re: I know we have several military guys on this board

And StrongSafety gonna StrongSafety

Good info in this thread...

Active duty, I'd take a serious look at the Coast Guard because of the places he could go....Coast Guard Reserve spends a lot more time than the 39 day minimum on duty....

Wolfhound, if you ever see the CAR (who is a LSU grad by the way), you can tell him you talked to the guy who made sure he got his Joint Staff badge...

I got one soldier direct commissioned and it was an unusual case, she was a MI type, and has done very well....

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If he can handle 6 years let them pay for school....

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My brother only served 2 years and they paid for his school, but he will have mental problems for the rest of his life. It cost him his marriage. May not be that way for everyone, but that's my experience.

I'm not sure what the rules are. I just know he went to school for free, but he regrets every second of his time in the military.

Thanks for your response. I am curious about culture shock. I have a slight idea if I had to guess its a lot of unseasoned medical personnel

From techincal standpoint, the officers will have a better understanding of medicine than their active component counterparts. They are in private practice so it is just a matter of practicing medicine in a miliatry setting.

Enlisted will vary rarely have a lot of experience in their career field (most will not do the same thing in civilian life as they do in their Army Reserve duties).

Biggest cultural issue - they simply do not know what right looks like from a military standpoint. A mixture of reservists who have never served on active duty with those who have. Always a challenge. They respond exceptionally well to leadership, any leadership. Be positive and helpful and you will be amazed at how willing they are to execute.

Keep in mind, they are taking away one weekend of their month and two weeks of their year because they want to be part of something special.

I have a lot of patience. And I'm hardly ever negative compared to my fellow nco's who were in my company so it'll be a good challenge.

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I'm not sure what the rules are.

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Standard reserve contract is 6x2. Can do the last two years in the IRR(individual ready reserve)We have a lot of students in our reserve unit. They like the college money for sure.

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How different is the process to be a commissioned officer in the reserves as compared to active duty? Isn't there a process for direct commission?

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A direct commission is not very common and typically requires special extenuating circumstances either by the TPU or by the service itself.

Active commissions are either through USMA, ROTC, or OCS.

Reserve commisisons are either through ROTC, OCS, or in specific cases, direct commissioning.

Both go through the same military schools (BOLC, CCC, ILE, SSC/AWC, etc)

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A direct commission is not very common and typically requires special extenuating circumstances either by the TPU or by the service itself.

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Believe it or not brother, but MSC (70B) is actually very easy to receive a direct commission in the USAR. For the most part it is based upon a position vacancy (not as easy to find) and an undergraduate degree. Cannot stand it (had several of them dumped on me while in BN command - because they are AMEDD they could be triple slotted against a CPT 70B position I had in my VET DET) but it is fairly common. And not a good thing because they have not had the training or experience to function as a company grade officer and lead troops. My optimal company grade officer was someone who had served as a PL/XO in the ARNG and could not find a promotion opportunity (CPT/MAJ) so they transferred to the USAR. Excellent officers for the most part.