What is life like being in the Navy Reserves?

That's an excellent question ... Why wouldn't you should be the answer ... That being said, the time in the reserves is worth it but is also measured by what you put in yo continue to serve. Good luck with your future endeavors.

EN1

As an E-6, $245 in 2 days a month is worth it to me. Higher ranks get even more. There's no pay in the VTU but you can stack up on retirement points.

It's what you make of it. I did 5 yrs active duty on subs. Got out, spent 4 yrs Navy reserves. My unit shut down. Transferred to the AF reserves. It's a great way to get an extra retirement

I can say from experience that being in the reserves is a worthwhile endeavor. I still look back and think that I sacrificed continuing to serve for the sake of family and career, channeling the lessons learned from AD and Reserves into both, but missing the camaraderie that came with being part of the Reserves. My friends from that time are still my friends, and many are just now beginning to collect that coveted retirement chit.

It is what you make of it, and there are times that are better than others. You have to make your own decision, but are wise to seek the counsel of others. I know that, though I left the reserves after 10 years, I still take pride in saying "I served in the USNavy"!

I'll just go ahead and parrot what everyone else here has said: you get back what you put in, and it can be very slow at times. In my unit, during drill, they usually just have our Chief and/or LT come in in the morning to tell us the recent happenings, and whatever needs to be passed down, then send us on our way to complete whatever we need to until chow rolls around. We come back, they get onto whomever decided to skip out early / get back late, then we go back to what we were doing. I don't know what billets they could assign you as an HM, but it is probably more than were available for me as an AB.

The main advice I can give is to be prepared to do everything for yourself (kinda ties into "get back what you put in"). Want a certain unit? Want a certain billet in that unit? Want a collateral duty? Want to go on an AT? Need orders written for that AT? Need a travel claim for that AT? Have pay/paperwork issues? (and trust me, you will). Have a medical issue? (like myself, who was down to have three sickle cell, and two HIV tests this year due to bad filing of paperwork at medical). Everything is up to you to figure out. You (usually) won't have anyone tell you what to do until it gets to the point at which you are so far delinquent that you are at risk of being adsepped, or getting someone above you in trouble.

I was going to stay active but became disgusted with the program and its lack of doable goals. I did reenlist every six years until I had 19 years but only drilled for two years after I'd gotten out after 4 years active duty.
I was a CE2 drilling at the Philadelphia Naval Yard during the Bicentennial Year and we tried to find projects to do that would help our people work in their skill. But we had the same problem as always. The F-N Unions. In the past they wouldn't even allow us to work at a Boy Scout Camp because they claimed we were taking work from them.
Weekend drills were useless even after we moved to Lakehurst NAS. N projects, no materials and little preparation for at least some kind of training. So after I left the area to come back South I didn't bother. After AT&T laid me off I started a business and that was too time consuming.
Over all I think it is a waste of time and money. But I do have three Honorable discharges.

I agree with PO2 Ed C.. I was an Aircrewman with VP90 out of NAS Glenview for 10 years (after 6 years on active duty). For the last few years prior to decommissioning, we weren't allowed to "turn on" the aircraft. The main reason I participated in the reserve was to fly. I became quite disillusioned with the reserve and the one hour of travel each way to drill (reservists are responsible for travel to and from). When NAS Glenview "died," so did my reserve participation. I enjoyed most of my time, even though we were considered less capable than the active duty personnel. Travel on ACDUTRA was great.

Once I got used to the difference between Active duty and Reserve Duty, life became much better service wise. I think you have to know the difference in order to have a successful tour in the Reserves. You have to be able to rise above the Active is better than Reserves mindset that some of our active counterparts have upon meeting a new reservist. Also, I think if you model yourself, the same way your squared-away active brothers and sisters do, then this will help your to transition into the reserves.

I had an awesome career. 6 active on a sub, 18 reserve attached to different commands including sea going. As others have said you get out of it what you put into it. You may get called up, you may not. It's what you've signed up for so be aware. Depending on your unit it may be hard work or it may be boring. The pay for a part time job is very good and once you retire you'll be amazed at the pension and benefits. If you intend to go to medical school talk to a recruiter and find out what and when it may get paid for. Good luck!

I have joined the reserves and all I can say is, its how you make of if it. There are a lot of opportunities if you so chose to desire them. It is not the same as active by any means. Benefits change when you transition to the reserve component, which you want to think about. If you want to go to school and do other things, then the reserves are for you. Also, you can still do deployments and take billets if you miss the active side.