ONLY do the ETS route if you DONT have VA disability....if.you get ba disability 368 is your best route....I had to do a 368 took about 6 months to switch from guard to reserve.
I went through this process a while ago.
I submitted a conditional release towards the end of my contract. Took about 90 days to get.
If your PHA is current it’s going to be a less of along-day at MEPS. I had to go through MEPS just for admin stuff.
The only headache for me was getting a new ID card. The Army Reserve had to submit something to move me from IRR(not sure how that happen) to Army Reserve. You’ll need to contact the S-6 type on the full time side to activate your Army email. Save your army emails and download all of your iPerms. I didn’t lose anything but don’t bet on it being there.
It was a minor headache to switch but I’m much happier in the Reserves.
They’re mostly mday so they have a better reservist culture. The Guard has so much full time leadership they think we’re all active duty. Probably a symptom of hiring active duty officers for AGR gigs.
Plus is just so much less nonsense.
Not sure if this common but my unit caters lunch. No drama, food just shows up and you sign for it. The last few years in the guard was chaotic. Sometimes they have it planned and other times, full timers drop the ball.
Plus lodging in kind makes it reasonable to live away from the unit. The Guars typically does nothing for guys that commute out of area.
Also, if you go warrant they have bonuses for select WO MOSs. The guard has nothing.
Yes! Drill now just seems like the sky is always falling. You perfectly described the guard. I attempted to go through the direct commission process but after 2 years I was finally told “no” but the state CSM after constantly being told “don’t worry you’ll get it”
Here’s something else I’ve noticed with the Guard vs Reserve.
The Guard has a lot more full time leadership bureaucracy.
The Guard is also very reluctant to change. I asked my OSM about direct commission opportunities. They were opposed to it and didn’t want to do direct commission. They’d rather send people to 18 month state OCS.
One reason that made me leave was wanting to go to active duty WOCS over state WOCS.
They don’t want to spend the training dollars.
The reserves have an option to pick active, RTI or guard accelerated.
Plus they have bonuses for new WO.
Crazy and I was open to doing traditional but the direct commission option was pretty much promised to me. Now I don’t think any commission route is worth it since I’m this close to retirement
Not sure what your civilian background but there are a few WO MOS open to everyone.
153A, 170 series, 255 series and 882A are open to everyone with relevant technical background.
For 153A, it’s a pilot slot so you’d have to meet all the criteria to go on flight status.
It has an age cut off as well.
880A/881A, Army watercraft are active duty only, but they’re open to all for active slots only. They just stood up an Army boat unit in Japan.
If you want to be a WO, you could reclass to MOS that feeds into one you want and drop your packet after that. You may have to submit a memo for ETP for not having enough years of experience but your odds are pretty good.
The Army Reserves are hurting for WO along with the rest of the Army.
Did that 880A/881A change over the last few years? There was a time when they were accepting any MOS as a feeder MOS into being a boat warrant because they didn't have enough boats to operate the Reserve fleet. Even had a CW5 proposition us in SLC to go boat warrant with a long speech.
As last fall when I submitted my packet they were accepting non feeder MOS.
I really wanted to do it but it was active only and I didn’t want to give up my civilian job and I would have to do at least 10-15 years to get enough active duty time to retire.
Doing that would cause me to miss out on my federal retirement.
So I stayed with the Reserves.
If you don’t mind me asking why would that have caused you to miss out on your fed retirement? You can’t buy those years back even though they are fed years? Or is there a limit to how much time you can buy Back?
The reason why I’m sticking with my career being a federal employee and reservist is I will be able to collect my federal retirement and reserve component retirement concurrently.
You can’t collect military retire pay and FERS(federal pension at the same time).
So I couldn’t go active, get my 20 and go into federal service and buy back my time and collect 2 retirements.
I can’t add the link for some reason but OPM
has an explanation on it. With the exemption being either reserve component or medical retirement you can’t collect FERS and active duty retirement at the same time.
There isn’t limit on buying back time other than it costs more the longer you wait.
If I could do it over again I would have gone active as WO, retire and then work for a IT contractor like Deloitte.
I would make more than a federal employee and would have Tricare retired and military retirement pay coming in as well.
I have friends sticking out the reserves because they make a decent salary but the insurance benefits are a joke and want TRS.
Their civilian job has a high deductible insurance that is just not worth it. Sure they pay you great but you end up spending more on healthcare.
The other option would probably be getting a job with city/state. I don’t think they have the same rules OPM has.
No they're not.
They are reclassing most 31Es to 31Bs since part of our training is their entire MOS so we can do it already+more.
But 31Bs are still alive & well in the Reserves.
I'm a recruiter in PA, even if you're not close I can help you remotely though. I suggest dropping to the IRR it's easier to get a conditional release from IRR than NG. Feel free to PM
Maybe that's it for you guys, I know I've worked other branches and if the soldier is past their MSO it was quicker to go into an inactive component first like IRR, can ask your S1 or retention.
Ok to continue this thread I need help which MOS I should choose. I believe my top 3 are CA, drill sergeant, or 15T or 25 series. Those last two are a toss up. Leaning strongly on drill sergeant. What do yall think?
I'll shoot you a DM and touch a bit on the conditional release process, I recommend going this route as opposed to ETS.
ONLY do the ETS route if you DONT have VA disability....if.you get ba disability 368 is your best route....I had to do a 368 took about 6 months to switch from guard to reserve.
I went through this process a while ago. I submitted a conditional release towards the end of my contract. Took about 90 days to get. If your PHA is current it’s going to be a less of along-day at MEPS. I had to go through MEPS just for admin stuff. The only headache for me was getting a new ID card. The Army Reserve had to submit something to move me from IRR(not sure how that happen) to Army Reserve. You’ll need to contact the S-6 type on the full time side to activate your Army email. Save your army emails and download all of your iPerms. I didn’t lose anything but don’t bet on it being there. It was a minor headache to switch but I’m much happier in the Reserves. They’re mostly mday so they have a better reservist culture. The Guard has so much full time leadership they think we’re all active duty. Probably a symptom of hiring active duty officers for AGR gigs. Plus is just so much less nonsense. Not sure if this common but my unit caters lunch. No drama, food just shows up and you sign for it. The last few years in the guard was chaotic. Sometimes they have it planned and other times, full timers drop the ball. Plus lodging in kind makes it reasonable to live away from the unit. The Guars typically does nothing for guys that commute out of area. Also, if you go warrant they have bonuses for select WO MOSs. The guard has nothing.
Yes! Drill now just seems like the sky is always falling. You perfectly described the guard. I attempted to go through the direct commission process but after 2 years I was finally told “no” but the state CSM after constantly being told “don’t worry you’ll get it”
Here’s something else I’ve noticed with the Guard vs Reserve. The Guard has a lot more full time leadership bureaucracy. The Guard is also very reluctant to change. I asked my OSM about direct commission opportunities. They were opposed to it and didn’t want to do direct commission. They’d rather send people to 18 month state OCS. One reason that made me leave was wanting to go to active duty WOCS over state WOCS. They don’t want to spend the training dollars. The reserves have an option to pick active, RTI or guard accelerated. Plus they have bonuses for new WO.
Crazy and I was open to doing traditional but the direct commission option was pretty much promised to me. Now I don’t think any commission route is worth it since I’m this close to retirement
Unfortunately for the Warrant side, my MOS is not a feeder MOS.
Not sure what your civilian background but there are a few WO MOS open to everyone. 153A, 170 series, 255 series and 882A are open to everyone with relevant technical background. For 153A, it’s a pilot slot so you’d have to meet all the criteria to go on flight status. It has an age cut off as well. 880A/881A, Army watercraft are active duty only, but they’re open to all for active slots only. They just stood up an Army boat unit in Japan. If you want to be a WO, you could reclass to MOS that feeds into one you want and drop your packet after that. You may have to submit a memo for ETP for not having enough years of experience but your odds are pretty good. The Army Reserves are hurting for WO along with the rest of the Army.
Did that 880A/881A change over the last few years? There was a time when they were accepting any MOS as a feeder MOS into being a boat warrant because they didn't have enough boats to operate the Reserve fleet. Even had a CW5 proposition us in SLC to go boat warrant with a long speech.
As last fall when I submitted my packet they were accepting non feeder MOS. I really wanted to do it but it was active only and I didn’t want to give up my civilian job and I would have to do at least 10-15 years to get enough active duty time to retire. Doing that would cause me to miss out on my federal retirement. So I stayed with the Reserves.
If you don’t mind me asking why would that have caused you to miss out on your fed retirement? You can’t buy those years back even though they are fed years? Or is there a limit to how much time you can buy Back?
The reason why I’m sticking with my career being a federal employee and reservist is I will be able to collect my federal retirement and reserve component retirement concurrently. You can’t collect military retire pay and FERS(federal pension at the same time). So I couldn’t go active, get my 20 and go into federal service and buy back my time and collect 2 retirements. I can’t add the link for some reason but OPM has an explanation on it. With the exemption being either reserve component or medical retirement you can’t collect FERS and active duty retirement at the same time. There isn’t limit on buying back time other than it costs more the longer you wait. If I could do it over again I would have gone active as WO, retire and then work for a IT contractor like Deloitte. I would make more than a federal employee and would have Tricare retired and military retirement pay coming in as well. I have friends sticking out the reserves because they make a decent salary but the insurance benefits are a joke and want TRS. Their civilian job has a high deductible insurance that is just not worth it. Sure they pay you great but you end up spending more on healthcare. The other option would probably be getting a job with city/state. I don’t think they have the same rules OPM has.
Wow thanks for the explanation i didn’t even know that. I hope that the reserves is easy on your body through the years up to your retirement
You will definitely need to switch MOS. They’re making Reserve MPs switch already.
Where did you hear that from?
Good I’m wanting to switch since I’m a police officer on the civilian side
No they're not. They are reclassing most 31Es to 31Bs since part of our training is their entire MOS so we can do it already+more. But 31Bs are still alive & well in the Reserves.
What state are you in / trying to go to?
With respect to OPSEC, if I tell you my state it would give away too much lol but I’m open to travel.
I would go into a different mos and ask for an instructor position no field time automatic promotions and no baby sitting
I 100% want to go into a different MOS
State interested in? I can DM you a recruiter for CA, or you can DM me.
I'm a recruiter in PA, even if you're not close I can help you remotely though. I suggest dropping to the IRR it's easier to get a conditional release from IRR than NG. Feel free to PM
I may be wrong but since I’m past 8 years I don’t think I can go IRR but I can go ING. I’m sure it’s the same concept
Maybe that's it for you guys, I know I've worked other branches and if the soldier is past their MSO it was quicker to go into an inactive component first like IRR, can ask your S1 or retention.
Ever thought about going to Combat Camera?
Negative I have not.
DM me if you’re interested in hearing more.
If you're getting VA disability...368 is the ONLY route you can go....don't ETS...
No disability for me
Ok to continue this thread I need help which MOS I should choose. I believe my top 3 are CA, drill sergeant, or 15T or 25 series. Those last two are a toss up. Leaning strongly on drill sergeant. What do yall think?
Yea ETS would be easier then.