Army updates Guard, Reserve personnel policies

ATTENTION ARMY RESERVISTS AND ARMY NATIONAL GUARDMEN

Regulation Updates Reference:
AR 135-91 (Service Obligations, Methods of Fulfillment, Participation Requirements and Enforcement Provisions)
AR 140-145 (Individual Mobilization Augmentation Program)

There are some significant changes coming in your respective programs. While I have not had time to review these two regulations with the changes, I can say you need to school yourself individually and start asking questions on those aspects you do not understand. Remember Tennant's Rule #3 "Ask questions....they are the anti stupid."

A major new addition to AR 135-91 is a 2½-page table that spells out the various military service obligations that apply to officers and enlisted soldiers who enter service through commissioning programs or enlistment contracts. For officers this includes ROTC participation with and without scholarships, Reserve and active component Officer Candidate School attendance, Warrant Officer Candidate Course attendance and direct appointments. Enlistment contracts typically involve reserve or active-duty commitments, or a combination of both, not to exceed the eight-year military service obligation that applies to all officers and enlisted soldiers.

AR 135-91 also includes policies related to unsatisfactory participation in drills or training, which can result in reassignment or even involuntary separation. As an "old UA" I did a quick cursory look at this portion of the regulation. Frankly, it looks like the chain of command now has a stronger regulatory bases to process separations with "other than honorable" characterizations of service. This is has some significant consequences beyond your service and you need to make sure you fulfill the obligations of your service contract.

This especially means making sure your unit has current and accurate contact information. As an added precaution, make sure you have the contact information of your immediate leadership and unit administrator. If you should run into attendance problems, do not ignore your notification letters and get in touch with your unit leadership and administrators. In my day (1970-1974), if I had failed to show up or busted any of the contract obligations they sent my happy face to Vietnam. While I do not foresee anything as dyer happening today, "other than honorable" has some nasty repercussions almost akin to those of being a convicted felon.

AR 140-145 provides detailed guidance for the Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA) program, a management category for Selected Reserve soldiers who are fully trained and designated for assignment to specific positions that augment Regular Army units during a crisis or mobilization.

Personal Insight - The IMA Program, which is one of the best kept "sweet secrets" in the military because IMA soldiers are required to perform at least 12 days of annual training and 48 "4hr drills" with, or as authorized by, the unit to which they will be assigned during mobilization. Many of these units will let you get this obligation done at one time so that the rest of the year you are "military free." The sweet part of the program is many of these units are at some really "nifty" locations around the world like Germany, Italy, Belgium, DC and the list goes on....could also be a family vacation if planned properly. The current HRC POC for the IMA Program is SFC Mackenzie [login to see] who can tell you what positions are available as well as other details of the program.
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