USN Constant Mobilizations, ADSW

[pascol1]

I am on my first mobilization as a reservist, and I heard that there are people who do constant back to back mobilizations, ADSW orders, and other deployments as professional reservists until 16 years. Has anyone ever heard about people taking advantage of these opportunities?
I was thinking about calling it quits on the Navy Reserves because I prefer to be on active duty. However, I do see a lot of benefits from taking these mobilizations.
Can anyone share some words of wisdom on whether or not this would be considered a good idea? I hear that you can gather NOBCs and AQDs to boost up your Joint Transcript. Also, the experience from active duty and schools that you would get sent to would also boost up your civilian resume I would assume.

 

[Uncle Fester]

There is a caveat that if you've accumulated more than a certain number of days active (the number eludes me at the moment; I want to say it's something like four years out of the last five), you have to take a break before you mobilize again. Otherwise you have to be counted against end strength and that messes up the accounting.

Other than that, yes, there are full-time reserve bums out there. I've seen plenty of them in the less-arduous oconus locations and busy beehives like Tampastan. Some single dudes deploy and bank their pay, take a few months off when they get home, then go out again. Stateside, if you're in a unit with flex-drilling and deep pockets, you can put together enough drills in a month to more or less equal what you'd make on AD (though you always run the risk of the last quarter cutoff).

If you're encumbered with worldly goods and camp followers, it's a bit more difficult (or at least risky). But it can still be done...you just have to understand the process and drive it yourself.

 

[pascol1]

Is that in an instruction somewhere
I am IRR. So I am not sure if that would hurt me since I am not SELRES. I heard that SELRES were going to be used more frequently than the IRR folks.

 

[Flash]

There is a caveat that if you've accumulated more than a certain number of days active (the number eludes me at the moment; I want to say it's something like four years out of the last five), you have to take a break before you mobilize again. Otherwise you have to be counted against end strength and that messes up the accounting.

Other than that, yes, there are full-time reserve bums out there....

It is five years of active duty, after that you have to take 30 days off before mob'ing or going on active duty again. How do I know this? The guy I relieved on my last active duty stint had done 5 years in the billet and mentioned it. He had also hit 62 years of age too so he had to retire by law whether he liked it or not. I think the five year number is because the law about reemploying reservists covers only up to 5 years. While there are exceptions for war and national emergency it is probably good personnel policy to have a 5 year limit.

Is that in an instruction somewhere.

Yes, can't find it right now but I have seen it before so I know it exists.

I am IRR. So I am not sure if that would hurt me since I am not SELRES. I heard that SELRES were going to be used more frequently than the IRR folks.

I think you have to figure out what you want to do. A 'reserve bum' life is possible but not a certain or stable one and it has gotten quite a bit harder to do in the past few years since the money has dried up a bit. You may find a billet out there that you love, your command loves you and endures from FY to FY but they are rare and getting rarer. The billet I was in was one of those but it was a very rare anomaly, a reserve billet that has endured for about 15 years now but every FY it has to be approved and is always in danger of being cut. It was also the only billet like that nowadays I am personally aware of.

There are plenty of guys who did the reserve bum thing in my units over the years but every single one was in a billet that was eventually cut after 2-4 years. Budget-wise a reserve billet like that are among the easiest to create and also the easiest to cut so they rarely last. They are also usually competitive, I had to submit a resume and get interviewed like a regular job for the last billet I had and that is becoming more and more common. Unless you have some special skills and experience they are looking for, and there are plenty of folks that usually do in the reserves, you are usually going to be SOL.

So yeah, it may be possible to do what you want but it is also possible to become a SEAL/Astronaut (there have been two), doesn't mean it is going to actually happen.

 

[pascol1]

Ok. Got it. I was really hoping to live life again as if I was active duty instead of being the weekend warrior. I know that SWO nonattains usually don't recover and are not given much of a chance to salvage their careers. I really do enjoy being mobilized. At least I know how to manage my hopes and expectations.

 

[HH-60H]

I think you have to figure out what you want to do. A 'reserve bum' life is possible but not a certain or stable one and it has gotten quite a bit harder to do in the past few years since the money has dried up a bit. You may find a billet out there that you love, your command loves you and endures from FY to FY but they are rare and getting rarer. The billet I was in was one of those but it was a very rare anomaly, a reserve billet that has endured for about 15 years now but every FY it has to be approved and is always in danger of being cut. It was also the only billet like that nowadays I am personally aware of.

To piggy back on to this.... We had a guy in my office who came onboard expecting to be with us for two years. We're releasing him 6 months early because the money disappeared. No one saw it coming, and unfortunately, he didn't have much lead time.

 

[pascol1]

That is truly terrible. I must admit. I guess the people who shared with me about the professional reservist gig didn't tell me the whole story then.

 

[HH-60H]

I think you have to figure out what you want to do. A 'reserve bum' life is possible but not a certain or stable one and it has gotten quite a bit harder to do in the past few years since the money has dried up a bit. You may find a billet out there that you love, your command loves you and endures from FY to FY but they are rare and getting rarer. The billet I was in was one of those but it was a very rare anomaly, a reserve billet that has endured for about 15 years now but every FY it has to be approved and is always in danger of being cut. It was also the only billet like that nowadays I am personally aware of.

@pascol1 I thought of another thing as I re-read the thread. The word 'billet' isn't the best way to think about a lot of reserve gigs. Yes, technically that might be the correct word, but I think it gives the impression that it is a semi-permanent thing that lives on an org chart or is part of a master billet list or has some long(er) lasting formal blessing. In many cases, it is better to think of a reservist like a government contractor. An entity has both extra work and extra money, so they contract out a reservist. When the extra work or extra money goes away, so does the reservist.

In the case of my office, the extra money went away and so did the reservist.

 

[Flash]

That is truly terrible. I must admit. I guess the people who shared with me about the professional reservist gig didn't tell me the whole story then.

It is still worth a try if you are willing to put in some effort, have you signed up for the mob/ADSW announcements?

 

[subreservist]

That is truly terrible. I must admit. I guess the people who shared with me about the professional reservist gig didn't tell me the whole story then.

Where are you getting information from? Other reserve officers or reserve enlisted? I think what you're asking is easier for a reserve enlisted to pull off. Also, why stay IRR if you want to be this active? If you really want to do this, then go all in and maximize your network and points. The increased network from being SELRES will open you up for more opportunities.

 

[pascol1]

I have signed up for the mob/ADSW/ADT announcements. I think that the general rule is that you can apply for a job that is one paygrade up and one paygrade down. At least that is what I heard.
I have also heard that you don't always have to have the necessary qualifications when signing up for an opportunity, such as the clearance or designator or paygrade. An O-5 here on base told me just apply and don't be surprised if you get selected. I am somewhat curious about that.
As for SELRES, I have called up community managers after speaking with several reservists. It seems that I have run into a lot into people who made me think that I am highly qualified to get accepted into a community and the community managers give me the real truth.It is difficult to determine which people are lying to me and who is blowing smoke up my rear. (I think that is a recurring problem in the Navy.)

 

[nittany03]

It is difficult to determine which people are lying to me and who is blowing smoke up my rear. (I think that is a recurring problem in the Navy.)

Well, there's "lying and blowing smoke up your ass" and there's "repeating bad gouge the repeater doesn't know is bad." Same result, but a difference in intent.

 

[azguy]

I've known people who try to do this full time reservist thing. Never met an IRR guy that does it, but I don't see how it would be that much different when talking executing ADSW orders.

I'll echo others that have said that this doesn't provide you with great job security. I've seen ADSW billets cut/orders cancelled just weeks before the job was to start (this was for a guy already filling a billet and was expecting it to be renewed). So he had just weeks to figure out his next job or set of orders. That said, in the aggregate, if you're in a fleet concentration area for your designator/specialty, you can likely make it work, bouncing from command to command. Think Tampa, Oahu, or DC, all of which have multiple 4-star staffs (each location with a certain amount of specialization). SD, Norfolk also have a pretty large staff footprint.

I would think that if you want to go to work in uniform everyday, there is a lot more upside to doing it on active duty. Your promotion ceiling/pension is higher, more command opportunities, etc. That said, for certain people, this "reserve bum" lifestyle is appealing in that it probably tends to be a lower stress existence.

 

[pascol1]

My designator is 1105. So I do look out for those 1XXX or 11XX opportunities. I heard my reserve CO say that he knows people who got separated from active duty, but then get back in as FTS and get active duty pensions. However, I also see this as just a hope. In my eyes, hope is not a strategy.

 

[gaj29]

have you signed up for the mob/ADSW announcements?

Where can you sign up for these announcements?