Stinky's Reserve Saga/Blog/Helpful Hints

I've read through Frumby and 46Driver's threads on the Reserves several times over the last few weeks, and there's good information in both of them. I've also picked skidkid's brain on PM and Flash Chat about the reserves (since he's currently at a reserve squadron). I'm starting this thread, because I've started down the road of coming back into the Reserves, and my buddies are asking me questions. I figure that if I chronicle what I'm doing while it's fresh in my mind it might make it easier for someone else who might be considering the jump.

First a disclaimer similar to Frumby's - I am not trying to recruit anyone or suggest that they should/must come into the Reserves when they decide it's time to leave active duty. I'm just putting the information out there, along with my personal opinion based on what I've experienced to this point.

The first thing that I'm going to recommend is that when you separate, don't blow off the reserve recruiter if they come to your SEPS/TAPS class. I had tunnel vision because of the whole burned out/just returned from deployment/USCG DCA board thing. I was ready to be done with the Marine Corps and didn't give the reserve recruiter the opportunity to talk to me about anything. I don't have any regrets about getting out, but if I had it to do over again, I would have done a couple of things differently. First, I would have accepted the reserve commission rather than declining it. Second, I would have kept the reserve recruiter's contact info rather than throwing it away. More on this later.

So there you are, with Lejeune/Pendleton/New River/Miramar/what have you in your rear view mirror thinking "Fuck The Suck, I'm free!" and wondering why you feel melancholy. You convince yourself that the melancholy feeling will go away once you start working. Then you find yourself in a job that entails a cubicle without a view, overpaid and underworked and you're bored. Not to mention, your "peers" in this new job are almost 10 years younger than you and have nothing that even comes close to your life experiences. You come home every night - tired, frustrated, not feeling like you've done anything worthwhile all day, and you end up getting in fights with your wife because she thinks you're dumping on her. You think you're venting. You miss the Marines, maybe not the Marine Corps, but the Marines. You realize (as you end up spending your days swapping emails with your buddies, some still in and some out) that you're never going to experience that level of camaraderie again. That melancholy feeling you felt never went away.

Am I being melodramatic? Nope. The previous paragraph is word for word what I experienced. Your mileage may vary, but the buddies from my squadron that I keep in touch with that are out are feeling something very similar. What can you do to rectify it? I got a letter from the CO of a reserve shitter squadron nearby, and after doing some soul searching, talking to my wife, and talking to the guys on here - I attacked the idea of the reserves like a man dying of thirst would attack a glass of water. I spent days on the MARFORRES website, and with skidkid's help got in touch with the head shed of HMM-774 in Norfolk, VA. The minute I got off the phone with them, I called my wife and told her we had made the right decision because I felt like I was coming home. So, the long road started. I can help guide you along this path, because near as I can tell - there are no monitors in the reserves and it's pretty much up to you to get to where you want to be.

Step 1:
Did you accept a reserve commission? If not, you have to start here. If you start straight off with the reserve squadron (as I did), no worries - they're going to let you know if they want you, but ultimately they're going to direct you to a prior service recruiter. Since you turned down a reserve commission, you have to request to reinstate your commission from HQMC.

Step 2:
The Package. What a giant pain-in-the-ass. I'm sure that most of what I'm submitting and have been running around to get are things that are archived somewhere in the annals of HQMC, especially since I started this process a whopping 4 months after getting out. Whatever, you've gotta do what you've gotta do, right? Here's what the package needs to contain:

*Reserve Qualification Summary (essentially a resume)
*Minimum of 2 LOR's from O-4 or above. I was told that they'd take civilian employers LOR's but I didn't risk it. Mine are from two O-6's.
*Full length photo in business attire (no jacket) - think promotion photo.
*(2) Fingerprint cards (FD-258). Local cops can do this, but if they require you to bring your own cards it's tough to find them. If your job entails a security clearance, check with your FSO/SSO - they should have some.
*SF-86 (yup, even if you have an active security clearance)
*Physical. If it's for flight, ask for a long form flight physical. If no flight surgeons are available, no worries - you can wait until you get picked up and then get it done at your reserve unit.

Step 3:
Pledging the frat. Your package requires an endorsement by the reserve CO, as well as you have to send a letter to 4th MAW requesting to join the unit (which also requires their endorsement). This is where the pledging comes in. This is also where my advice (for now) comes to an end. I'm heading down to Norfolk for the upcoming reserve weekend to meet everyone and go to the birthday ball. I still have to send the letter to 4th MAW and do a phone interview with the reserve CO (although face time is good time!). I'll keep you appraised of progress and tips/tricks along the way.

Great information. I look forward to Episode II.

I forgot some small things, and I'll blame it on the trick-or-treaters last night breaking my train of thought!

If you did request the reserve comission when you got out, your life should be relatively less painful than mine. The process for coming in is similar, you just eliminate the requirement to submit a package to HQMC requesting to reinstate your commission. You still submit a letter to 4th MAW requesting to joing an SMCR unit, once that's approved you're run on the diary and you can start drilling. As part of the letter that goes to 4th MAW you have to include a copy of your OMPF/MBS from MMSB. Here's a link to instructions on how to get it. The letter that has to be sent is located here, and a sample of how to fill it out is located here. The example provided shows a pilot applying to be a reserve instructor in P-Cola. Please note that the letter also requires an official photograph.

Some other items of interest.
You don't have to limit yourself to your T/M/S. The Reserve world operates off of a different pot of money, and every squadron I've talked to is sitting at about 39% of their T/O. Every single one said that tranistion was not a problem. So while transitioning in the active duty world requires a favor from God, it's not so much the case in the Reserves.

I was lucky, since skidkid is at a Reserve squadron so he was able to get me POC's for the CO/XO (active duty) of 774. What if you don't know someone and want to start the pledging ball rolling? You can start with this page, that will give you the official command address/phone number of a unit you might be interested in joining. I was able to get the bios of the reserve CO/XO off of their website and after some more digging got their email addresses and sent them essentially a resume cover letter.

MOL is a key tool for all your research as well. I still have an MOL account, even though I'm out. I don't know how long it'll be available to you, but my buddy still has his and he's been out for over a year longer than me. It can help you find reservists that you may know, and are drilling at a unit. You can click on "Personal Info" and the "Rank/MOS" report. I used that to find a guy that I knew in 774. Using the locator, I got his home email (when you get out and they ask for your email address, it's put in MCTFS - that's how my buddies got contacted by the CO of the Geese) and sent him an email to help me navigate the road back. The locator is also how I got the email addresses of the reserve CO/XO.

Finally CAC Cards/NMCI OWA. Upon a recommendation from a buddy who was already in the reserves, he said to get a reader for my home computer. My wife and I now have a CAC card reader in our laptops, so I can keep on top of my USMC email before I show up for a drill period. It was actually pretty cheap, I got both PCMCIA CAC readers on eBay for $15 each, and I found a USMC website and an Army website to get the middleware software (ActivCard Gold for XP, ActivClient for Vista).

They might not be issues, based on the T/O percentage you mentioned (esp. since you said T/M/S transitions are not a problem), but are currency/quals relevant factors when transitioning into the reserves?

Yes, currency and quals are relevant when transitioning to the reserves. From what I've seen, they're not so worried about being in a current flying job (I'm a software engineer, and my last flight was Oct of 2005) and it also doesn't appear as though they're super concerned about quals (my buddy that just joined them was a Div Lead at most). Where it does come into play is that if you're like me and unk on flight time you'll have to refresh, which will be 2 months of active duty off the bat. Federal Law provides that your employer has to keep your job for you, but my company goes above and beyond and I'll be paid the difference between my base pay and my salary at the company. Cha-Ching... The quals come into play because I'll be a newly refreshed 2P when I start drilling, in a squadron with a metric butt-ton of LtCols. I don't know how soon it will be after I get there that I'll be working towards HAC again.

Also, OPNAV 3710 still applies and you have to get 100 flight hours per year regardless if you're a reservist or not. The expectation is there that if you're joining a reserve squadron that you'll fly more than one weekend a month and two weeks a year. Not a big deal for me, since I hate my job and want to slash my wrists on a daily basis. I work a CWS (Compressed Work Schedule), so I have every other Friday off. So guess what? I'll spend that day flying now (provided it works out). If my wife gets orders to Norfolk, the plan is to apply for AR or do a series of ADSW so I don't have to "really" work.

Another thing I forgot - DO YOUR PME!!! I didn't, thinking "fuck it, I'm getting out - what do I need it for?" Now I'll be joining a reserve unit and staring down the barrel of being in-zone for the reserve Maj's board and will be scrambling to order/complete EWS. I have a feeling it won't be fun.

Not to be doom and gloom, but their are a significant number of Marine reserve squadrons going away in the next few years. Just about everything on the west coast will be gone by 2009 (except for the 46's, but they will still be up in Edwards for a while, fun commute). As far as tacair, all that will be left is 112 in Fort Worth and they are already above T/O with undermanned maintenance and a ton of augment pilots still on the books (expect some changes in the future, but we'll see). I know there are also some moves upcoming in the future with some of the helo's moving to McGuire and around the Southeast (can't remember specifics right now). My point being, do some research before you rush a squadron. If it's going to be geographically hard to participate, you might be better off trying to join a local Guard or AF Reserve squadron (as much as it pains me to say).

Very good bit of advice, and correct too. The Reserve Phrog community is going nowhere, and is slated to transition to the Osprey eventually.

My saga continues, as some of you may know - I'm still not in the Reserves yet. I had some buddies who are sitting on the fence, and I told them to start earlier rather than later because it's a slow process. I first contacted a recruiter the first week in September, and now it's the middle of December and my package still isn't at HQMC yet.

One thing that I forgot that has to be included in the package to HQMC is a personal statement. I don't have a link to that one, your recruiter should have a copy you can go off of. If he doesn't - PM me and I'll send you mine. Additionally, get a copy of your physical if you can. I had to sweet talk them at Andrews, because they wouldn't give me a copy. I'm glad I got them to, because they lost my physical and I was able to include the copy so as to not slow down an already painfully slow process.

Final bit that some people may not know about - there is a one-time, lump sum bonus of $10K to affiliate with a squadron. You have to go through a PSR to get a BCN, then join the unit you are planning on joining. The sticking points are that you can't have been passed over, must serve with the unit for 3 years, and have to affiliate within three years of getting out. The MarAdmin is here.

That's all for now, I'll keep it updated as I go.

Moved From T-34 Thread

Please explain what you mean by this (I think Stinky's Stinkin' Reserve forum would be a good place to respond).

Thanks.

I was already in the process of applying to the USCG DCA program and one of the questions was if I had ever been determined to be medically disabled (regardless of percent). From DCA to Reserves, figured disability wouldn't be a great idea. When I retire, I'm hoping to develop a bleeding ulcer among other things

Would a disability (as noted in a VA physical) have prevented you from going the Reserve route?

That I'm not sure about. I do remember that it was addressed during the physical for my reserve package for HQMC (don't remember if it was a question on the DD-2807/2808 or if the FS asked me, or both). It was also a question that I had to answer on my Interview Screening Checklist provided by my recruiter. The specific wording was "Are you receiving disability compensation from the VA or were you discharged from any Armed Forces with severance pay for medical reasons?"

My guess is that it wouldn't have necessarily prevented me from going into the reserves, but it would have certainly required a waiver. Since my physical had to go through NAMI, my guess is that I'd also have to get two separate ones - one from NAMI, and one from HQMC. It would have slowed down an already slow process a little too much. Hence the reason I avoided the VA physical to keep my options open.

Update on this - It depends. I spoke to my recruiter yesterday, and my package is still at HQMC. He's also been keeping in touch with the Reserve CO. One of the concerns that the Recruiting District Inspector voiced that he thought could be taking so long was that the endorsement from the Reserve CO was > 30 days ago. Apparently, they recently changed it (it used to be 90 days). So my recruiter was proactive and got another letter dated the day my package went to HQMC, so if it gets kicked back for that - it'll be a speedy turnaround.

Anyway, while we were talking he mentioned that one guy who was going to 772 had a longer wait for the results of his package than I did. They had to send it to BUMED because he was drawing disability (he didn't know percentage). He said that it eventually got approved, but it was just a giant red-ass.

Frumby - Thanks for the info on the EWSDEP. I guess things have changed slightly since I left active duty, and now you HAVE to go to a seminar. I didn't really pay attention because I had already dropped my papers. I remember guys doing the books and the tests in the Battalion though. Once I get back in the IRR, then join the squadron, I'll look at auditing. You said the MARADMIN for EWSDEP comes out in August... When do the classes usually start? I was just curious because I figure I'll be joined to the unit in March (hopefully), get drowned in the dunker probably in May or June, then head to the RAG from probably August/September - October-ish. I'm just trying to figure out if my timing would work out to get into EWSDEP...

He said Monday, Tuesday's close enough...

So I now have 3 full days left as a nasty civilian. It feels good.

I just got an email/phone call from my recruiter. My HQMC package is complete. I have printed out my NAVMC 763 (Appointment Acceptance and Record), all four copies of it. When PSW gets back from ground school, the oath will be administered rather unceremoniously, NAVMC signed and forwarded back to HQMC. Effective date is supposed to be 1 MAR.

Next step is for my recruiter to wait until I'm back in MCTFS as a member of the IRR (he said sometime next week), so he can request a Bonus Control Number for the $10K SMCR Officer Affiliation Bonus.

Then I send a letter to 4th MAW, and 774 sends my package off to 4th MAW. I spoke to my CO two weeks ago, and he said that the 4th MAW package should take 2 weeks or less. Here's hoping. I plan on taking a leave of absence, and heading down to Norfolk and spend a week checking in (I need an ID card, yadda, yadda) and setting up my dunker time. If I was to guess, I'll be at HMMT-164 sometime in June or July to refresh.

Let me tell you, even though I'm at step 2 of 10, life is good!

"That's great it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane - Lenny Bruce is not afraid..."

"It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine."

It would have been difficult to make it any more unceremonious. But now that he is a nasty Reservist I guess that's how he rolls.. Now where is that bonus...I have some spending to do!

Did you guys consummate the oath? :icon_smil

Did you throw in any good clauses on it?

Nope. No need. I don't have many or any Manatee-like tendencies.

Nope. Doesn't that kind of foolishness stop when you get married.

As he farts in the background...Sweet...

Spoken like a true wife......

Stinky IS his callsign.. You should have known it was there for a reason..

Like a few other things he left out that detail and fabricated a cover story. By the time I figured it out it was too late. If I kick him to the curb now he'll get too much money out of me. Something about the Uniformed Services Former Spouse's Protection Act.

You are probably safe.. They'd never hold a woman to it like they tried to do with me.