the reserves
- Thread starter william
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dutchie
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If you are wondering whether or not being a reservist prior to joining the Reg force would be advantageous to you, than I would say yes, particularly if you join the Regs as the same trade as your reserve trade. You will also get a pretty good taste of your trade and the Army in general.
You may be required to redo a lot of your training once you join the regs. How much you have to redo depends on your trade, and the courses you took. Redoing the courses is not a bad thing, however, as if nothing else, it gives you a refresher and a lot of stuff that is covered in reg force courses is not covered in reserve courses. I know from a lot of friends that went reserve to reg force Infantry that they fought to redo their Battle School (the recruiter offered some to waive it), and they found that they were respected by their peers a lot more for not taking the easy route.
If this does not answer your question, then you should probably rephrase it as it was a little vague.
Good luck and welcome.
You may be required to redo a lot of your training once you join the regs. How much you have to redo depends on your trade, and the courses you took. Redoing the courses is not a bad thing, however, as if nothing else, it gives you a refresher and a lot of stuff that is covered in reg force courses is not covered in reserve courses. I know from a lot of friends that went reserve to reg force Infantry that they fought to redo their Battle School (the recruiter offered some to waive it), and they found that they were respected by their peers a lot more for not taking the easy route.
If this does not answer your question, then you should probably rephrase it as it was a little vague.
Good luck and welcome.
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It would probally be easier to just join the regs after highschool, which I'm assuming is what you have planned. In the reserves you will gain some good experience and learn about whatever you plan to pursue, the only problem is that the paperwork to transfer can sometimes take much longer then you want it to. It might take upwards of a year to transfer to the regs from the reserves. (It took 2 months for my memo asking for a transfer to reach the desk allowing me to even Start my paperwork.) So just abit of a warning, seeing as how my plans didn't work out as well as i thought they would 
Of course if you're only 16 years old right now then it might be fun to do a good 2 years in and then switch.
Of course if you're only 16 years old right now then it might be fun to do a good 2 years in and then switch.
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There's no perfect answer - for some, it's a good idea to try the reserves first - Army life can be a shock to the system if your only prior exposure to the military has been Hollywood ...
Also - when I was in Recruiting, it broke my heart to see so many young recruits quit their jobs, put their stuff in storage, get a hero's send-off from their friends and family ... and then return home with their tail between their legs after failing/washing out ...
However, it's also true that the reserves aren't identical to the full-time Army - thus, some people might enjoy full-time more than part-time ... so, as I said - there's no perfect answer.
And so, the same advice I gave when I was in Recruiting was this:
If you would test drive a car before buying it, why not test drive your career (after all, a career lasts longer than a car ...).
And, the absolute best advice in the world is: Finish your education! (and, joining the reserves can help you achieve this)
Also - when I was in Recruiting, it broke my heart to see so many young recruits quit their jobs, put their stuff in storage, get a hero's send-off from their friends and family ... and then return home with their tail between their legs after failing/washing out ...
However, it's also true that the reserves aren't identical to the full-time Army - thus, some people might enjoy full-time more than part-time ... so, as I said - there's no perfect answer.
And so, the same advice I gave when I was in Recruiting was this:
If you would test drive a car before buying it, why not test drive your career (after all, a career lasts longer than a car ...).
And, the absolute best advice in the world is: Finish your education! (and, joining the reserves can help you achieve this)
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In response to Bossi's post above,
I heard they recently removed that nice little "boost" for reservists in regards to them helping you finish your education. Read it somewhere on this site (can't find thread atm)... I know it used to be they'd pay up to 50% your tuition+books etc AFTER you finished and IF it "related" to your job in the reserves.
Still hold true/any clarification?
Thanks in advance!
I heard they recently removed that nice little "boost" for reservists in regards to them helping you finish your education. Read it somewhere on this site (can't find thread atm)... I know it used to be they'd pay up to 50% your tuition+books etc AFTER you finished and IF it "related" to your job in the reserves.
Still hold true/any clarification?
Thanks in advance!
P
Pet_Bailey
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is it true that Army cadets can where cat pat?????? 
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First of its CADPAT (Canadian Disruptive something.....) and second, it cant be real cadpat I think, they'll either be from canadianpeacekeeper.com or just fake CADPAT, if its real they can be in some real trouble.
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And moving right along.........I found it easier to enroll in the reserves first then transfer regs.When I was young I had different plans for my life and the reserves showed me what the military life was like and allowed me to have a civy carrer as well.Also some of my courses that I got as a reservist followed me into reg force.(FMC Driver wheeled and my CFJLC\JNCO-not this PLQ crap either!The real one!)I also had time on promotion , time on pension and a recruit school bypass.If your only going to make the reserves a short term goal,then going reg right out of school might be better because,as was stated here,the paperwork for transfer can be a long haul,but while your waiting for that you can always work class A or B and still earn money.
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Armyboi are you in the reserves or cadets?
Maybe you shoul dhold off on giving "personal experience" until you actually do the work.
Your comments about the reserves being harder are right out to lunch. Relax dude.
If someone is interested in joining the army as a carreer I would suggest skipping the reserves all together. Some people will come up with a million reasons why joining the reserves fist is better. Someone else will have a million reasons why going straight to the reg force is better. Don't do something based on someone elses opinions, if you want to be a soldier and make a career out of it finish highschool, join the regular force. Being hot and horny and joining the reserves first to get that extra year or two in uniform seems like a great idea to many (sometimes it is) but it also backfires a lot.
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Ive been in both i wont knock the reserves well the combat arms anyway , but its a small step to see if you want go whole hog if you like it right away get into the regs . but i know a bunch f guys that are in the reserves for many reasons but the big one is they also like what they do civie side also.
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I've always wanted to be A.) Soldier B.) Policeman and could never make up my mind as to witch I wanted more. Since as far back as I could remember I wanted to be a soldier or cop, I was playing with Tonka Trucks when I remember wanting to be a soldier! Every little kid at one point wants to be either of those, but that fascination never left me!
Anyway, found the perfect route for myself. Work civvy job fulltime+martial arts=join reserves=go to college 1-2 years=get black belt=do community/volunteer stuff=apply for civvy cop job. If I don't get accepted for a cop after 2-3 applications I'll apply for fulltime reg force MP. We'll see what happens.
So in my situation the reserves is a perfect fit.
Joe
Anyway, found the perfect route for myself. Work civvy job fulltime+martial arts=join reserves=go to college 1-2 years=get black belt=do community/volunteer stuff=apply for civvy cop job. If I don't get accepted for a cop after 2-3 applications I'll apply for fulltime reg force MP. We'll see what happens.
So in my situation the reserves is a perfect fit.
Joe
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dutchie
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I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to join the reserves and then join the army as soon as I'd be of age?
I would agree that if you want to join the regs, and you are 18, don't bother with the reserves unless you are unsure or you have a really good civie job. But I think this kid wants to know if he should join the res at 16, do it for 2 years, then join the regs at 18, or just wait and join the regs at 18.
In that scenario, might as well try the reserves while your waiting to be of age for the regs.
I would agree that if you want to join the regs, and you are 18, don't bother with the reserves unless you are unsure or you have a really good civie job. But I think this kid wants to know if he should join the res at 16, do it for 2 years, then join the regs at 18, or just wait and join the regs at 18.
In that scenario, might as well try the reserves while your waiting to be of age for the regs.
KaptKain
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Rounder said:
I agree with Rounder. If you know theres a profession ya like alot, go for it and get a piece of paper behind ya. If you end up joining military it can help you get into all kinds of doors easier (Officer, or first choice ats election boards on trade that ya want). I do not have a degree, but I have diploma (IT). It helped me get 3year fulltime employment in the reserves as a IT tech. Even though that job is out of my trade as a Trucker. Now that I know I like fulltime military life I am going in as LCIS. The paper helped me get dibs at the open positions...at least I was told that.
