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Whether or not to go into the reserves after your active duty time can be a multi-layered decision. I can’t tell you what you should do in every case, but I can tell you how I thought through the decision.
Finances
My personal situation made it an easier decision for me to NOT go into the reserves. I’m single and have no kids. Thus I don’t have a family to feed, shelter, and provide with healthcare and so wasn’t feeling the pull of needing extra income or cheap healthcare. I prioritized other matters.
If you do have a family, heading to the reserves or guard after your active duty time can provide some additional income each month, as well as access to TriCare for pretty damn cheap. How cheap? Enrollment fees for Tricare Reserve Select are $228.27/month for a family, plus cheap deductibles and copays. Many decide to head to the reserves just for the healthcare.
As a single guy, I took advantage of my eligibility for free healthcare (although not dental) for 5 years after I left the service. To be eligible, you only need a combat deployment.
Family, civilian career, military career (choose two)
Make no mistake, life as a reservist is often far more than the one weekend/month, two weeks/year that is advertised. Especially if you are a senior leader in a unit, it’s not uncommon for the job to be significant demand.
I’ve heard good stories of people heading to grad school and having a commander in the reserves who is supportive of them and gives them a lot of freedom and latitude to fulfill their reserve requirements. But this may not always be the case. The deal worked out with your commander in your first year of school may not hold up when that commander changes.
Ultimately, I wanted more freedom. A huge part of the decision to leave the military for me was a desire to pursue a lot more in life. I wanted to travel a lot more, maybe try some psychedelics, and generally have more freedom to do what I wanted.
Calculated Risk
I have a strong entrepreneurial drive. My intent is to start a company while getting my MBA, and if that doesn’t work, I see myself working at an early stage company. Instead of keeping my options open by staying in the reserves, I deliberately opted into removing the safety blanket and taking away a “safe” option.
What safe option? The option to go back to the military. I saw the potential of being a reservist and choosing an extra deployment or opting to pursue an Active Guard Reserve position as options that might hold me back from my bigger dreams. I didn’t want to tie my hands from trying my hand in entrepreneurship because I knew that I would have the army as a backup option.
There is absolutely benefit in having this option. For some, it may be nice to know that you can find positions still in the military. But I wanted to take that option from myself to force me down another path.
Don’t do it for the money
When I started in the military, I told myself that if I ever found myself treating the army like a job, then it was time for me to go. Honestly, at the end of my time, I was starting to act like that.
I didn’t want to go into the reserves just to get an extra paycheck every month and get some cheap healthcare. Serving my country meant much more to me than the finances and benefits and I never wanted to boil my decision to stay in uniform down to a dollars and sense move.
When I was done in the army, I felt done. I completed everything I wanted to do and was ready to leave. After thinking through the decision and weighing the risks, I felt not going into the reserves was the right move for me.
I knew that I wouldn’t be the type of officer in the reserves that I strived to be while on active duty. And if I wasn’t going to do the job right, then I didn’t have any place doing it.
It’s still early to say for sure, but not once have I regretted the decision.
Related:
3 Paths to Entrepreneurship For Veterans