I have a buddy who recently joined AD and wants to switch to reserves. Is this possible?

“Whoever does not have the stomach for this fight, let him depart, give him his money to speed his departure, since we wish not to die in this man’s company."

-William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act IV Scene III.

Honestly, there's only two ways to get out of the military without ruining your career chances, and that's by waiting until your contract is up or retirement. In my case it was medical retirement. However, the modern military suffers from horrific morale and dismal pay, let alone the physical demands on the body. Leadership need to address this and stop being lazy. I was always plagued with poor leadership that were always looking for an excuse not to do their jobs.

Coming from someone who didn't have the choice. I was discharged after failing to many consecutive PFT's. This was not due to laziness or wanting to get out. I had sustained a shoulder injury in May of 2005. Underwent physical therapy had waivers and still could not perform to standards. I still was honorably discharged but only because of the circumstances. So essentially let your fucking balls drop be a man and get on the ball or they're going to slam you out with a OTH discharge and than it can follow you around the rest of your life

HE IS A LOSER!!! HE WANTS CIVILIAN LIFE!!! HE TOOK A SPOT FROM SOMEONE WHO WANTED TO SERVE!! SEND HIM TO BE A COOK!!! HE WILL REALLY HATE HIMSELF!!!

He signed the line, he should have the honor to do what he committed to. Maybe honor is the problem. Oorah!

Great advice to your buddy. That is a great way to take care of each other. That is what makes our military so awesome most of the time!

As an NCO, I would be wondering what brought him to the point that he feels he must leave the service. What is going on with the soldier and can the issues be fixed to give him a better outlook and maybe help him strive to do his best? Sit down with the soldier and talk to him. Most of the time there are underlying issues that cause someone to get to the point of wanting out.

His leader should be mentoring and encouraging him and if there are other problems, they need to be brought to the surface with his leadership. If the problem stems from his leadership, he needs to use the open door policy to the next higher person in his NCO support chain and if that fails, start moving up the chain of command.

Sounds like he needs a good mentor to help him with his oath and some career planning.

He's seven months into his first contract. So counting his OSUT, he's roughly around 4 months into his first duty station. Of course it sucks. Units are tough on the new Privates. Just keep your nose clean, do what you're supposed to do, stay motivated, and things will get better in time.

Suck it up and act like a man! This is the real world ! Not high school!!! You should be proud to serve active duty for the finest army in the world and an infantryman on top of that!