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What does "reserve" mean here?
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"James Baldwin talked about how because he loves his country so much, he reserves the right to critique it."
There are so many meanings for the word "reserve" that I don't know which one applies in this context.
Top Comment: "If you say that you reserve the right to do something, you mean that you will do it if you feel that it is necessary. Example: He reserved the right to change his mind." source it's worth noting this phrase is often used in legal contexts. for example, businesses often post the phrase "we reserve the right to refuse service to any customer" on a sign or print it on tickets.
What is life like in the Reserves if I already have a career?
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Hi all,
I hope this is the right subreddit for this. I'm considering joining the reserves and frankly am looking for any information that is helpful prior to signing anything. I'm 32, finished undergrad and graduate school, and have a career. Some things I would love some input in are:
- On paper the commitment is 1 weekend a month, 2 weeks a year. In practice is this what happens? Would I be using vacation time from my job to cover the 2-week training requirement?
- For anyone who went reserves after having an established career, were there any unexpected consequences you didn't see coming?
- The big reason I'm interested in the reserves is that I want to serve. My brother, dad, grandpa, and so on all served and I didn't due to a great job offer after school. How heavily should I weight this in deciding to join?
- I went through MEPS after undergrad but decided not to go - will this reflect badly on me now?
- Anything else I should be asking but aren't?
Thanks in advance.
Top Comment: 100 percent dependent on your MOS and battalions OPTEMPO. For reference I'll clear about 80 days outside of drill time this FY on some kind of duty (schools, tdy, occonus, etc).
Reserve Life
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What are some things you wish your Active counterparts understood about being a Reservist? Just looking for some general discussion
Spent a good chunk of the last few years on Active Duty but in Reserve focused work. But I constantly spend time talking with career Active members that just don’t quite grasp what Reservists and Guardsman complain about. It’s easier for the ones that have done both to understand, but boy are there still some knowledge gaps.
Senior Leaders tend to understand a bit more because they tend to have to integrate those resources at their echelons, but there are many that don’t . Company grade Os and Jr. NCOs really struggle with the whole idea of what we do and offer I’ve noticed.
Top Comment: The Reserves is part-time. For things other than battle assembly, and AT where it’s published in advance and my obligation, the Reserves takes a backseat. I’m not missing family events, work obligations or personal time to call into a last minute thing that I’m not getting paid for. That may mean I’m a bad officer, but boundaries and expectations need to be set. Rank is certainly helpful with this approach but I’ve just said ‘No’ to a bunch of extra things.
Considering Reserves
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Update: I talked to a local recruiter but he wasn’t very knowledgeable about the path for commissioning as an officer and could only provide me the same info I could get off the website. He also didn’t have much info on what going to OCS looks like for people just commissioning to the reserves; he knew more about Active Guard.
Anybody know an officer recruiter I could talk with?
31, female, BA degree, working full time, no kids, in CA. I’m considering joining the reserves and looking for advice. I’ve always had multiple jobs so that’s not a issue for me to give up time every month.
- Background in accounting, counseling, and recreation.
- I’m great at doing paperwork and I actually enjoy it too.
- Not trying to do crazy cool guy shit.
- Best case scenario?
- Worst case scenario?
- Recommendations for MOS’s?
Edited for more info: I’ve always worked more than one job at a time - working more than 40 hours a week is usual for me - especially coming from the accounting field. The Reserves offers part time work with benefits - something I’ve never had from any of my side jobs. It also offers a chance to learn new skills.
My full time job provides health insurance, but I’m interested in the retirement benefits reserves offers. My full time job does provide time off for service. I’m middle class living in a HCOL so my income from my full time job doesn’t go very far, which is why I’ve always had a side job. I’m in central CA.
Top Comment:
Commissioning could be a good move. Post degree and over 30 might be hard to relate to the younger enlisted folk
Should I Join the Army Reserves?
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I (30M) have a wife, two young children, and a construction management job that pays a little under 6 figures. I have a state pension plan through work and decent benefits, and I am on track to replace my supervisor in the next 2 - 3 years when he retires. This will obviously come with more responsibilities but also a pay raise, so I should be making 6 figures by that point.
I enjoy my job but I do not feel a lot of fulfillment in it. I am considering the reserves because I am looking for that fulfillment, and also the better medical benefits, federal pension, extra monthly pay, and tuition benefits if I ever decide to go back to school (I have a bachelor's degree in construction management).
All of this considered, are the Reserves worth it? I've been reading a lot of opinions on it, but I am curious what you would say towards my current circumstances.
Top Comment: This will be a huge net loss for you. You'll miss out on just a lot of pay, be slogged with responsibility once you hit NCO or O, and you'll miss time with your kids for significant periods. Tuition benefits are okay but a huge pita to navigate and are being cut back. Missing money to put into your state benefits likely will not outweigh the positives of federal benefits. There will be plenty of times where you will eat shit for things you didn't do (or didn't do to someone else's unrealistic expectations) and get credit for things you probably had very little to zero input on. You'll be infantilized and/or treated poorly more often than you think even if you know what you are doing. You can more easily miss work due to life stuff in civvie side, missing on the military side can get you in actual trouble. I wouldn't, if I were you. Your life is better, more organized, and more flexible on the civilian side even if you would find this fulfilling. Of course if you're doing it for ego, eg. "I am doing this just because I want to/want to feel fulfilled" then go ahead.
I just joined army reserve and I'm already feeling like shit...
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I'm in the Army Reserves, and I graduated from AIT almost 3 weeks ago. Right now, I'm rotting inside my home. Doing nothing but wake up, eat, workout, and sleep.
I got some weird situations going on with unit in-processing(basically, they put me in the wrong unit with the wrong MOS, a broken IPPSA account, and an absent email), and trapped in those typical "do nothing but wait for someone to answer someday".
I couldn't do any of the of the army stuff I was expecting. I can't even participate in the annual training that is going on this week... Just plainly sad.
I am trying to go on active duty ASAP(6 months to get conditional release), but it's pretty too damn long for me to not rot in here.
I never knew that I needed some random sergeant come up to my face and yell me to do this, do that...
I'm trying to do some army related stuff, but I'm not aware of any programs that they have. Is there any military website that I can request for deployment/schooling while I'm on this limbo?
Top Comment:
Your problem isn't the reserves... It's that you don't have a job.
Get a job.
Should I go Active Duty or Reserve?
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I've recently decided to enlist in the Army although I have a worry I would like to get out of the way. I recently finished my second college semester but for the most part I don't really have any ambition to continue it as I have no long term goals or majors in mind so it feels like a dead end to me. I don't have any career ideas in mind either so I basically have no idea what I want to do with my life. The military is something I've been interested in for a while now but it took me a while to actually build up the courage to contact a recruiter and schedule my ASVAB and MEPS. Would it be a better idea to do active duty or reserves? I can't decide on what to choose. Any feedback is appreciated. Thank you.
Top Comment: Do you want to do the military as your job; then go active. Do you want to do it as a part time on the side thing while you continue with college, trades, etc; go into one of the reserve components.
Considering going Air Force Reserves. Would love your ...
Main Post: Considering going Air Force Reserves. Would love your ...
How much different is the Reserves from active duty?
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I'm trying to decide if I want to switch to active duty.
Top Comment: Short answer, tons. If you're currently on AD and are considering switching over, the Reserves is a whole different animal and you may be in for a complete culture shock. Reactions from AD folks at their first Reserve BA vary considerably from them not believing how "jacked up" the reserves are in terms of organization, formations, wasted time (though this is a common feature for AD folks as well), etc. I've heard AD folks say that they can't believe just "how hard it is to get soldiers to just show up for drill," and the relatively negligible consequences for skipping a battle assembly, etc. Reserve is much more focused on soldier readiness and less so on training beyond getting soldiers to the required schools for their MOS and PME. There's just not enough time in a BA to do both, and in many respects the Reserve just wants bodies that are green across the board and deployment-ready. YMMV. Depending on your expectations, you can make a really good career of it. One thing that the Reserves offer that AD doesn't is far more flexibility in choosing your unit and when to go on orders. By extension, if you can choose your unit, you can, in some respects, also choose your schooling since some units will have slots that are "will-train" positions. For instance, if you are high speed and can find an MI HUMINT unit to take you in, they might be willing to send you to school to reclass as a 35M or other MOS if you otherwise meet all the requirements (take that particular example with a grain of salt, but you get the idea). Or, if you want to go to airborne school, find a reserve unit on jump status and see if you can get in there. Lots of opportunities to be found if you're willing to network and put in the work both to find the unit and then talk your way in.