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Guard and Reserve 2009: Affiliation

For those leaving active duty, joining the reserve components is a way to keep some military benefits and work toward retirement. All services, including the Coast Guard, have reserve components, and each takes veterans from other services as well as their own alumni.

Before applying for a reserve post, make sure your paperwork is in order. The most important document you need is your DD 214, which details your discharge from active duty or a reserve component. Before you leave either, make sure the information on your DD 214 is correct.

Look carefully at your total time in service to ensure it includes all active and reserve duty. Active-duty time is critical in computing retired pay. And be sure your military schools and job codes are accurately listed. Both can determine what position you might be offered in the reserves.

On the bottom of your DD 214 is a re-enlistment code — a numerical representation of your discharge. If this code is wrong, you will not be able to re-enlist.

Save copies of your discharge physical forms, SF 88 and SF 93. They are good for two years after discharge, and having them can save time in enlisting.

For those who want to continue in the same service, most installations have transition services that will help you move seamlessly into the reserve component. For those looking for the quickest path to retirement without risking the loss of pay or rank, this is the best option.

In most cases, those who have been discharged for more than 90 days will have to retake the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, since ASVAB scores are valid for only two years. If you transfer directly into the reserves from active duty or affiliate components within the 90-day window, you do not have to retake the test.

In July 2004, the Defense Department decided to re-compute the ASVAB norms using a group that took the test in 1997. The scores of those who took the ASVAB before 1997 are “grandfathered.”

The National Guard is made up of both active-duty and Reserve Guard members. Each state and U.S. territory has its own National Guard.

The Army National Guard offers a large selection of military occupational specialties in three major categories: Combat (Infantry, Artillery, Armor, Aviation, Air Defense); Combat Support (Engineer, Chemical, Military Police, Signal, Military Intelligence, Civil Affairs); and Combat Service Support (Finance, Public Affairs, Personnel, Supply, Maintenance, Transportation).

The Air National Guard offers more than 180 different career choices in fields that include health care, communications, avionics, electronics and more.

Members of the Army and Air National Guard enjoy exchange and commissary privileges, medical benefits, free space-available travel, life insurance and, in some cases, bonuses.

The Army and Air National Guard follow the regulations and requirements of their parent services. Guard members and units are available for recall by state governors in times of crisis.

Mission. The Guard has a federal and a state mission. It is called to assist in local emergency and disaster relief.

Residency. You can live in one state and be affiliated with a Guard unit in another. The only requirement is that you can reach your drill site.

Contact: For information on the Army National Guard call (800) 464-8273 or visit http://www.1800goguard.com. You also can visit the National Guard web site at www.arng.army.mil.

For information on the Air National Guard, call (800) TO-GO-ANG or (800) 864-6264 or visit http://www.ang.af.mil.

Federal law allows states to form Naval Militias. These are reserve organizations under the authority of a state government, usually composed of Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard reservists and volunteers.

Thirteen state Naval Militias formed the original Naval Reserve in the late 19th century. When Congress formally created the Naval Reserve in 1915, it decided not to disband the Naval Militias. Now, in light of new homeland security initiatives, there is renewed interest in state militias.

To be federally recognized as a Naval Militia, 95 percent of the members also must be in the Navy or Marine Corps Reserve. If militia members are not federally mobilized, a state governor can call them up. This makes them eligible for state benefits, such as tuition assistance.

Current state militias include:

n Alaska Naval Militia.

n California Naval Militia.

n New Jersey Naval Militia.

n New York Naval Militia.

n Ohio Naval Militia.

n Texas Maritime Regiment.

Air Force Reserve components are structured exactly like active-duty units, with the full range of job specialties. Squadrons and wings of the Air Force Reserve routinely are called to participate in missions around the world, and drill schedules often do not follow the one-weekend-a-month, two-weeks-a-year structure.

Contact: To find a recruiter, call (800) 257-1212 or visit http://www.afreserve.com.

For information about the Air Force Reserve, visit http://www.afrc.af.mil

The Army Reserve is mainly a force of support troops in various military occupational specialties. The Army Reserve actively recruits and provides incentives to veterans who have a combat service support or combat support MOS or who are willing to retrain into one of those skill fields.

Contact: Army Reserve recruiters are in the same offices as active-duty recruiters. Call (800) USA-ARMY or visit http://www.goarmy.com/reserve/nps.

The smallest of the reserve forces, the Coast Guard Reserve is a force of about 8,000, and is looking for veterans from all services. In the current mobilization climate, a greater percentage of the Coast Guard Reserve has been recalled more than any other reserve component.

The Coast Guard Reserve’s needs are specialized, but it has programs for veterans of all services with specific skills. It also has programs for high school seniors at least 17 years old, and civilians up to age 40.

To be eligible to join the Coast Guard Reserve, you must not be employed in a civilian occupation essential to U.S. interests during a time of war, and you must not have served more than 13 years of active military duty.

Contact: Coast Guard Reserve and active-duty recruiters work in the same offices. To find a recruiter, call (877) NOW-USCG or go to http://www.gocoastguard.com.

The official Coast Guard Reserve Web site is at http://www.uscg.mil/reserve/.

For information on reserve opportunities, go to: http://www.gocoastguard.com/reservejobs2.htm.

Sailors who complete the active-duty obligation of their first enlistment may affiliate with the Navy Reserve for the remainder of that enlistment. Discharged sailors can come into the Navy Reserve under the Navy Veteran program.

If you have been out for less than six years, you will likely enlist in the same paygrade. The paygrade for those out longer is based on length of time since discharge and the Navy’s need for individuals in your rating.

The Other Service Veteran program is for veterans from other service branches who want to enlist in the Navy Reserve. If you are a veteran officer with a commission from another branch of the military, you may apply for a Navy Reserve direct commission through the Interservice Transfer Program.

For veterans of other services, multiple programs are used to determine your temporary pay grade and the rank at which you can come back.

In one particular program in which you enlist for a minimum of three to four years, your temporary paygrade is determined by the length of time since your discharge.

If you’re within six years of discharge, your temporary paygrade is the same as when you were discharged. If you are six to eight years past discharge, your temporary paygrade is one paygrade less than held at discharge (minimum of E-3). If you’re eight to 10 years past discharge, your temporary paygrade is two paygrades less than held at discharge.

Candidates must have job classifications similar to those in the Navy and be able to complete 20 years of qualifying service for retirement by age 60.

The New Accession Training Program offers an opportunity for civilians with skills comparable to Navy ratings to enlist directly in the Navy Reserve. A member would attend active duty boot camp, applicable “A” school and then report directly to their local Reserve Center.

For critical skills acquired through the military, college or civilian employment, the Navy Reserve offers a Direct Procurement Enlistment Program. This requires a three-year enlistment.

Contact: To locate a recruiter or for more information, call (800) 872-8767 or visit http://www.navalreserve.com.

Marines on active duty who want to get into the Marine Corps Reserve should contact their career retention specialist or a prior service recruiter, located on every major base. Their job is to match you with a position in the Marine Corps Reserve, wherever you plan to settle once discharged.

If you have a skill that is critical, you may qualify for a cash bonus to enlist.

Although the Marine Corps prefers to fill its reserve ranks with former Marines, it will not turn down a veteran of another service with critical skills. Those entering the Marine Corps Reserve from another service are required to attend boot camp.

Contact: For more information, visit http://www.marforres.usmc.mil or http://www.marines.com.

The Ready Reserve is the category of reservists most often called to active duty. The Ready Reserve consists of three subcategories: Selected Reserve, Individual Ready Reserve and Inactive National Guard.

Selected Reserve. Most reservists are in this category and are the first to be activated. These reservists must complete 48-unit training assemblies, or drills, plus two weeks of annual training each year.

Traditionally, drills are held once a month on weekends. On an average weekend, reservists are paid for four drills, five if the drill starts on a Friday.

It is important to ask about a unit’s drill schedule before joining. Many reservists who directly support active components drill whenever they are able, sometimes during the week. Such flexible schedules can be a benefit for those with irregular civilian work hours.

The Selected Reserve consists of units and individuals in the following categories:

å Drilling Reservists in Units. Trained unit members who participate in unit training activities on a part-time basis.

å Training Pipeline. Enlisted members of the Selected Reserve who have not yet completed initial active duty for training (IADT) and officers who are in training for professional categories or in undergraduate flying training.

å Individual Mobilization Augmentees. IMAs are assigned to active-duty units. In times of emergency and war, they can be called up quickly to get their unit up to par.

IMAs train on a part-time basis with the organizations to which they are assigned to prepare for mobilization. Inactive duty training is decided upon by component, and varies from 0 to 48 drills per year.

å Active Guard and Reserve. These reservists serve on full-time active duty to administer and train their units at headquarters level. Others are recruiters or instructors.

This category includes active Air Force, Army Reserve and National Guard personnel, and also Navy Full Time Support personnel and Marine Corps Active reservists. They are assigned mobilization slots or billets in the units they serve.

In the Navy Reserve, Navy Full Time Support members are on active-duty rolls but are considered part of the Reserve. The Navy allows these members to go to sea and fill other operational jobs, but when ashore, they’re assigned to administer reserve units.

Job opportunities in this category are posted on the Web sites of the individual reserve components.

Individual Ready Reserve. The IRR is made up mainly of those who have had training and previously served in the active component. Other IRR members come from the Selected Reserve and have some of their military service obligation remaining.

IRR members may be involuntarily recalled in a national emergency, and several thousand have been recalled to support the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Other requirements include an annual day of muster to duty to satisfy screening requirements. IRR members may participate in voluntary temporary tours of active duty and military professional development education programs.

Most of those who join the service through the delayed-entry program spend time in the IRR while awaiting basic training. Also, those whose active or reserve enlistment expires after four years may be put in the IRR until fulfillment of participation requirements.

IRR members can be promoted, compile points and years toward retirement, and train annually, although this is not required.

Since those in the IRR do not belong to a unit, it is up to the individual to complete the correspondence courses required for drill points and find a command that has the money to pay for training to get the 50 points per year needed to accrue “creditable,” or “good,” years toward retirement. This does not apply to those in inactive IRR status.

Inactive National Guard. Only the Army maintains an Inactive National Guard. Those who leave active drilling status in the Guard before completing their enlistment will be put in this category unless they specifically request a transfer to the Individual Ready Reserve.

Those in inactive status cannot drill for pay or points. They are ineligible for annual training and cannot be promoted. However, they are required to muster with their last unit once a year. In the event of a full activation, they can be recalled to service with that unit.

STANDBY RESERVE

These are reservists who maintain their military affiliation but are not members of the Ready Reserve. There are two types of Standby Reservists: Active Status and Inactive Status. Normally, these reservists are key federal or state employees, but also can be civilians in the defense industry whose employers designate them as crucial to national security.

Active Status. These reservists can voluntarily participate in training for retirement, but receive no pay. They are eligible for promotion, with the exception of promotion to flag or general officer level. Those who elect to be transferred to this status because of hardship or health reasons are allowed to maintain their military status because they have skills that the reserves may need in the future.

Inactive Status. Those in this status are not authorized to take part in training for retirement points and cannot be promoted. It takes a congressionally declared war or other national emergency to get the Standby Reserve recalled to active duty, and then only when there are not enough members of the Ready Reserve to do the job. The secretary of defense has the final authority on who is activated from this status.

RETIRED RESERVE

Service members collecting military pensions and benefits from active or reserve duty are placed in the Retired Reserve. This status includes:

å Retired reservists eligible for retired pay who have not reached age 60 and thus are not qualified to collect retirement pay. They are known as RET-2 or Retired Awaiting Pay reservists.

å Active-duty enlisted retirees of the Army and Air Force who have completed at least 20 but less than 30 years of combined active and inactive service. Once they reach 30 years of service, they are fully retired.

å Retired Navy and Marine Corps enlisted members with at least 20, but less than 30 years of service who are part of the Fleet Reserve or Fleet Marine Reserve. After reaching the 30-year mark, they can be put on the retired list or ask to be assigned to the Retired Reserve.

Within the Retired Reserve are three mobilization categories, depending on physical fitness, age and date of retirement. Category 1 includes those who are within five years of their retirement, under age 60, and not disabled. Category 2 includes those who are more than five years past their retirement date, under age 60, and not disabled. Category 3 covers all others, including the disabled and those over age 60. People in this category are evaluated on a case-by-case basis for recall during a full mobilization. Ë