I recently e.t.s'ed from active duty army and transferred to the reserves. have you done the same and are glad you did? why? or why not?

I exited AD Navy in 2003 and joined the USNR. I found that while I loved my reserve unit and the people with whom I drilled, overall the reerves was lacking in the comraderie that I found on AD. The comraderie was only there during drill weekends or on AT. I found that the reserves was really like the diet coke of the military - just one calorie, not quite military enough. It wasn't exactly what I thought it would be. Ultimately, while I loved my reserve unit, people and job, I missed AD a lot and ended up coming back in. I know that for some people, the reserves works well, it suits their lifestyle, and they love it, but it just wasn't for me.

The best advice I can give you is shop around. Go observe some drills. Don't just take a unit because it is close to you. After I separated from active duty I joined both the best and then the worst unit I have ever been in. Ultimately the distance I had to travel ended my Guard career because there was nothing within ten hours of where I lived that was acceptable. Sometimes geography will make the decision for you and it's time to hang it up.

I did the same thing in 1999. I ETS'd from the 101st and joined the TXARNG. I have loved it and am also a full time technician. Promotions are slow in my MOS but it never was about the money (although I wish we earned more). I have over 20 years now with 1 deployment on AD and 3 in the NG, I have completed real world missions here at home that the AD could not have supported such as fighting massive wild fires accross Texas and doing huricane reliefe in every state along the Gulf of Mexico. In some ways the NG is more rewarding in job satisfaction than AD could ever be.