looking into it. I am currently attempting to take out both the NFCU and USAA career starter loans and there are all sorts of debates regarding whether or not you can legally do that, with some people chiming in about the NFCU stipulation about taking both. I called representatives from both institutions and basically just blantantly asked them what I could or could not do, and here's what I have learned:

USAA – Has no stipulation regarding your ability to take their loan if you already have the NFCU loan. The gentleman I spoke to explicitly said "No we don't have anything stating you can't take both," and then gave me some cautionary advice about taking out $50,000.

NFCU – Has a stipulation that you cannot take out the USAA loan FIRST. If you have the USAA loan already, you are ineligible for the NFCU loan. However, I asked the lady what the penalty was if I took their loan first, then took the USAA loan. After another cautionary talk about taking out $50,000, her exact words were, "We cannot legally tell you what you can and can't do with other financial institutions after you have received our loan."

Now for my particular situation, I'm an OCS grad with the ARNG, so I can only speak on the $25,000 loan at 2.99% APR that I am eligible for. You would think their stipulations are the same regardless of the loan amount your eligible for… but I think most of us know where assumptions lead us.

I've also seen a lot of mentions about having to pay back the loan using allotments from your DFAS pay. I asked the representatives how that works since my unit has a very whacky OPTEMPO and some months I wouldn't make enough money to cover the monthly payment if I only took one of the loans. Both representatives assured me that I could pay back the loan out of any account and there didn't have to be a direct deposit from a DFAS source due to that specific reason.

Now I have not taken these loans yet, so I will have to circle back and post an update if they are true to their words. With that being said, hopefully this clears up some things that it appears nobody had a concrete answer for, and maybe this can serve as a post where other people can post about their experience regarding the administrative portion of taking out these loans, and not just the typical "You should do _______ with your money" discussion.

Stay tuned because regardless of how this goes down, a lesson will be learned somewhere.