army reserves question?Is the recruiter lying to my son?

Question

told him he would go to boot camp as a reserve and when he finished boot camp then he could go in as regular army active duty what is up with that

Answer 1

Your son could enlist in the reserves and decide after boot camp/school to go active duty. It is not uncommon at all.
note: he would only go into boot camp as a reservist if he enlisted that way and that's what his contract reads. Talk to the recruiter and put your mind at ease.

Answer 2

Depending on his MOS, if he qualifies he will get half the bonus up front with the other half filtered into his monthly pay. The recruiter is lying in that Active/Reserves/Guard all have the same ASVAB score requirement to join. Also he can't go to boot camp as a reservist and end up active when he graduates. Now what he may mean is that when he graduates he can volunteer for active duty this is a possibility. If he has bronchial Asthma he would automatically be disqualified for enlistment into any branch. If he did not disclose it to the MEPS personnel, he can and will be charged with false enlistment, which at the minimum will be either a general or bad conduct discharge or the max he could do some jail time, just depends on the commanders mood basically. Hope this helps and everything works out for your son.

Answer 3

During time when the individual is on constant military service, such as Basic, AIT, or when they are called up, the reservist in on "Active Duty". This means that they are entitled to full military benefits. Normally, the reservists is only authorized certain privledges, and some of those can only be used "once a month, and two weeks a year".

It could also mean that your son's reserve unit is being called up to active duty.

Rather than getting this information from your son (second hand, something missing, questions not asked), call or stop by the recruiters office and ask.

Answer 4

Not quite sure, either he is trying to get him to go "regular army" right off the bat, or he is telling him that he will be activated once he is trained. My friend joined the reserves (pre-911), 3 years into it, they activated his unit and I haven't heard from him sense, last check he was in Afghanistan. A man that I work with joined the reserves, this year, right after boot camp, he went to Irac.
When I was considering the army, my recruiter told me that "you can train or leave when ever you want. You can refuse assignments if you don't want to go". Recruiters are huge liars. When my husband joined the Navy, his recruiter told him that if he didn't like boot camp (or what ever they call it in the Navy) he could skip it and just move on to Officers school. Blatant lie, yet again. I wouldn't believe anything that comes out of a recruiter. They will say anything until he gets sworn it, and there is no recourse.

Answer 5

Yeah I’m not a fan of Recruiters and I’m Pro Army. I just don’t understand why we have so many harsh regulations to set a good example in foreign countries while our representation to the public gives out half truths.

He could it’s a possibility the recruiter isn’t lying but it’s hard you have to be released and that’s not easy with the shortages the reserves have right now. I suggest going in as active army from the get go then transferring to the reserves later. IF he does it reserves first he forgoes two important things.
Choice of duty station can be added to only active duty contracts despite what you’re told. This means before basic he can request (it’s not always a guarantee) places like Germany or really were ever there is an open slot.
I think Reservist can select a station in state but when he does go active he is essentially doing a second re-enlistment which is the re-enlistment in active duty that you get the best options such as bonuses and assignment choices. So if he does decide to make it a career he is then on his 3rd reenlistment which is actually his first if I’m making any sense at all.

I have seen to many people suffer from this system I implore you to not go through with it in this manner if you must go to a different recruiting station.

Answer 6

well in a way it is true...
if your son's intentions are to join the regular army, then he should seek another recruiter.. not a reserve recruiter
you get assigned to a unit before you go to boot camp and AIT so what he means is that he will join this reserve unit and will have the option to go active.. however, the commander will have to sign a release allowing him to do so, a lot of tricky loopholes you need to make your son aware of

Answer 7

MOST RECRUITERS DO NOT LIE......I will admit that there are a few who do but the good ones outnumber the bad ones BY FAR. If you have any concerns about what the Recruiter is telling your son, have the Recruiter AND his boss meet you at your home(yes they CAN do that) and have a list of concerns and or questions ready before they get there. In the Marines the guy that is directly above the Recruiter is called the Staff Non-Commisioned Officer In Charge (SNCOIC for short). If you still feel uneasy after that talk to the next highest in the food chain.......and so on.....at some level you will find someone who will give you a straight answer.

Answer 8

That might be true. Is your son joining up to be in the reserves? If he wants to be Regular Army he should probably enlist that way. If the Army is pretty full up they might not let him into the regular army. If the reserves needs men he might get stuck in the reserves. So many things in the military depend on their needs. So it is always best to get the straight foward deal for yourself than to count on what might be.

Is the recruiter saying your son could be called to active duty immediately after boot camp. There is a war on so anything could happen.

The military is often strange about allowing people with prior military service to re-enlist. That is what your son would be considered if he left the reserves for the regular army. If he wants to do his 30 years and retire then he should just join the regular army.

Answer 9

Reserve and active duty do go to basic together. I've seen reservists transfer to active unit more than once, but from my understanding, it's not exactly that simple.

Maybe this will help.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/guardandreserve/a/reservetransfer.htm

Answer 10

I think what the recruiter was trying to say is that he can stay reserves or he can go active duty, whichever he decides.

Just be careful and listen carefully to the recruiters, some of them lie just to get people into the military.