joining the reserves?

Question

my son is seriously thinking of joining the reserves. please give me some of your personal experiences. goods and bads both.

Answer 1

Well I am Active Duty Army, but I'll still drop my 2 Cents...

Pros: The military sets you up to have a successful future. Joining the military you will get the GI Bill which will allow your son to attend college, and as reserves he should have plenty of time for school work..

You get to stay in your home town! You cant beat that, hell I wish it would be that easy for me to see my family, but I havent seen most of them in almost 3 years.

You learn discipline and lots of it, I dont know where I would be or how I would act if I didnt join the Army.

You'll meet some friends for life, you cant beat brotherhood.

You'll get in great physical condition if your in the Army or Marines.

Cons: We are at a time of war, and yes the reservist do deploy. Sometimes at 15 months at a time. It sucks, no running water, sometimes sucky food, misery loves company, etc... Depending on where you get deployed to, some bases in Iraq are nicer than being in the states.

There will be a lot of people that don't support you. I have been called baby-killer, murderer, etc. You have to deal with people's ignorance. Thats ok, not everyone has been to Iraq and has seen what its like. This isnt always true though, I have gone weeks without paying for a meal because Randm people buy me stuff.

IED's, #1 killer of american soldiers/marines, that and fratricide.

Dealing with typical army bullshit check the box type things. Like unnecessary medical checks, some training is outdated but mandatory.


ALL IN ALL
I would do it again. Joining the Active Duty Army has possibly been the most exciting and beneficial thing I have ever done for myself... Infact, I am reenlisting within the month for another 5 years!

Answer 2

He must be willing to serve 8 years total 6 years active reserve and 2 years IRR (which doesn't exist) so its more like 8 years Active Reserve. Think a little into the future. Is he willing to have one weekend a month and 2 weeks out of a year when he has a job. With the war the way it is and the buildup. He will definitely get deployed to either Iraq or Afghan and quite possibly more than once. When you have no commitments its easy to think that you won't have a problem with the 8 year contract.. but 8 years is a long time and things change and happen. Also they removed the 2 year max deployment for reservist. Now they can call you up as many times as they want. It is smart before he goes sign up for the Reserves to visit one of the reserve centers and ask the REAL soldiers how drill is and how the Army Reserve is. Do not go with an Army Recruiter because they are there to make you sign up. Talk to more than one soldier and preferably soldiers that has been to the sandbox. You'll get a better perspective. I liked being in the Army and was very motivated but since then I've been deployed and have a Civilian Career. It is a big committment and I feel as if it is more like a burden these days because of the time I need to put in besides my civilian job.

Answer 3

I would not advise of it at all at this point in time.

The Reserves are being used in front lines nowadays, and ALL the troops are not getting out after a normal rotation... the ongoing combat stress is ruining these guys. The stop-loss programs are really horrible.

On top of that, our government has a nasty habit of starting conflicts by airstrikes using DU (depleted uranium) weapons, which leave long-term radioactive materials in the area. The DU dust is far tinier than anything a gas mask can filter out.
Our troops are coming back sick, sick, sick. If they don't start coming down with leukemia soon after deployment, then they come home with their kidneys shutting down. A lot of the troops that came back after Gulf War I have been fighting MULTIPLE cancers at once. Gulf War Syndrome is really a combination of DU and vaccine poisoning.

Add to that, the military and VA have been refusing support for the veterans who have come back severely disabled.

If anything, send the kid to a trade school. If they start the draft, hide the kid. Military service is not all that survivable if they are on the ground.

Answer 4

The reserves are a great way to learn what it takes to make it in life, he will learn, respect and discipline. he will be around a great group of men and women, and even as a reservist he will be serving his country.
He might even get some good job training
what's not to like about that?

Answer 5

The military determines your value by how useful you are to the service, in this case the army. Reservests have less training than career soldiers and therefore are considered more expendable for duty on the front lines. They don't want to risk a regular GI's life because they have so much more training invested in them.

Reservists are considered 'expendable'. That's how the military works.

Answer 6

Make sure that your son is not gay. There is a lot of homophobia in the military.

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