Weekend Warriors make a choice NOT to join the military as Active Duty members. It is a Choice THEY made.
There are laws protecting them from retaliation by their employers. These laws have been enforced on very many occasions. That said, if you CHOOSE to be a Reservist and are no, for training you are compensated at a rate that is well know. It is not a surprise. It is well known.
This is a chance you take based on the choice you made. Again, the issues here are not hidden. They are not a mystery.
Choosing this path with the known issues and then complaining about them after the fact is nonsense.
If you don’t like it quit and be a civilian full time. This choice will make all the issues surrounding being a weekend warrior go away.
Got distracted.
if you choose to be a Reservist and are not employed
Additionally, it is correct that your reservist status can significantly inhibit your ability to become employed. You are required to disclose this.
The laws do not protect you if you are unemployed and are seeking employment. They only protect you from being terminated as a result of your call to duty if you are employed.
Again, this is all well known. Choices have consequences. Not all pleasant or convenient.
In my experience, and I have a fair amount in this area, other public sector jobs (especially Postal but teaching, police, fire, etc.) are your best bet for a reservist.
Your comments seem right on to me. That’s what my dad did when he quit the Army Reserve back in the 50s to have more time for his family. Special Forces may be more demanding but bottom line, it’s still a choice they made.
That said, I think the administrative foul-ups she cites ought to be corrected if at all possible. We owe our military volunteers a lot, but that doesn’t me doing their thinking for them.
With a wife like this I would have gone back active.
What ever happened with do not bring undue notoriety to the service?
Yep - they also continue to accrue long-term benefits and often achieve a rank or two higher than would have been possible if they stayed active....
Hardly “Weekend Warriors”.
All branches of the Reserves and the National Guard are no longer “Strategic Reserve” units, but are in fact “Operational Reserve” units. The Active Duty military does not have the support assets (and a significant portion of combat assets) to conduct combat (and a lot of other-than-combat) operations. IIRC, roughly 75% of Army logistics capacity resides in the Army Reserve. No fuel, no trucks, no bullets, no medical - nobody’s going nowhere to do any thing.
Thanks to Clinton’s “peace initiative” of the early 1990s. And, except for a brief build-up, propagated by succeeding administrations.
“One weekend a month, two weeks a year” was the tag line for time required. It’s now the remaining free time these Citizen-Soldiers have.
Been there, done that.
I left active duty after 8+ years. I’ve thought about it over the past 30+ years, but I’ve never regretted my decision to not join the Reserves. I’ve seen how the Guard and Reserves have been treated like red headed stepchildren, for many officers it became nearly a full time, unpaid job.