Does anyone have advice for me regarding possibly enlisting again at 25, or should I just focus on my career as a security guard?

I do know you can go Reserve or National Guard then get released back to active duty but its up to your Reserve Commander to be released to active duty.. Next time take the military seriously and be a good soldier don't give up your second chance by making dumb choices it will pay off in the end.. not only in the military but outside of the military please don't be a dirt bag. Thanks and hope you can make your dreams come true.

You mentioned RE1, RE3, and RE4 but left off RE2. When I left West Point I still had three months left on my initial three-year enlistment. I requested an early out as part of my resignation. I was cut orders for Fort George Meade, MD as an MP but sent to my Home of Record in California with the understanding I would have to report to my new station if my request for an Early out. A month later I was sent a letter stating that my early out had been granted. I then went to my local recruiter to join the Army Reserve since I was joining ROTC when I went to college. He told me I had an RE2 Reenlistment Code and he did not know what it meant but I could not join the reserves because of it a week or so later he said they had cleared up the issue and I could join a Reserve Unit. It didn't come up when I was commissioned so I never found out. For 45 years I have wondered what an RE2 meant.

CPT Daniel Cox - U.S. Army RE Codes
RE-1: Individuals who were fully qualified when last separated. Fully qualified for enlistment.
RE-1A: Individuals with over 6 years of service for pay. Fully qualified for enlistment. Ineligible to reenlist for 93 days after date of separation.
RE-1B: Individuals who have not been tested to verify primary MOS during current term of service. Fully qualified for enlistment.
RE-1C: Individuals separated who do not possess scores of 90 or higher in any 3 or more aptitude areas of the ASVAB If tested prior to 1 Oct 1980, or scores of 85 or higher in any 3 or more aptitude areas of the ASVAB if tested on or after 1 Oct 80. Fully qualified for enlistment provided otherwise qualified.
RE-2: Individuals separated for the convenience of the Government in accordance with Chapter 5, AR 635-200, (Chapter 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12) and reenlistment is not contemplated. Fully qualified for enlistment/reenlistment (AR 635-200).
RE-2A: Individuals with over 6 years of service for pay who have incurred an additional service requirement and who decline to meet the additional service requirement through reenlistment or extension and were separated prior to 15 Aug 1977. Fully qualified for enlistment. Ineligible to reenlist in grade and for 93 days after date of separation.
RE-2B: Individuals who were fully qualified when last separated. However, reenlistment not authorized at time of separation under enlisted year group management plan. Fully qualified for enlistment.
RE-2C: Individuals who were fully qualified when last separated. However, reenlistment not authorized at time of separation under reenlistment control policy. Civilian: fully qualified for enlistment.
RE-3 Individuals who are not qualified for continued Army service, but the disqualification is waiverable. Ineligible for enlistment unless a waiver is granted.
RE-3A: Section 1. Individuals who do not possess scores of or higher in any 3 or more aptitude areas of the AQB or the ACB. However, this code is no longer used for this disqualification. Fully qualified for enlistment if mental requirements of table 2-1 can be met. Prior service mental requirements are nonwaiverable. Waiver, if approved, is valid only for the purpose of providing continuous, unbroken service for RA in-service personnel. Section 2. Individuals with over 6 years of service for pay who have incurred an additional service requirement and who decline to meet the additional service through reenlistment or extension and were separated on or after 15 Aug 1977. Fully qualified for enlistment. Waiver, if approved, is valid only for the purpose of providing continuous, unbroken service for RA in-service personnel.


RE-3B: Individuals who have time lost during their last period of service. Ineligible for enlistment unless waiver is granted. (paragraphs 2-7 and 2-8a). Applicable to EM who have time lost during their last period of service.
RE-3C: Individuals who have completed over 4 months service who do not meet the pay grade requirements of Chapter 2, or who have been denied enlistment under Qualitative Screening Process pursuant to Chapter 4 AR 600-200. Ineligible for enlistment unless waiver is granted. Applicable to persons who have completed over 8 months service who do not meet the prior grade and service criterion of the Qualitative Management Program (AR 600-200 Chapter 4).
RE-4: Individuals separated from last period of service with a nonwaiverable disqualification (refer to AR 601-280). Ineligible for enlistment except as provided for in paragraphs 2-7c and 2-7d. (See waiverable moral and administrative disqualification.) Disqualification is nonwaivable.
RE-4A: Individuals who did not meet basic eligibility citizenship requirement of Chapter 2, AR 601-280, at time of last separation from active duty. Ineligible for enlistment unless requirements of table 2-1 can be met. Citizenship requirements are nonwaiverable. Applicable to EM who fail to meet citizenship requirements.
RE-4R: Individuals retiring after 20 or more years active Federal service (title 10, U.S. Code 3914 or 3917) Ineligible for enlistment.


Read more: https://militarybenefits.info/reenlistment-re-codes/#ixzz6I5XuW6fg

PVT Stephen Osenegg I think you may be a little confused about the enlistment process and what knowledge/influence the company commander of a recruiting company actually has with it. First off, commanders in USAREC mainly serve to be approval authorities for things like waivers and to be there to implement UCMJ when necessary, as recruiting is NCO driven. I'm quite certain the company 1SG knew you were processing and required a waiver for reentry. The company commander, though being the first step in the waiver approval process, would likely not even be aware of who you are until the waiver interview was requested by your recruiting station.

The next thing to understand is that the waiver process, including the company commander interview, couldn't even begin UNTIL you had cleared your physical at MEPS. The thing people tend to forget is that because your RE Code of 3 requires a CG USAREC waiver to come back in, it means that technically you are disqualified from reentry into service, and thus you have to go through the process of proving that you still meet all original qualifications for enlistment, including medical, before anyone will consider granting your request to come back in. It was never a matter of the trip to MEPS being a waste of time or that you should have been rejected from the start. That would have been premature.

As others on here have stated, by this time the company commander who wanted you to have a letter from your old unit commander is likely gone, and the new one may not require the same thing, so I say go for it. Each company commander is different in what they want to see out of the waiver interview, as far as proof of realization of your previous errors in service and how you've changed. Just understand that each step in the process for prior service to come back in has a purpose, established in regulatory guidance, and that it requires patience. You must also be prepared to go through the entire enlistment process with no guarantee of a waiver being granted by the commanding general of USAREC.

Thank you, and I agree with your sentiment. The advice I'm receiving is fantastic, and it's very appreciated. Based on everything I'm hearing National Guard is the way to go, and I'll be giving that a shot this weekend, and if I can't reach any recruiters I'll try again Monday before my shift at work.

The Guard is an Excellent choice, I honorably Discharged during the Draw down after Desert Storm. 8 years later I and my Family were on the rocks financially. Army Recruiter said Only option was Combat Arms as an E2 or nothing.. I then spoke with the ARNG Recruiter and was told come in for a 1 year contract at the rank of E4 rank I discharged at and the MOS I discharged in which was 63B now 91B. 6 months later I contacted the same Army Recruiter and went to MEPS the next Month and was back in with Uncle Sugar's Army a month after that!

This is the suggestion I was going to make, and see others have already done so. In my own case, I was an RE-3, and went guard, and years later, could have gone back on active duty, because the guard made the path for me, in that you could then have current commander's recommendations.

I completely understand that, and thanks for your reply. I've started to realize that the security field doesn't have very far up to go. I've considered getting into executive protection, or possibly PMC (Private Military Contracting) but that's still not really what I want to do.
I've wrestled with the idea of going back in on a regular basis since I got out, and kinda gave up fir a while after my last experience with the recruiters, but I still want to go RA again.

Steve, I'm telling you, don't stay in the middle ground. Decide if you want to go full force at getting back in, or you're 100% out. That middle ground will kill you, and you'll always wonder what if. I did it for 3 years and wasted time before I decided I wasn't going to accept the answers I had gotten that were keeping me out. No matter what happens, at least you'll have an answer you can accept, and know you tried as hard as possible to accomplish your goal.
I had a P3 and had to wait for time to pass and regs to change. Then I went back and got another P3, incorrectly, from my consult. I had to write letters, talk to anyone who would listen, drive 2 hours to another out of state RS, etc. It sucks. But I had to know if I had a shot or if I should give up.
You're going to talk to recruiters, just like I did, that don't even get past the first page and tell you to get lost. You'll take time off work, MEPS will run you around, etc. But in the end, you need to know, for you, that you did everything you could, or it will always annoy you that you didnt. Security will always be there, dude.

PFC (Join to see) that was actually a heart warming response, thank you!
That's pretty much exactly where I'm at right now - I want to go back in if at all possible, but everywhere I go it just seems to get me nowhere. For a minute I thought about going to a marine recruiter before deciding that was folly.

I like security, very much as a civilian. It feels like it's the only thing I'm really good at (even though my previous employers all said I did good), but it doesn't feel like home the way the army did.

My roommate had listened to me whine, watched my periodic "depression" from not being able to go back in for the last several years, and he's the one who recommended I seek advice if I can't figure this out on my own - hence why I made this post.