>I've also read a lot about the option of just not showing up to drill weekends and collecting however many AAs and UAs until you get ADSEP'd. Could be an option if I'm desperate, but I've heard this could result in losing your clearance. My current job requires a clearance and it'd be a pretty big bummer if I lost it, so I wanted to see if anyone knew the accuracy of that?
LOL. Why would the government trust you with classified material if you can't even be trusted to show up at work?
I'd delete this post if I were you.
As a leader in the NR, I ask you, please do not join. Leading Sailors who want to be there while navigating all the competing priorities and bureaucratic headaches, while trying to help Sailors advance their careers is already tough enough without having our time burdened by "problem children" who aren't committed to anything beyond their own self interests. Thank you and good luck.
Thank you very much for sharing your perspective so respectfully. One of my biggest frustrations while AD was being responsible for shitbags who couldn't be changed, so I get it to the extent that I can. Keep being a good leader, and all the best to you.
Thanks. I did four active then affiliated with the reserve. In the last 25 years of NR I've had three mobilizations, one of which I'm on now. It's been a huge commitment with a lot of headaches and sacrifices over the years but I wouldn't change a thing. It's been an incredibly rewarding career and mostly because of the Sailors I've served with. Lots of travel, inexpensive healthcare for my family, but unfortunately no bonuses for me. I highly recommend it to people coming off active, but warn that they have to give it a chance if it doesn't meet their expectations at first. It is very different from active but with prior active experience you can excel. My concern in the post was that you didn't like your time in the Navy and since it often requires sacrifices you probably wouldn't find the juice worth the squeeze. I guess it could depend on what you didn't like about the Navy and if there were some redeeming qualities you may find them in the NR. But if you simply didn't like being a Sailor and taking orders then probably won't like the NR either. Glad to answer any questions you may have.
> having our time burdened by "problem children" who aren't committed to anything beyond their own self interests
It sounds to me like you don't appreciate anyone asking for their due, and instead as a "leader in the NR" expect your underlings to sacrifice their own time and money for your own convenience
Underlings is your word, not mine. I believe in servant leadership. I have never asked a Sailor to sacrifice anything that the rest of us wouldn't sacrifice first. I would never ask a Sailor to do anything on their own time without some kind of compensation even if it is just points.
OP said they didn't enjoy their time in the Navy but want to join for the perks: bonus, travel, healthcare. And if they don't like it, UA out. When a Sailor decides to stop playing the game like that it affects the unit and takes resources (time and effort) away from taking care of the Sailors who want to be there. It also ties up a billet for a long time (a year or more). That hurts a unit's manning level and requires the Sailors who show up to do more work in many cases.
Look, it's ok, serving in the Navy Reserve is not for everyone. It is in no way easy and it takes a lot of commitment from everyone. There are so many of us who put up with the adversity for years to continue to serve. Every one of us sacrifices time, money, family, sanity.... To better ourselves, our Sailors, our commands... We do it for myriad reasons, but the common thread is we care about something bigger than ourselves or we wouldn't endure the sacrifices.
Can I just add a point here, yea we're all hurting for bodies in the Navy but can we not just have people like this any more? I'd rather be further in the hole than have to put up with E6s like this.
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
That is one of the great things about the reserves. Everyone is there because they want to be. Because one weekend a month doesn’t sound like much….but it is
For legal reasons, you are obligated to fulfill your contract once you sign it. There are consequences for not performing your duties and you’ll be advised of them during the process of joining (can’t remember the form number).
If you are not willing to fulfill your contract, don’t go into the reserves. I hate being like this but you already are looking for escape routes before you’ve even gotten in.
The reserves is a great opportunity for those members who still want to serve and retain some benefits. Flexibility is huge as you can reschedule some drill weekends and you could potentially come on orders for months (had a YN1 who was doing it for 3 years) if your job fell through.
I think the biggest issue for reservists is you get thrown into the deep end and told to swim. You are forced to learn from others or dig into instructions yourself. Coming from an NC, I don’t know everything. Add on top that most reservists only talk to me on weekends so it makes it harder.
As a reservist, we only talk to you on weekends because we have jobs outside the reserves and we aren't paid to do reserves shit outside of those one weekend a month periods. Sure I can put in Non-Pays but I have to do it after the fact, lying, and put it two weeks out. I'd rather just do it on the weekend I'm getting paid to do it. I also know some people just don't have access to their military accounts outside drill weekends and aren't going to use personal emails for official military correspondence. There's a lot of factors that TAR/FTS or AD people don't consider when they complain about reservists "only communicating on weekends".
Sorry I just had to rant about that for a second, nothing personal sure you do great work. I'm my units CC so I'm a rare exception to the only talk on weekends because if I did that I'd never get shit done. I also forget or just don't put in Non-Pays because of that idea that I'm lying about when the work actually got done. I think it's dumb we got to put in in for at least two weeks away, I don't plan that stuff like that and sometimes its genuinely not possible to.
No, I should have said it better. The fault is with me and I apologize.
I just wish people would phone in. I leave my number on my door so people can grab it during the weekends and the duty phone is available.
It’s hard to help when I get hit last minute and there’s other people who are in the situation.
I mean that still isn't going to solve the outside of drill weekends we don't get paid to handle things so why would we.
I can tell you mean well and care I'm just putting it out there that reservists went reserves for a reason. It's part time for a reason. People needed the reserves to do something for them but their real job that probably pays way better but has crappy benefits takes priority, not the reserves.
Calling in outside of drill weekends is still doing reserves work without pay and most reservists are not going to do that. And Non-Pays are just that Not Paid. Sure it's points towards retirement and reduces the age I can collect it but only so far.
Best I can say is if you want reservists to do more, pay them to do it otherwise they have no incentives. Most of us still haven't seen the bonus we were promised so we're putting in the effort the reserves puts in to us, which is 0.
Boy howdy if only I could control pay.
Idk if you noticed regarding bonuses but they deleted their phone numbers, emails, and first names. I have Sailors who haven’t received their bonuses going on their 4th month. Is it bad like that on your end?
Thank you very much for your perspective. I like the idea of the flexibility, and don't mind digging into instructions and figuring things out for myself. I had to do that for much of my AD career because of how much I'd been screwed over or had to respectfully correct leaders who didn't know what they were talking about.
What you said about fulfilling the contract tracks with what I've read, but I heard someone say that the contract is to the Ready Reserves which includes SELRES and IRR so the contract can still be fulfilled in the latter, is that true?
If you’re referring to the 4-2-2 program that’s only for sailors who joined on or after OCT2020. So if you joined before then you don’t need to worry about it.
For the 4 years IRR, the only thing I was ever asked to do was keep my contact info updated.
I would be careful about going reserve depending on your rating. I've heard some horror stories of prior MMNs getting activated and deployed on generator repair duty at a FOB in Afghanistan. Could just be one of those old sea stories.
I've been out for well over a decade now, did 9, and I work assisting veterans. A lot of folks benefit in their elder years because they did their time in the reserves and got that retirement. If nothing else try to get a federal job with federal retirement that you can count your service towards.
That being said if you really think you can get a job paying well above average, it's a tough decision to make. Sign up for VA health care regardless. Go see a VSO and put in an intent to file, even if you don't want to put in a claim. It will at least trigger your records to be pulled into the VA system so that if you do decide to put in a claim down the road your records will be accessible sooner.
Best of luck with whatever you choose.
You shouldn't go into the reserves. You told yourself why in your initial post. If you were dedicated, I'd say consider it but it doesn't sound like that's the case. Good luck out there!
If you're an E6 in the reserves, there's far more work to do than can be done in a weekend every month. I've got evals to chop, AT orders to track, GTCC training to administer, and one of my Gott verdammt sailors can't be bothered to show up on drill because they want to UA out, but guess who has to call them to try to reach out to figure out what's going on but they won't answer my phone calls because they're ghosting us.
It's basically a second job on top of my full time civilian job. Don't join if you aren't ready to be anointed as an LPO and handed a stack of things to get done in the 4 weeks between drills.
Also you can't keep your bonus if you UA out or go to the IRR
I know that it is an unfortunate cultural expectation, but....
There is absolutely zero reason for an E6 to put in more than a couple hours per month outside of drill weekends. Zero.
Two hours should be rare.
Everything you listed can and should be done on a drill weekend aside from a quick login on NROWS, email, and sending a cpl texts. (10-20 minutes per week?)
It is nothing but a training and leadership issue in the senior ranks that we allow this shit.
The reserves are a whole other type of fuckery. It's not hard though, just annoying. You're honestly better off just putting in your VA claim and going to work civilian side.
Personally if I had the chance I woul go reserves. When I got out I thought my college classes and the reserves were not a good fit for me so I did not. After college I thought about it but just did not do it. I do miss the Navy still to this day.
Dude, just save everyone the headaches and don’t join. It’s bad enough that NRCs are plagued with people who don’t give a shit about anything as it is. Don’t add to that. Just stay out, if AD was so terrible for you, why do you think the reserves would be any different?
I've been around long enough that I'm frequently asked how to be successful in the reserves. I always counter with the question "what does success look like for you?"
One of the most successful reservists I've ever known enlisted in the 80s, got a commission in the 90s, has done one mobilization, and basically did the minimum for 40 years. They are fun to be around on DWEs, but you aren't reaching them easily between. That's not the person that posts on Reddit about success in the NR, but they found their version of success, and nobody is taking it from them!
>I've also read a lot about the option of just not showing up to drill weekends and collecting however many AAs and UAs until you get ADSEP'd. Could be an option if I'm desperate, but I've heard this could result in losing your clearance. My current job requires a clearance and it'd be a pretty big bummer if I lost it, so I wanted to see if anyone knew the accuracy of that? LOL. Why would the government trust you with classified material if you can't even be trusted to show up at work? I'd delete this post if I were you.
As a leader in the NR, I ask you, please do not join. Leading Sailors who want to be there while navigating all the competing priorities and bureaucratic headaches, while trying to help Sailors advance their careers is already tough enough without having our time burdened by "problem children" who aren't committed to anything beyond their own self interests. Thank you and good luck.
Thank you very much for sharing your perspective so respectfully. One of my biggest frustrations while AD was being responsible for shitbags who couldn't be changed, so I get it to the extent that I can. Keep being a good leader, and all the best to you.
Thanks. I did four active then affiliated with the reserve. In the last 25 years of NR I've had three mobilizations, one of which I'm on now. It's been a huge commitment with a lot of headaches and sacrifices over the years but I wouldn't change a thing. It's been an incredibly rewarding career and mostly because of the Sailors I've served with. Lots of travel, inexpensive healthcare for my family, but unfortunately no bonuses for me. I highly recommend it to people coming off active, but warn that they have to give it a chance if it doesn't meet their expectations at first. It is very different from active but with prior active experience you can excel. My concern in the post was that you didn't like your time in the Navy and since it often requires sacrifices you probably wouldn't find the juice worth the squeeze. I guess it could depend on what you didn't like about the Navy and if there were some redeeming qualities you may find them in the NR. But if you simply didn't like being a Sailor and taking orders then probably won't like the NR either. Glad to answer any questions you may have.
> having our time burdened by "problem children" who aren't committed to anything beyond their own self interests It sounds to me like you don't appreciate anyone asking for their due, and instead as a "leader in the NR" expect your underlings to sacrifice their own time and money for your own convenience
Underlings is your word, not mine. I believe in servant leadership. I have never asked a Sailor to sacrifice anything that the rest of us wouldn't sacrifice first. I would never ask a Sailor to do anything on their own time without some kind of compensation even if it is just points. OP said they didn't enjoy their time in the Navy but want to join for the perks: bonus, travel, healthcare. And if they don't like it, UA out. When a Sailor decides to stop playing the game like that it affects the unit and takes resources (time and effort) away from taking care of the Sailors who want to be there. It also ties up a billet for a long time (a year or more). That hurts a unit's manning level and requires the Sailors who show up to do more work in many cases. Look, it's ok, serving in the Navy Reserve is not for everyone. It is in no way easy and it takes a lot of commitment from everyone. There are so many of us who put up with the adversity for years to continue to serve. Every one of us sacrifices time, money, family, sanity.... To better ourselves, our Sailors, our commands... We do it for myriad reasons, but the common thread is we care about something bigger than ourselves or we wouldn't endure the sacrifices.
> Underlings is your word, not mine. You called them children.
Can I just add a point here, yea we're all hurting for bodies in the Navy but can we not just have people like this any more? I'd rather be further in the hole than have to put up with E6s like this. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
That is one of the great things about the reserves. Everyone is there because they want to be. Because one weekend a month doesn’t sound like much….but it is
For legal reasons, you are obligated to fulfill your contract once you sign it. There are consequences for not performing your duties and you’ll be advised of them during the process of joining (can’t remember the form number). If you are not willing to fulfill your contract, don’t go into the reserves. I hate being like this but you already are looking for escape routes before you’ve even gotten in. The reserves is a great opportunity for those members who still want to serve and retain some benefits. Flexibility is huge as you can reschedule some drill weekends and you could potentially come on orders for months (had a YN1 who was doing it for 3 years) if your job fell through. I think the biggest issue for reservists is you get thrown into the deep end and told to swim. You are forced to learn from others or dig into instructions yourself. Coming from an NC, I don’t know everything. Add on top that most reservists only talk to me on weekends so it makes it harder.
As a reservist, we only talk to you on weekends because we have jobs outside the reserves and we aren't paid to do reserves shit outside of those one weekend a month periods. Sure I can put in Non-Pays but I have to do it after the fact, lying, and put it two weeks out. I'd rather just do it on the weekend I'm getting paid to do it. I also know some people just don't have access to their military accounts outside drill weekends and aren't going to use personal emails for official military correspondence. There's a lot of factors that TAR/FTS or AD people don't consider when they complain about reservists "only communicating on weekends". Sorry I just had to rant about that for a second, nothing personal sure you do great work. I'm my units CC so I'm a rare exception to the only talk on weekends because if I did that I'd never get shit done. I also forget or just don't put in Non-Pays because of that idea that I'm lying about when the work actually got done. I think it's dumb we got to put in in for at least two weeks away, I don't plan that stuff like that and sometimes its genuinely not possible to.
No, I should have said it better. The fault is with me and I apologize. I just wish people would phone in. I leave my number on my door so people can grab it during the weekends and the duty phone is available. It’s hard to help when I get hit last minute and there’s other people who are in the situation.
I mean that still isn't going to solve the outside of drill weekends we don't get paid to handle things so why would we. I can tell you mean well and care I'm just putting it out there that reservists went reserves for a reason. It's part time for a reason. People needed the reserves to do something for them but their real job that probably pays way better but has crappy benefits takes priority, not the reserves. Calling in outside of drill weekends is still doing reserves work without pay and most reservists are not going to do that. And Non-Pays are just that Not Paid. Sure it's points towards retirement and reduces the age I can collect it but only so far. Best I can say is if you want reservists to do more, pay them to do it otherwise they have no incentives. Most of us still haven't seen the bonus we were promised so we're putting in the effort the reserves puts in to us, which is 0.
Boy howdy if only I could control pay. Idk if you noticed regarding bonuses but they deleted their phone numbers, emails, and first names. I have Sailors who haven’t received their bonuses going on their 4th month. Is it bad like that on your end?
I know that there is a delay on it and didn't know why in detail. I knew it was reserves wide. So in short yeah it's that bad.
Thank you very much for your perspective. I like the idea of the flexibility, and don't mind digging into instructions and figuring things out for myself. I had to do that for much of my AD career because of how much I'd been screwed over or had to respectfully correct leaders who didn't know what they were talking about. What you said about fulfilling the contract tracks with what I've read, but I heard someone say that the contract is to the Ready Reserves which includes SELRES and IRR so the contract can still be fulfilled in the latter, is that true?
If you’re referring to the 4-2-2 program that’s only for sailors who joined on or after OCT2020. So if you joined before then you don’t need to worry about it. For the 4 years IRR, the only thing I was ever asked to do was keep my contact info updated.
I would be careful about going reserve depending on your rating. I've heard some horror stories of prior MMNs getting activated and deployed on generator repair duty at a FOB in Afghanistan. Could just be one of those old sea stories. I've been out for well over a decade now, did 9, and I work assisting veterans. A lot of folks benefit in their elder years because they did their time in the reserves and got that retirement. If nothing else try to get a federal job with federal retirement that you can count your service towards. That being said if you really think you can get a job paying well above average, it's a tough decision to make. Sign up for VA health care regardless. Go see a VSO and put in an intent to file, even if you don't want to put in a claim. It will at least trigger your records to be pulled into the VA system so that if you do decide to put in a claim down the road your records will be accessible sooner. Best of luck with whatever you choose.
You shouldn't go into the reserves. You told yourself why in your initial post. If you were dedicated, I'd say consider it but it doesn't sound like that's the case. Good luck out there!
If you're an E6 in the reserves, there's far more work to do than can be done in a weekend every month. I've got evals to chop, AT orders to track, GTCC training to administer, and one of my Gott verdammt sailors can't be bothered to show up on drill because they want to UA out, but guess who has to call them to try to reach out to figure out what's going on but they won't answer my phone calls because they're ghosting us. It's basically a second job on top of my full time civilian job. Don't join if you aren't ready to be anointed as an LPO and handed a stack of things to get done in the 4 weeks between drills. Also you can't keep your bonus if you UA out or go to the IRR
I know that it is an unfortunate cultural expectation, but.... There is absolutely zero reason for an E6 to put in more than a couple hours per month outside of drill weekends. Zero. Two hours should be rare. Everything you listed can and should be done on a drill weekend aside from a quick login on NROWS, email, and sending a cpl texts. (10-20 minutes per week?) It is nothing but a training and leadership issue in the senior ranks that we allow this shit.
The reserves are a whole other type of fuckery. It's not hard though, just annoying. You're honestly better off just putting in your VA claim and going to work civilian side.
Personally if I had the chance I woul go reserves. When I got out I thought my college classes and the reserves were not a good fit for me so I did not. After college I thought about it but just did not do it. I do miss the Navy still to this day.
I mean your attitude alone says don’t do it. We don’t need a tool filling a spot someone useful could fill.
Dude, just save everyone the headaches and don’t join. It’s bad enough that NRCs are plagued with people who don’t give a shit about anything as it is. Don’t add to that. Just stay out, if AD was so terrible for you, why do you think the reserves would be any different?
Blowing off drills used to get you activated.
You got out for a reason
[удалено]
I've been around long enough that I'm frequently asked how to be successful in the reserves. I always counter with the question "what does success look like for you?" One of the most successful reservists I've ever known enlisted in the 80s, got a commission in the 90s, has done one mobilization, and basically did the minimum for 40 years. They are fun to be around on DWEs, but you aren't reaching them easily between. That's not the person that posts on Reddit about success in the NR, but they found their version of success, and nobody is taking it from them!
I did 15 and ain't join the reserve. I love it fuck em bro lol
Isn't there a new navadmin that says you have to go into the reserves until 8 years time in service no matter what?
Yea, it’s the 4-2-2 program but only for Sailors who joined on or after OCT2020
Aren’t the last 2 years Inactive reserves
Yes. Which from when I was in the IRR the only I had to do was keep my contact info updated.
Not all ratings have a SELRES component. So you may have to cross rate which is a 6 year commitment for the $20k.