Reservist Choices - Stay In or Get Out

Posted By Blackfive

The War on Terror depends on the National Guard and the Reserves. The more Reservists and National Guardsmen that leave the service, the sooner an all-encompassing Stop-Loss will have to be enacted to prevent further hemoraging. Here's one story from the Chicago Tribune about choices that Reservists are making - A soldier's difficult choice: Stay married or stay in the Reserves was the ultimatum.

My own story is not too different. After 16 years of service, I resigned my commission from the U.S. Army Reserve in July of 2001.

In June of 2001, I was working 55 hours per week at my civilian job. I was a graduate student at the University of Chicago and spending 30 hours per week in a computer lab. And, I was a brand new father. The Reserves was taking at least one weekend per month (usually more than that). Sometimes, I would spend 3 or 4 hours per night, the week before drill, to prep for briefing our commanders or some visiting bigwig. So, suffice it to say, I had very little time for family and friends. I was having trouble keeping up with grad school work. Something had to give.

For most of 2000, my wife and I had many conversations about what was important to us - job vs. school vs Reserves vs family. Since we didn't need the extra money and the retirement benefit (while good) wasn't necessary, the US Army Reserve was chosen as a committment that I would need to drop. My wife understood that it had to be my decision because I loved being a soldier. She didn't want me to resent her for "making me quit". I delayed the decision until my son was born.

I miss being a soldier every day. And I don't regret my decision.

Current Reservists and National Guardsmen are having more difficult choices to make. September 11th changed the emotional dynamic of leaving military service. For some, it will be more difficult to leave the military with the nation at war. For others, the war will make the decision between family or military easier - especially, if they have already done a deployment for the War on Terror already.

Most Reservists that I know have already completed one deployment. Some have done two or three already. I have talked to several that plan on leaving after their committments have ended (which will be soon). One Reservist that I know lost his business as a result of deployment. He ended up losing over $200,000 in income the year that he was deployed. While it's something that he accepts as part of serving his country, he won't risk another business again to deployment. He'll leave the Reserves. Others are more fortunate to have someone keep their businesses afloat.

More and more Reservists and Guardsmen will be making "the choice" in the coming months. Stay In or Get Out. Since there is no question that we need a strong Reserve/National Guard force, the question will be how to keep the military Reserve(s) and Guard(s) healthy. If the deployments to Iraq continue for more than two years and/or the War on Terror expands, either benefits need to be substantially increased (i.e. an earlier retirement in return for multiple WoT deployments) or a military-wide Stop Loss will need to be enacted on the level of the handling of service for World War II - for the duration of the war plus six months.

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Reservist Choices - Stay In or Get Out

The War on Terror depends on the National Guard and the Reserves. The more Reservists and National Guardsmen that leave the service, the sooner an all-encompassing Stop-Loss will have to be enacted to prevent further hemoraging. Here's one story from the Chicago Tribune about choices that Reservists are making - A soldier's difficult choice: Stay married or stay in the Reserves was the ultimatum.

My own story is not too different. After 16 years of service, I resigned my commission from the U.S. Army Reserve in July of 2001.

In June of 2001, I was working 55 hours per week at my civilian job. I was a graduate student at the University of Chicago and spending 30 hours per week in a computer lab. And, I was a brand new father. The Reserves was taking at least one weekend per month (usually more than that). Sometimes, I would spend 3 or 4 hours per night, the week before drill, to prep for briefing our commanders or some visiting bigwig. So, suffice it to say, I had very little time for family and friends. I was having trouble keeping up with grad school work. Something had to give.

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Blackfive , who resigned his own commission after 16 years of service, is worried that we’ll see a mass exodus from the Reserves: Current Reservists... [Read More]