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Navy Active Duty to Reserves
- Thread starter edee2015
- Start date
It depends. What officer path(s) are you pursuing?
Also, officers don’t have contracts. We do have minimum service obligations, of varying lengths, usually linked to an investment of Navy dollars in education or training.
Also, officers don’t have contracts. We do have minimum service obligations, of varying lengths, usually linked to an investment of Navy dollars in education or training.
edee2015
El
My designator is Supply Corps. And I didn’t know officers didn’t have contracts? Are minimum service obligations similar to contracts? This is news to me my recruiter did not tell me this.
Yours is 4 years active + 4 years reserve, per PA 102: https://www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Portals/55/Career/OCM/PA-102_SC_Officer_Jan-2020.pdf?ver=hiWX72Ir1-dvfM81KGJSqg==
The 4 years reserve can be IRR, meaning you don’t have to drill, do work, wear uniforms, or generally be in the Navy (it’s more nuanced than that but I’m simplifying it).
Edit: regarding service obligations vs contracts, as a commissioned officer you are appointed with special trust and confidence by the President of the United States. You shouldn’t take this obligation lightly, or with an eye toward fulfilling less than the minimum service obligation. This isn’t like a private sector job where you can leave at a whim. Yes, people do DOR from OCS or attrite from their initial training pipeline, but this shouldn’t be on your mind - you (and the Navy) want you to succeed. Is something on your mind/ a concern about completing 4 years?
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Also, congratulations!
edee2015
El
Thank you so much for this.
edee2015
El
Thank you! ?
edee2015
El
No there is no concern it was just something that I was thinking about. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do Active Duty or Reserves but I think full time AD will be the right path for me
If you make it to 20 years active duty, the retirement pension is more lucrative than a reserve one. Although both are better than almost anything in the private sector.
edee2015
El
Yes I have heard very good benefits for retirement. Would you recommend doing Active Duty over the Reserves then? I know at the end of the day it comes down to whether I want full time or part time, and i don’t have a civilian job at the moment, so nothing holding me back from going full AD..
You are headed to AD now, so make the most of it. Do everything right every day to get better, help your peers get better, and help make the Navy better. Take it one day at a time. Do your best like there’s no 2nd chance or do-overs.
I don't think any of us can make that decision for you. I'd spend some time researching some of the topics in the Reserves subforum to get a better idea of what that lifestyle is. I'm not sure if you are considering entering as a pure reservist, without previous active duty experience, but that is sort of the way this question reads.
As for retirement, high-3/legacy pension is no longer an option for new accessions right? I'm not a BRS guy so I forget how it works in comparison, but I'd imagine AD retirement is still more money for a longer period of time than Reserves, as Hair Warrior pointed out.
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You are correct. All the old legacy systems are gone. BRS is almost like a federal civilian retirement (but slightly better). The longevity flexibility is nicer but the math is harder. ?
To the OP - a traditional "20 year" career is something that seems to take forever and then is there in a blink of an eye. If you like the work, if you get to go more or less where you want to go, and advance normally I'd recommend taking it year-by-year. Things change and you will as well. If you make it to the golden ticket - fantastic! If you do an honorable four or more - thank you for your service. Just do your duty.
ABMD
Bullets don't fly without Supply
A pure reservist pension probably doesn't add up to a whole lot, but the medical benefits is where it's at.
I’ve done the math and it’s not great. Even with 1:5 mobs of 9 mo each, you don’t end up with a big pension check. You need to do 6-12 mo of ADOS a handful of times on top of those mobs to really make a dent. I am personally shooting for $5k monthly in retirement. Who knows what $5k will be worth when I’m 60, but it’s at least something.