Process for Reserve, Guard to enter regular Army has been streamlined

[lebkuchen]

Army National Guard and Reserve soldiers who have been mobilized for the war on terror can use a new streamlined entry process into the regular Army.

On June 17, Army officials announced that they are eliminating the long-standing practice of having mobilized reserves soldiers quit the reserves and then apply for the Army all over again if they want to become regular soldiers, according to Lt. Col. Katrinia Pierce, Chief of the Army Integration Policy Branch.

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“We’ve had a large number of soldiers coming to us and saying, ‘I’ve been mobilized … I want to continue to serve in an active status but it’s just too hard to get it done,” Byrne said.

“Based on that groundswell,” Byrne said, he decided to streamline the process, and placed Pierce in charge of developing the policy.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=29962

A "groundswell" of NG and Reserves now want to become active duty?

BS.

[merwin]

1. Yeah, tons of reservists who get deployed are DYING to become Army

active duty.

[lebkuchen]

3. Ya reckon?

Oct 6, 2004
Send reservists home first

I am a reservist serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and want to comment on the letter “Make deployments equal” and the article “Report: Army could shorten combat tours” (both Sept. 28).

The soldier’s letter is correct. I have seen active-duty units leave after six to seven months while the reservists do tours in excess of 12 months. We are all soldiers, and this really does not affect me (as I will be returning to full-time duty when my deployment ends), but it is unfair to the reservists who are losing out on promotions and pay raises with their career jobs back home.

The government needs to think of some better incentives to protect the soldiers, or attempt to reimburse them in some better way. But also the Army should make sure that, in fairness, that if there are all these extra soldiers around that it should be the reservists going back to their careers and not the soldiers, whose careers are being soldiers. This might also help to retain Reserve and National Guard soldiers.

Which brings me to the article. It said that the generals say it is a bad idea to maintain numbers in country for long rotations. But per above, the military is sending soldiers home early, so what numbers are they referring too? Also as stated above, creating better incentives may help retention. With this, they will have a much easier time maintaining the numbers they say they need.

Sgt. James Yeiser
Camp Buehring, Kuwait

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=24433&archive=true

[BrotherBuzz]

2. Hey maybe, just maybe....

After being deployed for 24 months in Iraq, and the big divorce, and the forclosure on the house, and the civilian job being outsourced - maybe, just maybe the army might actually start looking attractive.

[lebkuchen]

4. I doubt it. Have a look.

Oct. 3, 2004

Retirement for reservists

In response to the Sept. 25 Military Update column, “GAO frowns on drop in Reserve retirement age”: Of course the government would never approve spending more money unless there was something to gain for itself.

As the article states, only 1 in 4 reservists serves long enough to retire. Most people today feel that waiting until you’re 60 to see any gains is not a good investment of time. They could find part-time jobs with larger companies to supplement their income, and invest in the company to see larger returns sooner.

The compensation that reservists/National Guardsmen receive while deployed is the very same the active duty receive. Don’t get me wrong, the active duty does an outstanding job. But how does the Department of Defense justify saving money on shifting skills back to the active duty? Instead of paying someone for a weekend of work, they are paying someone 365 days a year to do the same job.

As the writer of “Army’s ‘redheaded stepchild’” (letter, Sept. 26) stated, reservists and Guardsmen are looked at as stepchildren. We have to follow the same rules, go through the same training, yet our promotion process is a nightmare. If there isn’t a slot for you to be promoted into, you will never be promoted.

One thing the government doesn’t see is that the Guard/Reserve brings something to the playing field that the active duty may not. Most, if not all, Guard/Reserve have full-time jobs. We do everything and anything. That experience comes in handy when trying to build up a bare base or operate equipment that is rarely used by active duty.

I’m sure the Government Accountability Office would give a better look at upping the retirement benefits for Guard/Reserve if their positions weren’t being filled, and the sons and daughters of government officials were being drafted and deployed to fill in for the missing redheaded stepchildren.

Staff Sgt. Bradley Doyle
Balad, Iraq

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=24386&archive=true