So after graduating from either USMA or ROTC, I believe that it is required to serve for 4 active and 4 years on the Reserve.
I have heard different stories from people who have been on this path and some say while on the Reserve, there is very much a high possibility of being called up for duty, while others say they needed to just check in once in a while.
My questions are what exactly goes on while in the Reserve after serving 4 active years? Is there any way to find a full time job during this time? Is there a chance I get called up to the front line to serve again? Any chance I could go to graduate school at this time?
Thanks!
If you go to USMA, then you are obligated to serve 5 years on AD and 3 years on Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). For Army ROTC, if you are on scholarship, then you are required to serve 4 years AD and 4 years in the IRR.
The IRR is a non-drilling status (ie no weekend drills or annual training). You may be called to muster duty and be required to maintain your medical readiness on a yearly basis. You can called onto AD at any time. I had an NCO working for me when I was deployed to Iraq who was mobilized for AD service even though he was in the IRR.
The Reserve status most people think about are Troop Program Units (TPUs). You can also serve out your service obligation in a TPU unit. These are the ones who do weekend drill and annual training. They're the ones most likely to be called on active duty before the IRR guys/gals. If TPU units are not fully manned and are called to active duty, then the US Army Reserve will "cross level" TPU units and fill the empty slots from other TPU units. They may also reach into the IRR pool to fill in the empty slots in the TPU units when called to AD. Some IRR folks volunteer to come onto AD when needed.
The IRR is where you "just check in once in a while."
As for the likelihood for being called onto AD, it's a tough call at this point. Certainly between 2001-2014ish, there was a high probability of being called onto AD if you were in a TPU unit. I think the AD rotation for a TPU unit is 5 years. That's the plan anyway, but certainly the AD rotation for TPU units have been more frequent than 5 years. So, yes, there is a chance you will get called up to AD and serve in the front line if you are in a TPU unit or IRR status (TPU being higher probability). You can go to grad school (or have a full-time job, for that matter), but you may be at risk for having to go on a leave of absence from your studies if called to active duty. It's just the nature of the business. Uncle Sam paid for your education so you have to understand you may be "inconvenienced" with a massive life disruption just when you don't need that inconvenience.
You can have a full-time job as reservist in a TPU unit and IRR. There is another Reservist program called AGR (Active Guard Reserve). AGRs are full-time reserve Soldiers. They get full pay and benefits (like medical care) as if they were on active duty. While AGR are on "reserve" status, they are doing their reserve duty full-time (I know... hard to explain).
To better explain AGR... you have a Reserve Center just outside a moderate size city. It's a USAR transportation company (a TPU unit) so lots of vehicles in the unit. As I explained previously, the TPU guys/gals do weekend drill once a month and 2 week annual training every year. You can't just show up at the Reserve Center, turn on the lights in the building, and go about your weekend drill. Someone (or more than just one someone) needs to keep the unit activities "warm" during the week. There's daily activity going on in that building. The people who are doing required activities in that building for the TPU are most likely AGR soldiers. They keep the TPU unit going (like a skeleton crew) during the week. Those TPU Soldiers then also do weekend drill when the rest of the Soldiers in the TPU unit show up. Don't ask me what they do on drill weekends. I think they rotate the tires on the HUMVEEs or play spades all weekend. Not sure exactly what they do.
US Army Reserve Command (USARC) has its headquarters at Ft. Bragg. A lot of the personnel in that HQ are serving as AGR Soldiers (would be impossible to run a HQ that big and important if you use personnel who can be on duty only on 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks of annual training a year). In other words, even though they're "reservists," they're doing that duty full time and get full pay and benefits as if they are on active duty.
Hope that explains what AGRs do.
then go to the IRR? Or reserves
To answer this question, look at the Reserves as the big umbrella. Under that umbrella, you have IRR, TPU, AGR, and Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA). AROTC and USMA will require you, at a minimum, to serve in the IRR (i.e. check in once in a while) portion of the Reserves to finish out your service obligation.
