Question about the US-RESERVES.

[Lebentomalakas]

Ok here is my situation in few words. I am 25 years old. I started college at 21. I am going for PC programming. I need a year and a half to finish with my degree. School is MUCHO expensive. I cant afford a loan. My job is low paying and I dont qualify. I was thinking of joining the reserves. Now my question is this and I would aprreciate any feedback from guys who have actually been in the military. Here it goes:
Do the reserves get jobs in the military that the full timers wont even touch? Lets say I go to the recruiter and I score high on the ASVAB, do they keep the good jobs (am talking about IT oriented jobs, I am guessing Military job experience in such a field will help me very much in the civilian life) for the full timers? And since a reserve is basically a weekend warrior do the full timers give them tough time and no respect?

Chances are I will join. I am not saying that if the time comes to ship me in some other country and fight I wont do it or even if i get a sh!ty job I wont accept it. Hell and even if i take alot of crap from the full timers I can accept and understand that as well. I come from a poor family and I been around the block few times. I just want to know how they treat the reserves so I will know what to expect. Chances are I will join the branch that is the most IT oriented.
Thank you!

 

[Semper Fi]

<< And since a reserve is basically a weekend warrior do the full timers give them tough time and no respect? >>



That would be CORRECT

A lot of it depends on which branch you join. Most of the times the reservists get to do the crap jobs the regulars have put off doing until drill time. What MOS you get is determined by your ASVAB score and the need of the military. Not always logical. You have just as much of a chance getting the job you want as someone enlisting as a regular.



<< Chances are I will join the branch that is the most IT oriented. >>



That pretty much eliminates the Marine Corps. I'd say go Navy or Air Force.

 

[Batti]

I'd have to say that the Air Force is more IT oriented. I did a stint in the Army Reserves, training for helicopter avionics. By the time I finished training, they had out-sourced all such jobs to civilians - I never once flew in a helicopter or fixed an aircraft. From a technical training aspect, a total waste of time. HOWEVER, boot camp and the like made me a much better man, and I can see dozens of young punks here that could really use the eye opener. I'd do it again. As a soldier, I DO NOT understand why 6000 people have to perish before some people wake up to the fact that this is a great country, and worth defending. Soldiers have always known this.

The reserves were treated like second string sometimes, but that whole thing may have changed now that they get activated so frequently. Don't count on not being deployed - with things the way they are now, you will go somewhere. Having been around the block a few times, you'll do fine. Boot camp was actually fun - I understood what they were trying to do, and was a team player. The physical part was tough, but so be it. It was the punks with attitudes that really got beat down, because they were too stupid to understand the game. I wasn't a young kid though, I did boot camp at 23.

 

[trenchfoot]

i'm in the air nat'l guard, and due to retire after 23 years of service. i can say that at my base IT jobs are available for part-timers, but it's a tough assignment with alot of odd-hour work, doing systems maintenance, etc. in the wee hours. so there's a higher than average turn-over in personnel in this area. i'm not trying to discourage you though, as full-time employment and advanced training opportunities are available for those with desire and drive and the willingness to stick it out. ROTC at good colleges might be what you want to check out, as tuition, etc. are federally subsidized. hope this helps. if you need more info, e-mail me at tweaker2@hawaii.rr.com

 

[cparker]

I think the reserves are taken much more seriously now than they used to be by the military. The training is much better and the expectation is that units are much more likely to be called up than in the past. Some units, such as intelligence, military police, medical units, and certain categories of aircraft usually go to the theatres of action right away. Others replace domestically based units that are deployed overseas for the duration of the conflict. In some instances, you can be called up and then assigned to a different unit, perhaps a non-reserve unit, as an individual, although most of the time your unit gets called up as a group and you stick with the unit. I'd say, that given the current situation, if you joined the reserves now, you should expect being called up to active duty. As to training options, probably the recruiters or the people in charge of recruiting at the base near you can explain the current options and probabilities. In my case I was in the Army reserves. When we went to large army bases during the "summer camp" two week active duty period each year we were treated very well, and I discovered that we were just as competent in dealing with the tasks at hand as the regular army units. Perhaps we were just lucky, but I thought it was a great experience and a lot of fun. The money also came in handy. My unit was never called up though. I think the situation is different now and if you join you will get called up pretty quickly.

 

[Lebentomalakas]

Wow thank you guys for the reply and for the info.

 

[datalink7]

<<
The reserves were treated like second string sometimes, but that whole thing may have changed now that they get activated so frequently. Don't count on not being deployed - with things the way they are now, you will go somewhere. Having been around the block a few times, you'll do fine. Boot camp was actually fun - I understood what they were trying to do, and was a team player. The physical part was tough, but so be it. It was the punks with attitudes that really got beat down, because they were too stupid to understand the game. I wasn't a young kid though, I did boot camp at 23. >>



I remember my dad saying that. If you just remember that it is a game, you can actually have a good time and learn valuble lessons. If you don't come to that realization, you'll probably just get those lessons pounded into you, which is a lot less fun.

 

[cparker]

Oh yes, one more important thing. If you sign up for the reserves or for ROTC you will not be drafted should they reinstitute the draft. I doubt they will be activating the draft anytime soon, but in this world anything could happen. Should they do so, you might find yourself in the area of your choice if you signed up with the military before the draft than after you got drafted. ROTC has the great advantage that you will enter the service as an officer. If your circumstances are such that ROTC is a possibility, you should give that very serious concern. Of course it involves a committment to active duty service later on, but I'm almost sure that joining the reserves will also involve being called to active duty, and that would interrupt your education and you would most certainly be an enlisted man.

 

[DDad]

Can't say about Illinois, but I do know that Missouri has a IT unit, primarily used for networking and hacker "prevention". I personally may look into it after I get done with my MCSE.

 

[schmedy]

I know in the Marine Corps you could get any active job as a reservist, but you need to know two things first. One you can only get a job that is avaliable at the place you would drill at, so if you are in the sticks and all that is nearby is a little base there may be only few jobs you could get. Second not all the full timers liked the reservists playing with the gear when they did their weekends, since they don't see it much. But then again this all does hing on your ASVAB scores and what jobs are even open to enlist in.