Why Does the Army Treat its Reservists and National Guard Soldiers Like Second Class Citizens?

I believe there are multiple reasons for the attitudes that go BOTH ways. The active duty does a great job with repetition. Where as most RES/NG soldiers have a better understanding and ability to think on the move in the senior leadership positions and it probably doesn't go over well. I have seen this throughout my career in maintenance. In many cases it is the BIG Army's fault, they put a kid through two months training and come out a mechanic. I have seen many times a career soldier retires or a over ten gets out and comes to a dealership and talks a great game until it comes time to diagnose a simple problem without a TM. Most cases they last two months if there lucky. I almost feel sorry for the guy that preaches he was a mechanic in the Army for so long, but until reality hits him he doesn't understand its a totally different world on the civilian side. Your not guaranteed a job for three, four , five or six years. It may be just one chance and your done. Go back into the military that you thought was so bad. I would take a Reservist or National Guardsman any day in the technical field both on and off the Army field over a active duty soldier in my field.

I was active duty of a little over 11 years. I transitioned to the reserves about a year ago. So far my experience in the Reserves has validated my negative opinion of them while I was on active duty. Granted, I'm really hoping it's just my unit that's this bad and not the whole thing. My husband, who spent about 15 years in the Reserves, Tells me my unit is the worst he's heard of.
Customs and courtesies are very relaxed. Uniform and hair standards are not enforced. Officers and NCOs don't take care of their soldiers. And it feels like they don't plan anything. We do next to no MOS training. Every time I make the 3.5 hour drive to drill I feel like I'm doing it for nothing. I'd rather sit around and do nothing at home.

Chief, I'm terribly sorry that you have had that experience. I guess I should consider myself fortunate. I have very rarely, if ever, encountered the attitude from my Active Duty brethren that would make me feel less than I was. In fact, there was a time in which I would say something like, "I'm just a Reservist" and my AC buddy would set me straight and say, "No, you are a Soldier. You wear the same uniform as me." During deployments, I was always treated with respect by my AC counterparts and never treated as inferior simply because I was in the Army Reserve. As an AGR working for FORSCOM, I was always treated like everyone else. In fact, I mentored 20 AC commanders and they all knew I was AGR. They still reached out to me for support and advice.

I was certainly not the perfect officer, but I always found if I treated others with the respect they earned, no matter who they were and if I made it quite clear I was very capable of doing my job just as good (and occasionally better) than fellow PAOs, I never had a problem. I've always been a firm believer that people will treat you how you let them treat you.

During my last deployment, we originally worked with the 1ID and later worked with the 28ID. Shortly before departing the camp, the CoS from the 1ID and I were chatting about how much we enjoyed working with each other. He then made the comment, "Gus (yes, that is my nickname) I have to say, you always came across as confident, but never cocky." I will never forget that compliment, because it reminded me that is what professionalism is.

If you show confidence in your ability to do your job and don't allow yourself to feel inferior, you will be treated as an equal. We may not get the same amount of training or equipment as the AC, but we can still be just as effective.

You are correct Chief regarding the NG and Reserves. It all depends on leadership, Moral, and Training. I've grown to learn that it doesn't matter what branch, or if they are Active or not.

Pre-9/11, it was very much a culture of "You RC guys don't do what we do, as often as we do it, so you're not as skilled as us. And your crap is old." Now it's seems to be all about funding. It seems that the people at the Army Secretariat level are more worried that RC units can accomplish some traditional "T10" missions as well as the AC forces, i.e. the National Guard taking over the MFO mission while all the AC focused on GWOT. I'll believe the whole "one team one fight" line better when you see M-Day officers going on COTTAD orders to AC units for commands and KD assignments and NCOs going to the AC NCOES courses, etc, will I feel that there's been a perception shift. This was the way it was before 9/11 and how it is now, just for different reasons. More than once downrange, I had an AC Soldier tell me, "I don't know or care how you do it in National Guard land, but in the real Army..." when I arrived or they finally got in theatre, before ever working with me. It seems to be an ignorance about how RC units train/operate, or they just don't care.

And when AC funding is at stake, they'll sacrifice RC units/pax/readiness.

Amen! There is also in inferiority complex when it comes to Reserve and Guard leaders who too quickly defer to the active counterpart even though the Reservist or Guardsman have more experience, more maturity and better judgment. The gains made by four of my five multi-year deployments were erased in months by active duty counterparts that thought they knew it all. in today's world, running an 18 year old's two-mile pace is not what keeps you alive, it is how you use your brains without the grace of machismo that bring the soldiers you are charged to home alive.

CW4 Russ Hamilton (Ret) My experience with that attitude was accurate, until about 2002, then saw significant change (because everybody's ass was on active duty). Still see it a little, but usually from the younger AD NCOs who have not had a chance to deploy with a guard/reserve unit. And that usually goes away once the rough edges get knocked off and everybody settles in. I have seen it as late as 2011 and as high up as a CMSgt who had total disdain for the Guard/Reserves-but in fairness, I do not think he had been outside of a cubicle much. Sometimes you have to just into that face....

I think there will always be some hard feelings, but anyone who knows anything, knows that a good % of the Guard/Reserves came from AD, and most of the Guard/Reserves are also doing it for the right reasons, and often suffer financially from mobilizing-so they also must really believe in what they are doing.

Many of the systems whether it be training, promotions, pay or attitude, is leftover from when the Reserve component was simply a strategic reserve.... to be called up for all out war. Since the 90's, the Reserve amd National Guard has been very much part of the Operational forces. Yet, the progress on the attitudes and systems are still there. (If you've deployed into a combat zone, examine your retirement points. The system will still record each day as 'Active Duty for Training.')

Im currently in Ammo company, which there are not very of. In the last 2 years we have done 4 Ntc missions, with another one coming up. I've got to say that I have been impressed with how well respected my units been by active units during these rotations. There's no doubt my Soldiers know their job and put safety first. I've enjoyed supporting different BSBs and working with Active duty ,
Reserve and guard units with different CSSBs.

From a training and readiness standpoint, it's always a struggle for guard and reservist to get the same experience as active when your time , available resources and funding are so limited. We do the best with what we have. Respect just goes back to the golden rule.

Reserves and NG are treated poor in the most weird ways. I have 9 years between three branches and I see it so often. Being I am AGR near an Active Instillation, when my patch is seen or I mention I am AGR I see the tempo of them helping me or even their attention to what I am saying demenish. Even deployed, as must as my units had to offer we were questioned until my detailed soldiers started taking over more cross tasking with Host Nationals because the Active MOS exposure was so limited. You have to walk in our shoes to truely understand the headache.