Has anybody else seen a lack of discipline with transitioning from Active Duty to the Reserves?

2016-05-19T10:39:42-04:00

There is no discipline, no sense of what a regulation is, fraternization.

Response by SGT Edward Wilcox made May 19 at 2016 10:47 AM

2016-05-19T10:47:13-04:00

The reserves are definitely a different animal. I have lost soldiers because they couldn't make the transition. They felt they would be better off getting completely out. You just have to remember that these people are not in uniform every day. Most times, they have to fit everything you did on AD in 1 month into a single weekend. It can be stressful, especially for the command and staff.

The best answer is to ignore all but the most egregious of violations. Keep your focus on yourself and your subordinates. The idea is to make your team the best you can, let the others flounder, and they will see your example and start following it.

The most important thing to remember is that the AD way of doing things isn't always the only way to do things. If you give it some time, you will see that you new comrades are just as good, or better, than those you knew on AD.

Response by SGT Dave Tracy made May 19 at 2016 11:11 AM

2016-05-19T11:11:19-04:00

The analogy I use is that with regard to the culture shock of going from Active (especially if you were combat arms) to Reserve is that it's not unlike switching to a whole different branch of service but being able to keep your old uniform. The Reserves are that different a beast.

It will be a shock to your sensibilities at 1st. Just do the right thing, set a good example for others, but you'd do well to to understand--note I didn't say "excuse", I said "understand"-- that the drilling soldiers, including the Chain-of-Command, are civilians roughly 96% of a normal month, and many have never been Active Duty. For those 2 days a month, "Civilian" is a hard thing to scrub off.

The upside to being with part-time soldiers is that you can draw on the vocations and experiences of a wide array of these soldiers. You will have mechanics, welders, cops, accountants, teachers, nurses, store clerks, truck drivers, and many others in your unit whose skillsets can benefit you and the unit in ways you may not appreciate at first coming from something as homogeneous as your (generally MOS specific) Active unit.

Food for thought.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made May 19 at 2016 11:15 AM

2016-05-19T11:15:38-04:00

What Discipline? I transferred from active duty to the Fleet Reserve, Inactive Ready Reserve, Haven't had to put on a Uniform since. I know that is not what you are talking about. Most would call what I did as "Retirement" but it isn't officially retirement until 30 years.

Response by SPC Andrew Griffin made May 19 at 2016 11:19 AM

2016-05-19T11:19:14-04:00

I have! By many of my brothers!

Response by CSM David Heidke made May 19 at 2016 11:21 AM

2016-05-19T11:21:06-04:00

Why did you leave active duty?

The Reserve components outnumber the active duty. Active duty has the luxury of dealing with people who live the lifestyle every day.

For some reason the Active duty lifestyle didn't agree with you or the other way around.

So adjust, make things better. We have a different discipline, not none.

Otherwise STFU.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made May 19 at 2016 11:28 AM

2016-05-19T11:28:35-04:00

My experiences with the Reserve we're similar to what you've described. As a brand new PFC at my first drill with my reserve unit I locked up at parade rest for a SSG. The people around me acted like I was high. It went down hill from there.

Having been in both the ARNG and USAR, I would suggest looking at the ARNG. While we still have some of the same issues, we also have a more clear cut mission set and deploy as a BCT. We also have Combat Arms, which tends to have a higher discipline level. Transitioning from the USAR to the ARNG was the best career decision I've ever made.

Response by CPT Joseph K Murdock made May 19 at 2016 12:59 PM

2016-05-19T12:59:07-04:00

As an AD officer I worked two years with a very large NG unit. I saw many hard workers, and some folks who were there to collect a paycheck. I had the opportunity to see how a CoS had the power to fix things or break things.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 19 at 2016 6:43 PM

2016-05-19T18:43:08-04:00

2 days a month, 2 weeks a year

Response by CSM Thomas McGarry made May 19 at 2016 7:23 PM

2016-05-19T19:23:49-04:00

I will say this about the Army Reserves-Yes it was a different animal when I left Active Duty many years ago and joined the National Guard and then later the Army Reserves. There is shall we say less "discipline" however having deployed twice, once in 1990 and then again in 2004 with a reserve Hospital Unit I found when compared to the Active counterpart that the medical technical competence in general was better in the reserves than on the Active side. I also believe that with all the deployments that discipline is and will continue to get better.

Response by SCPO Private RallyPoint Member made May 20 at 2016 12:42 AM

2016-05-20T00:42:44-04:00

Sorry, wrong discussion.

Response by SSgt David Tedrow made May 20 at 2016 3:49 AM

2016-05-20T03:49:24-04:00

Very much so, which is one reason I was unable to make the transition after 11 years AD Marine Corps, I was stunned at the level of discipline in the Reserves.

Response by SPC Kenneth Koerperich made May 20 at 2016 4:02 AM

2016-05-20T04:02:41-04:00

The Reserve Unit I joined, was a Hosp Unit. Problems w/ it:

1) College Kids(Drunkards) playing Soldier...
2) Officers = Dr.'s w/ God Complexes. Most acted the same way in uniform
3) Not enough NCO's
4) Fraternization - Officers sleeping w/ NCO's, NCO's sleeping w/ Enlisted, A lot of Married Couples cheating on each other...LOL, AT - 17 Days - Women throwing themselves at you to eff em.
5) Not 1 SM could shoot straight, or even clean a wpn properly
6) Piss poor APFT's
7) Always Hospital first, SM second, barely respect ranks....It just denoted how much school you had...Officers = Dr's/Phd's or Bachelor's in Nursing....NCO's= RN's....Enlisted = Medics/Nurses in Training/Schools

It all made me laugh. I was the first CIB, Infantry Cross over they had ever seen. So I got tasked w/ tons of crap to do instead of actually working in the Hospital. Didn't mind it, but was funny that a SPC was RC@ ranges, knew more than the armorer, who was an E6, & was tasked w/ training basic SM skills....Uhmmm, let me rephrase that, I was tasked to "REFRESH" the SM's skills....LMFAO! They had none. It was like most never even went to Basic....

Enjoy....got plenty of stories concerning the Reserves...Most are funny as hell....

Response by SPC Brian Mason made May 20 at 2016 10:47 PM

2016-05-20T22:47:42-04:00

I saw it when transitioning from Active Duty Army to Army National Guard. Almost everyone but the 1SG and CO stared at me for the way I acted and did my job, 68W. I didn't change anything b/c my standards from being in 10th MTN DIV and Active Duty had me at better standards than 'weekend warriors'.

Response by CDR Private RallyPoint Member made May 25 at 2016 8:43 AM

2016-05-25T08:43:26-04:00

As an active duty medical provider, I have seen some horrific examples of RC and NG components being activated. It seems some units exist only to keep everyone's pay coming in and to keep everyone on until retirement. The worse was a guy who was a kidney transplant recipient, who was sent to Kuwait, and walked into the medical clinic requesting a refill of all his transplant meds. Another was 1 month out from having had a heart attack. Many were grossly obese. It was sad.

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made May 25 at 2016 9:17 PM

2016-05-25T21:17:08-04:00

One must consider that in the reserves a person may well be serving with those who are of lessor rank, but after drill and on the job be a superior or even a reporting official. Also the reservist drill two days a month but may well work with a fellow member over 40 days per month.

That makes for relationships that can become pretty different that the traditional military relationship between individuals.

Response by SrA Derrek Cherry made Aug 1 at 2019 8:29 PM

2019-08-01T20:29:22-04:00

Being an outside observer now, I have noticed Active Duty act more professional than their Reservist counterparts. Also currently have worked with 3 reservists at my civilian job.