Reserve soldiers train alongside active duty

It comes down to time to train. I've said for years, that the expectations on Reservists to do in one weekend a month, "two" weeks a year (all too often it's 3 or 3+ weeks a year AT), what the Big Army gets 365 days a year to do is not only unrealistic but greatly detracts for our core mission.

Class on top of class on top of admin on top of “newest fad from on high passed down to us” on top of…whatever; basically anything other than a Reservist’s job is not helpful, and the Army should critically evaluate what Reservists really need to do/learn/know that is not a direct component of their MOS. Up to this point, the only “solution” I have seen offered falls along the lines of “the Reserve needs more training days”. Decades of history may argue otherwise, still it might be a worthwhile discussion to have; though that simply can’t be THE standalone solution.

In our transportation unit, we are bulk fuel haulers; damn few in the unit are professional truck drivers in our civilian careers. Certainly I’m not. I know some things just can't be skipped, but what we need is more seat time and less BS class time if Uncle Sam wants us to proficiently drive JP8 around America's highways and byways. We can absolutely count on at least one day out of the weekend dedicated to doing anything other than our job. Some months, we simply don’t drive at all. I’d like to tell you instead of driving we are doing command maintenance & PMCSing or soldier tasks & drills--SOMETHING that most reasonable people could conclude are worthwhile military tasks--but frankly, that’s just not what we are doing.