Does your NG/ USAR unit ask you to do "unpaid" duties outside of drill or AT?

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 09:12:30 -0400

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 29 at 2020 9:27 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 09:27:59 -0400

Invariably. Wait for ILE...they will have you down to $0.04/hr.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 29 at 2020 11:02 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 11:02:56 -0400

It's not that my unit asks me to do unpaid duties...it's that I am practically needed to do these unpaid duties. I have no ARA, so pretty much my Commander and I do what we can during our off time to try and not be behind the power curve come BTA time.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 29 at 2020 11:07 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 11:07:08 -0400

Yes you can’t get everything done in just a drill weekend. I still think commanders need to be put on full AGR orders though because there is just too much work to do for the just weekend drill pay. We all have civilian jobs and many of us have other jobs in the medical field such as state boards and organizations. I think that if I pick up one more volunteer activity beyond honor guard for my VA, the state board I am, my civilian job, my full time civilian job, etc. she is going to kill me.

Still goes back to the full time active duty vs guard/reserves argument. Both have pros and cons, but at least active duty that is your job and that’s it. You walk a very real tight rope between your civilian job and your military duties. And some employers and managers are good about it and many unfortunately are not!

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 29 at 2020 11:40 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 11:40:40 -0400

The units I've been in have never asked, but I have done countless hours of military work on ''my time". Especially in command, things can't wait 30 days to make a decision or get a signature. As a staff officer there are also report some that have to be built prior to meetings. My current unit does compensate us for our C&S meeting once a month. Even if you don't get paid, you can do the 1380 for points. May not sound like it's worth the time now but it will add up if you are doing your 20 years. Your time, compensated or not, brings value to the unit.

Response by 1SG Alan Boggs made Mar 29 at 2020 11:59 AM

1SG Alan Boggs — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 11:59:01 -0400

Certain duty positions require M-day leaders to devote their personal time if they are going to be successful. Platoon Sergeant, Platoon Leader, First Sergeant, Company Commander, Command Sergeant Major and Battalion Commanders have alot of nuts and bolts responsibilities outside of drill if their organizations are to suceed

Response by MAJ Monique Ruiz made Mar 29 at 2020 12:40 PM

MAJ Monique Ruiz — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 12:40:33 -0400

If you do work outside of drill or AT, do it for selfless reasons knowing that if something happened in your personal life, your leadership may or may not support you to the fullest. I’ve devoted so much of my time off duty with no pay that people thought I was full time. I did it to support my section and be the leader they needed, and support my commander.

Unfortunately, and not very often but maybe twice in my 18 years of service, I asked for my leadership’s support while I dealt with 5 major events in my life which all occurred in the span of a month. People ask me how I stay sane when they would’ve lost their minds. I did my best I could to keep it together for everyone. My leadership turned their back on me. It is what it is. I remain professional and continue to do my best because it’s my nature.

Besides taking the oath to serve, your work will speak for itself to describe who you’re doing it for.

Response by LTC Trent Klug made Mar 29 at 2020 12:56 PM

LTC Trent Klug — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 12:56:32 -0400

Did they ask? No. Did I have unpaid duties? Yes. Its just an accepted part of life in reserve units, especially those in leadership positions.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 29 at 2020 9:05 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 21:05:55 -0400

The title is misleading. Bottom line, there is no such thing as "unpaid duty". It's the Soldier responsibility to track how many ARAs he or she has been performed during the fiscal year (FY). Of course, a good Unit Administrator and the Unit Commander should have tracked their Soldiers via the UCPMR to avoid this issue. Having said that, if a Soldier has no more ARAs for whatever reason, and participated in B.A. he or she won't receive any pay and can't even get paid with RMAs or ATAs because it's prohibited and illegal.
The only recourse is retirement points. The unit will need to email that DA 1380 to HRC because it cannot be processed through RLAS.

Response by SSG Eric Blue made Mar 29 at 2020 10:22 PM

SSG Eric Blue — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 22:22:08 -0400

Yes, mine did. It was necessary to ensure unit success in a lot of cases with me. One of those instances was getting FREE STUFF for my unit to use from a non-profit organization to supplement what we couldn't get through our unit supply. Sure, it sucked that I had to use my own free time and resources to accomplish these missions. But I was able to get compensated in other ways later on down the line. A friend taught me that "all money is compensation, but not all compensation is money." She was right.

Response by SSG Eric Blue made Mar 29 at 2020 10:24 PM

SSG Eric Blue — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 22:24:28 -0400

Believe it or not, some of these unpaid duties can be counted towards Army Volunteer hours as well as make their way onto your civilian resume`.

Response by PVT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 30 at 2020 1:04 AM

PVT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 01:04:59 -0400

It happens. Sometimes. The army is a big organization that sometimes makes mistakes, and leaders occasionally do not communicate whether by neglect or by sheer happenstance.there was a time lately when my unit sent me to train as a CLS, and wound up cancelling the event after I had already reported, as well as drove 200 miles one way. No travel pay, and they are kicking back on their telling me they would pay me one muta ( $30.00) for my time and fuel. Ridiculous, but it happens. Working on getting something for my expenses.
BUT: I knew this could happen, and took it into account when raising my right hand. This is the military.we get comfortable in the uncomfortable, and sometimes at our expense. I love being in the Army, and wouldn't trade it for anything. On a positive note, I am pretty sure leadership learned from this, because even 1SG got involved, as well as our XO. Communication IS key.

Response by SGT Dave Tracy made Mar 30 at 2020 10:45 AM

SGT Dave Tracy — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 10:45:35 -0400

"Duties"; is tricky word I think, so I'll go with "responsibilities" as I frame my thoughts on the subject.

I think everyone has some level of off-the-clock responsibility to the military that are expected of them--even if not expressed directly--if they are in the Guard or Reserves. Even the lowliest E1 has to maintain their physical fitness, maintain communication with their chain-of-command, and keep abreast of things that may impact their service commitment. Once you get into any level of leadership, the off-the-clock responsibilities ramp up. I would suspect the higher up the food chain you go, the more paid and unpaid work outside of drill you end up doing.

As a team leader and acting squad leader, I had to develop PT plans (monitor results as best I could remotely), be a communication conduit, assist in making schedules and planning movements, craft paperwork such as counselings so as not to occupy limited training time with mind-numbing admin (or at least reduce such lost training time). Some months it really added up! I can only imagine what PLs, 1SGs and Company Commanders have to deal with when they are off the clock.

I'm sure you know these things, but I can only answer the question as I read it. My Reserve unit rarely ever directly, expressly, told us to do unpaid things on our own time, but the nature of our being a part-time military unit and the responsibilities each of us has within our unit dictates what must be addressed, even when not on Uncle Sam's time clock.