Understanding Reserve Duty

How Duty is Fulfilled in Marine Forces Reserve

Story by Sgt. John Lawson III Headquarters Marine Corps, Washington

Most people think being a reservist means serving one weekend a month and two weeks a year. In many instances, that’s the right idea, but there are a variety of other ways to be a Marine without being part of the active-duty Corps.

To name just a few options, a reserve Marine can serve part time with an active-duty unit, serve full time in a unit while remaining close to home, or serve on a special task for 179 days or less. Service, of course, must satisfy Corps needs, and the possibility of mobilization to active duty always exists. Still, there is much more flexibility in reserve duty than most people realize.

Generally, reserve duty entails drills and annual training – a drill being a general period of service. Each year, a typical reserve Marine performs about 24 drill days, plus two weeks of annual training. However, as an examination of the various reserve programs shows, Marines can perform the requisite number of drills and the two-week annual training in many ways. What’s more, there are some arrangements that don’t involve the usual drills and annual training.

Active Reserve
The Active Reserve program, which may sound like an oxymoron, allows a reserve Marine to serve on a full-time basis in billets such as recruiter, administrator, or even drill instructor. This is a good option for Marines coming off active duty who want to stay closer to home, but still want to be part of the Corps.

For example, as a member of the Active Reserve, Staff Sgt. Douglas Levesque is a transitional recruiter at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. He has been an active-duty Marine, and he has experienced life outside the Marine Corps as a civilian. Now he works as a full-time Marine reservist, drawing on his background to counsel Marines who are contemplating a life beyond active duty.

Individual Mobilization Augmentees
Another option is the Individual Mobilization Augmentees program. In this program, a reservist who can fill a particular need with an active-duty unit performs reserve duty with that unit. The ability of the reservist to fill the need is the deciding factor, and it doesn’t matter whether that ability is the result of military training, civilian education, work experience, or something else.

Dale McNeil, who oversees roughly 250 IMA reservists at Marine Corps Base Quantico and Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Virginia, said that flexibility is usually a hallmark of an IMA tour of duty.

While everything hinges on what works for the sponsoring unit, McNeil said IMA reservists commonly perform their drills and annual training on schedules that create minimal friction with civilian-world obligations.

For example, there are IMA Marines who do all of their drills and their two-week annual training consecutively, McNeil said.

As long as the sponsoring unit is getting what it needs and the reserve Marine is meeting annual drill and training requirements, it doesn’t matter whether the work is done on particular days, weeks, or months.

Selected Marine Corps Reserve
The Selected Marine Corps Reserve offers the most traditional form of reserve duty.

A typical unit in the Selected Marine Corps Reserve has a desig-nated drill weekend each month. Also, the unit typically performs its two weeks of annual training as a group; very little is done on an individual basis.

McNeil said a Selected Marine Corps Reserve unit offers a good way for a reservist to experience that “band of brothers” camaraderie without being on active duty. Also, Selected Marine Corps Reserve units offer the most opportunities to train in traditional Marine Corps specialties; i.e. infantry, artillery, tanks, etc.

Active Duty Special Work
Sometimes the Corps needs reserve Marines to perform active-duty tours of less than six months. Reservists seeking orders for one of these tours can contact a Reserve Support Unit and request information on Active Duty Special Work. The work can support a variety of activities, ranging from military operations to administration to training.

In addition to providing information on Active Duty Special Work, a Reserve Support Unit has a staff that can answer almost any conceivable question about reserve opportunities. A Reserve Support Unit can be found at most major Marine installations.

Individual Ready Reserve
The Individual Ready Reserve is a pool of reservists who can be called to active duty in a time of crisis.

Marines in the Individual Ready Reserve typically report one day per year to demonstrate that they meet all requirements for physical appearance and uniforms. Most of these Marines have some time remaining on their contracts, but have fulfilled their obligations as active-duty Marines or as members of reserve entities such as the Selected Marine Corps Reserve.

Associate Duty
Some Marines leaving active duty are so focused on adjusting to civilian life that they aren’t prepared to set aside time for reserve obligations, even though reserve duty might be something they would like once they settled into civilian life.

Associate Duty offers a way to keep an iron in the fire. A Marine on Associate Duty drills with a reserve unit without formally joining the unit or getting paid. Associate Duty offers a means of preserving status and readiness without incurring obligations. Should the Marine choose to become more formally involved in the reserves, Associate Duty allows for an easy transition.

Knowing Your Options
There are several ways to find out what opportunities are available in the reserves.

Civilians can enlist in the Marine Corps, go to boot camp, receive all necessary additional training, and move over to the reserves in less than a year. Anyone interested can contact a Marine recruiter.

Civilians also can seek an officer’s commission in the Marine Corps Reserve, though about two years on active duty are necessary before making the switch to reserve duty. An Officer Selection Officer can provide details.

Marines leaving active duty typically have many options in the reserves.

A transitional recruiter can answer questions and help find the right fit.

Staff Sgt. Levesque, a transitional recruiter, says any Marine who is mentally, morally, and physically qualified can find a place in the reserves.

“There’s always something,” he said. “We always find something for Marines.” If necessary, Levesque said, the Marine Corps can even train a Marine in a new occupational specialty if doing so is necessary to find a reserve billet.

If a Marine gets out of the Corps but then wants to get back in as a reservist, a prior-service recruiter can help.

The Rewards
No one joins the Marine Corps to get rich, and the same holds true for the reserves.

Depending on pay grade, the money is about “a car payment” a month, as Charmale Gallagher said. Gallagher retired as a gunnery sergeant in March 2006 after serving three years of active duty and 20 years in the reserves. She currently works as a civilian administrator at Quantico.

Reservists can also make themselves eligible for college money through the G.I. Bill and for retirement benefits that kick in at age 60.

Ask reservists why they carve time from civilian life for the sake of the Marine Corps, and the answer is typically like the one from Chief Warrant Officer 4 Helen Holman: “The camaraderie in the Marine Corps – the sense of family – is incredible.”

Holman joined the Corps in 1967 as an active-duty Marine and became
a reservist in 1974. She is currently on active duty as an administrative chief at Quantico, but her home is Sacramento, Calif.

Master Sgt. Ted Bogosh, who became an active-duty Marine in 1974, joined the reserves in 1978. He said it hasn’t been easy to juggle his landscaping business with reserve duty.

Regardless, he said, it has been worth all the time and trouble. From May 2004 through January 2006, Bogosh deployed, spending most of his time in Iraq and some in Afghanistan.

His job was repairing the robots that search for or dispose of improvised explosive devices. Given all the dangers posed by IEDs, any opportunity to take a Marine out of the equation and substitute a robot is a welcome opportunity. “We save a lot of people having those robots there,” Bogosh noted.

Helping the Corps is the reward that makes being a reserve Marine worthwhile, Bogosh said. “As for somebody wanting to make a difference, I can’t think of a better way to make a difference.”