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Anyone on IRR

snizo

Supply Officer
Anyone on this forum in the IRR right now? Got a couple of Q's for you if you don't mind.
 

kung

Registered User
I'm on IRR, but I probably won't be able to answer you questions. I'm on here trying to find out answers for myself.
 

snizo

Supply Officer
What the requirements are for someone on IRR? Its my understanding they dont have to do any weekend drills. What does this leave? A once a year check-in and pfa or something?

But it looked like IRR can drill - even if they aren't SELRES. Just trying to get an idea of what happens with people in this particular program. Also looking for info on switching from IRR to SELRES, but I can call up a reserve center and get that (theoretically).
 

saltpeter

Registered User
IRR is a non-drilling reservist, which means that you are supposed to keep Millington abreast of your current address and tele. Unfortunately, Millington can only accurartely locate about 50% of these people. Admiral Cotton would like to "be able to reach out and touch these people." Oh yeah, after completing your active enlistment your will be transition into the IRR - no pay/ no drills. For NFO's, you will be required to stay until your 8 year mark and then you can write Millington and be totally out of the Navy.
As a SELRES, you will drill 1 weekend per month and 2 weeks per year. Pay is awesome/ work is mostly non-existent as the reserves reorganize, unless you possess a specific skill that is needed. You will be able to search for jobs online and apply if you qualify by sending a resume or a recruiter will simply assign you to a unit that needs a warm body. Currently, the push is for INTEL, so you may be heading back to school to redesignate.
 

saltpeter

Registered User
As a side note, if you are passed over for promotion, which sounds like it may become more common as the reserves cut numbers. You will be afforded the opportunity to drill on weekends without pay, although you will continue to acquire retirement points.
 

snizo

Supply Officer
So - if I'm on IRR right now and I want to be SELRES ... I would just call up the local reserve office and see what they have where? I've heard that in SELRES you basically have to find the right unit on your own for the designation you want and convince them to want you. Right?

Do you know how/where to search for SELRES positions online?

Thanks for your help.
 

saltpeter

Registered User
If you go through a recruiter, he will simply place you in the first available billet. To find your own billet, you must sign up for the Apply Board. If your junior, LT or less, and aviaiton good luck finding a job. Best bet is to get in the system and grease some palms. Although, if you are somewhat senior 04 or above, then go to Buper and sign up for the Apply Board.
 

Steve Wilkins

Teaching pigs to dance, one pig at a time.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Snizo,

IRR, or Inactive Ready Reserve, is what everyone goes into when they separate from the Navy/Marine Corps but haven't yet completed the time requirement. I believe it is 8 years, regardless of whether you are enlisted or commissioned. I don't think aviators have an issue with this so much as officers in other communities. For example, a SWO who does his 4-year requirement and then separates will still be in the IRR for the next 4 years until he hits that magic number 8. Techically, someone in the IRR could be called up to active duty if the member's service is required. While this may sound extreme, it has and does happen.

The past couple of years the Reserves have really been trying to allign themselves with their active duty counterparts....this is good. One thing you need to understand though is that the Reserves are moving more and more to a database driven way of fulfilling requirements. What I mean by that is that your name and all your associated skills go into a big database. It used to be that if big Navy needed somebody pronto to go fill an active duty billet somewhere, they would just pull a body from a billet in the Reserves that closely match their requirements. Now, they are starting to match their requirements to what is available in the database. What I'm getting at is that you could be filling a normal reserve billet but have some obscure skill the navy suddenly needs for 6 months in Bahrain. That skill may have absolutely nothing to do with your current reserve billet, but because you have it and are available, you get tagged.
Snizo said:
What the requirements are for someone on IRR? Its my understanding they dont have to do any weekend drills. What does this leave? A once a year check-in and pfa or something?
For someone in the IRR, your requirement is to live your life. There is no drills you have to attend and no PFA's to do. There is really no one to check in with. I'm sure it's written down somewhere that you are supposed to keep the Navy informed of your location, but many times people forget they are even in the IRR. You are in every sense of the word, a civilian.

Snizo said:
But it looked like IRR can drill - even if they aren't SELRES. Just trying to get an idea of what happens with people in this particular program. Also looking for info on switching from IRR to SELRES, but I can call up a reserve center and get that (theoretically).
Personnel in the IRR cannot drill and IRR really isn't a program. Like I alluded to above, it's just a way to categorize your status.

saltpeter said:
As a SELRES, you will drill 1 weekend per month and 2 weeks per year. Pay is awesome/ work is mostly non-existent as the reserves reorganize, unless you possess a specific skill that is needed. You will be able to search for jobs online and apply if you qualify by sending a resume or a recruiter will simply assign you to a unit that needs a warm body. Currently, the push is for INTEL, so you may be heading back to school to redesignate.
What is nice about the Reserves is that it is very flexible. There is no "contract" that you sign saying you will be in the Reserves (as a SELRES0 for such and such amount of time. If it's something that you don't want to do anymore, you just request to be transferred to the IRR. Satisfactory participation requirements are as follows:
- you must attend 40 of 48 scheduled drills (each drill weekend is 4 drill periods...2 per day)
- you must perform a minimum of 12 days of annual active duty for training each fiscal year
- basic admin responsibilities like responding to official correspondance (mail) and keeping your CO informed of your employment status, residence, etc.....all nothing to worry about

You're not going to be able to search available billets online (unless this just changed in the past few months). The best source of this information is the reserve center that you will be drilling out of. They can tell you the type of Units (miniature commands) that drill out of the reserve center. They can also tell you what billets are available. The recruiters may not want you to know this because they are likely going to push the hard to fill billets. It has been my experience that they tend not to give you the complete picture of what is available. This is just something to consider and doesn’t necessarily represent what your experience will be like. However, just remember that the reserve center is a very good source of information. The recruiter is likely not going to know what the billet he is offering you entails. So, contact the reserve center and get a hold of the unit CO who that billet belongs to. Then ask everything you want to know about that billet, that unit, and about time commitment required. Basically, you are shopping for home and you are the one with the control. If you don’t like the billet or don’t get a good feeling from the CO, you don’t have to take the job. If the billet is open, it is very unlikely you are going to have to convince anyone to want you. The unit CO is going to want that billet filled.

One thing also to consider. You can technically be filling a billet in Virginia, but drilling out of California. I’m not going to go into the details here, but it’s something you can bring up to the recruiter if you need to.

saltpeter said:
If you go through a recruiter, he will simply place you in the first available billet. To find your own billet, you must sign up for the Apply Board. If your junior, LT or less, and aviaiton good luck finding a job. Best bet is to get in the system and grease some palms. Although, if you are somewhat senior 04 or above, then go to Buper and sign up for the Apply Board.
You will have to go through a recruiter eventually since he is the one who will be processing your paperwork to get in. I’ve already said what you can do (up above) to find a billet on your own. The Apply Board is a different animal altogether. After you get in the system, then you can used the Apply Board to get into a competitive billet (e.g. unit CO, XO). The Apply Board can be for LT’s, but normally O-4’s and up are the ones who use it most since fewer and fewer billet become available for those higher paygrades.

Wink is an O-5 reservist. I would recommend PM’ing him.
 

wink

War Hoover NFO.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Great info. All the above is right on except for one small detail, often misunderstood. If you are in the IRR you can indeed, drill. But as mentioned, it is for no pay, only drill credit and points to retirement. The more points, the higher your retirement pay. You must meet drill requirements and do the PRT. You get FITREPs and can promote if you find a good way to break out. Those guys drill in the Volunteer Training Unit (VTU). The VTU is usually something you don't want to do very long. Usually you pass through the VTU for a year or so if you are senior and didn't get a billet in the Apply competition, or you are just coasting to retirement and don't want another real SELRES job. Junior guys go to the VTU if they are in between jobs or are politicing for something better. Problem with the VTU (aside from no pay) is you are fresh meat just waiting to be assigned some SLJ. Being used as an unpaid IG team is common. Worse is being appointed the Command Assist Team to prepare the Reserve Center for a big inspection. I have been lucky. When I tired of commuting to good pay billets and was with in a year of retiring, I went into a VTU. It wasn't long before I realized it was no fun. As a former recruiter I carved out a niche job working with the Reserve Recruiters. I eventually got the local NRD CO to "request my assistance" with his active duty Officer Programs Office. I haven't been in the Reserve Center for nearly two years and only twice in five years. I don't get paid, but contribute far more then most VTU guys. I have since passed retirement eligibility and still drill with the NRD. See a reserve recruiter. Get the best billet you he can give you and then immediately go to work for yourself finding a better deal. There are no detailers in the reserves. You chart your own career. That used to be a b!tch, but with the INTERNET postings and national competition for billets it isn't so bad now. No detailers telling you lies about the needs of the Navy. Just you and your desires. You can personally see to the needs of the sailor in the reserves!
 

Steve Wilkins

Teaching pigs to dance, one pig at a time.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Great info. All the above is right on except for one small detail, often misunderstood. If you are in the IRR you can indeed, drill. But as mentioned, it is for no pay, only drill credit and points to retirement.
Yes, absolutely. I was assuming he wanted to get paid and failed to mentioned the caveat....had in my head to discuss the VTU, but just forgot to do so. I also do not recommend the VTU if you can avoid it. Get into a paid SELRES billet. There are a lot of great ones out there in a wide range of units doing a wide range of missions. As Wink pointed out, you chart your own career.
 

JKD

Member
Another note about IRR:

YOU CAN EARN POINTS AND "GOOD YEARS" TOWARDS RETIREMENT BY COMPLETING 50 POINTS A YEAR OF ONLINE/NON-RESIDENT COURSES - EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT DRILLING!!!

I stress this because I did 5 years if IRR in the 90s, and didn't know I could earn points toward reserve retirement. If you have ANY plans to come back in, do some courses and get your 50 points a year. Those years will count as a "good year" towards a reserve retirement.
 

MasterBates

Well-Known Member
Resurrecting a zombie thread, but I'm trying to find the actual definition of a "good year".

I know it's 50 points. And I get 15 for having a pulse, so I only really need to get 35.

What I can't find, is when does this year start?

Beginning of FY?
Day you leave AD?
Anniversary of Commissioning?
Date of Enlistment?
Calendar year?

For myself, I separated from AD on 1 MAR 2012, commissioned 5 OCT 2001, and enlisted (for BDCP, but it counts) on 11 AUG 2000.

So what is the window I need these 35 points done in?
 

KBayDog

Well-Known Member
Resurrecting a zombie thread...

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