Active duty here, Palace Chasing to the Air Force Reserve in a few months. I’m pretty tapped into the active duty benefits (Amex Platinum/Gold fee waivers, lounges, free checked bags, Uber/Dunkin/Disney credits, Chase Sapphire Reserve, etc.), but I’m curious what lesser-known Reserve benefits, tips, tricks, or “cheat codes” I should know about.

Also, my recruiter mentioned there’s a program that can reimburse up to $750 for drill travel if you live far enough from your unit. Is that actually a thing for AF Reserve, and how does it work?

Hi everyone, looking for some guidance from anyone familiar with Air Force Reserve officer personnel actions, especially MSC/direct commission officers.

I recently direct commissioned into the Air Force Reserve as a Medical Service Corps (MSC) officer. I was appointed earlier this year and am currently a Category A Traditional Reservist in the Selected Reserve. I have been attending UTAs for several months, but I have not attended OTS yet and have not completed my initial HSA training.

Due to some changes in my personal circumstances, I am seriously considering leaving my current participating Reserve status. I’m trying to understand whether requesting a voluntary transfer to the IRR would be an option in my situation, rather than resigning my commission altogether.

One complication is that I signed a Health Professions Accession Bonus agreement for a 3-year commitment in the Selected Reserve, at $10,000 per year. However, I have not received any portion of the accession bonus yet. My recruiter told me the first $10,000 would not be paid until after I complete OTS.

My appointment orders also state that I am required to attend OTS within one year of appointment and complete the HSA course within 12 months of appointment.

I understand that IRR is not the same as Selected Reserve, so I assume transferring to IRR before completing the 3-year SELRES commitment could terminate my eligibility for the accession bonus. Since I have received $0 in bonus payments, recoupment itself would presumably be less of an issue, but I’m more concerned about whether the existing 3-year commitment would prevent an IRR transfer from being approved in the first place.

Has anyone dealt with a similar situation, particularly as a direct commission officer who had not yet attended OTS?

Specifically, I’m trying to figure out:

1. Can a newly direct-commissioned Reserve officer voluntarily transfer from SELRES to IRR before attending OTS?
2. Does an unfulfilled 3-year SELRES accession bonus agreement prevent an IRR transfer, or can the bonus agreement simply be terminated if no bonus has been paid?
3. Would requesting IRR generally make more sense than tendering a resignation of my Reserve commission?
4. Who actually has approval authority for something like this — unit/wing commander, FSS, or ARPC?
5. If anyone has actually gone through this process, how long did it take and what paperwork was required?

I’m continuing to attend my required UTAs and fulfill my current obligations unless/until any change in status is officially approved. I’m also planning to speak with my chain of command/FSS, but I’d like to understand the process and hear from people who have actually dealt with this before I initiate anything.

Thanks in advance, especially if anyone here works in Reserve personnel, recruiting, or has experience with MSC officer accessions.

Anything helps!

Hey friends, I posted on here the other day asking for advice and that lead me down a deeper rabbit hole. For some context about myself: I am a 3rd year college student at a public university in Missouri (I have 2 years left for my degree), after I get my degree I plan to move to a different state to get my MBA and some Certs. I just turned 21 and the military has peaked my interest but it is so overwhelming.

Could someone help me narrow my mind down? I genuinely do not know the difference between the Guard and the Reserves. My buddy is in the Army reserves and he said "the only difference is that you can travel anywhere and not be stuck in the same state". He also had all of his schooling paid for. I am deciding between guard and reserve AND Army vs Air. Missouri does not have a lot of the benefits posted, and all of the recruiters I have talked to have pretty much said the same thing as each other.

I am very stressed and overwhelmed by making the right decision... My dms are open to anyone who has questions or advice. I posted this in the national guard subreddit as well to broaden the advice.

Thank you so much in advance.

Hello!

I am in the process of applying to the USAF reserves as a general dentist. I was curious to know what other general dentists or health care professionals experience has been like and what are the possible pros, cons, and additional benefits present.

Thank you.

Hi All, I have a question about the enlistment and job selection process.
I have always been interested in serving in the military, and I am proud to have the opportunity to enlist.
I am currently planning to join the Air Force Reserve and have been working with my recruiter. I took the ASVAB and scored in the 98th percentile. I also went through MEPS, and after the full-day medical examination, the physician told me that I was medically fit to enlist and congratulated me.

I am a Green Card holder and not a U.S. citizen. Because of my citizenship status, I am not eligible for many intelligence, cyber, and other jobs that require a security clearance.

However, my recruiter recently told me that there are only five jobs currently available to me and that I need to choose one from those five. I was expecting to receive a list of jobs pdf (with need, fit, and success list) that I qualify for and then rank my top 10 choices, so this was a little different from what I expected.
Is this because I am joining the Air Force Reserve rather than Active Duty? Is the job selection process different between Active Duty and the Reserve?

I would appreciate it if you could clarify how this process works.

I’m a marine veteran. I got out four years ago and considering going into the Air Force or Navy how hard would it be to get the job I want?

When I was active duty I saw people getting in trouble left and right. All the way from LORs, article 15s to court martial. Someone getting in trouble or doing something against a reg would get handled appropriately.

In the reserves it seems like they just do not care. My friends spouse is in the reserves and they abandoned the property. Her spouse has not paid for any housing support while still receiving BAH dependent rate. The reserves has done nothing to encourage him to pay her spousal support which is leading her towards eviction. I want to give her advice but it seems they don't care. She spoke to military one source who said to talk to legal who led her to the IG but still nothing has happened.

Any ideas on how I can support her or where I can point her? Maybe it's just his unit but idk. Also her state does not recognize the separation til 1 year.

I got picked up for a pilot position in a reserve squadron and I've got a little brother interested in being aircrew, specifically a boom operator position.

When I got picked up I had to take the TBAS/AFOQT, put a packet together, rush units, interview, and so on. What does the process for becoming a boom look like in the reserve for a civilian applicant? I assume it's more than just going to the recruiter and selecting a vacancy since the pilots probably want to know who they are hiring/flying with.

Any insight would be great, timeline, expectations, requirements, etc.

Thanks!

Good afternoon,

I am heavily considering joining service as it is something I’ve wanted to do, but too young and dumb to make the right decision when I should have. I am now still heavily considering joining and feel I am running out of time to decide.

As someone in their mid 20’s would you reckons joining? If so why? What are the pros and cons?

Can I transition from reserve to active duty if I want to do more than 2 weeks a month?

Would you reccomend air force over a different branch?

I’d love to hear everyone’s opinions and thoughts, please let me know in the comments! Thank you!

I know everyone has different reasons for joining, so it’s hard to give advice indiscriminately on why you should or should not join, so I’ll try to give some perspective and my goals

1. I have a pretty good job already, I am an A&P mechanic at a regional airliner. I have been working here for a few months after graduating A&P school and I have really been enjoying it. This is why I’m considering Reserves more than Active Duty, although not entirely disregarded.

2. I think I want to go back to college at some point. I always liked school. However, I dropped out once immediately after high school, mainly because I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life (still somewhat don’t!) and didn’t wish to go into a whole lot of debt. But now that I have a steady career at least, being in the reserves would allow me the financial freedom to study whatever I’m passionate about, despite how profitable/unprofitable that degree may be (I would love to learn several languages!).

3. I’m looking for experiences as well. Seems like a good environment to meet motivated people. I love to work out too!

If I were to join, I figured I could maybe look for an avionics job in the Reserves, which would definitely help my career as an aircraft mechanic on the civilian side. However, I don’t necessarily need a job in the AF to compliment my actual job. I thought loadmaster and Airborne Cryptologic Language Analyst sounded cool as well, but I understand your job depends on openings in units. If fortunate enough, a sign-on bonus would also be awesome to pay off the little debt I still have from school and my car.

I don’t want this to be too long, but I think I mostly covered everything. I would appreciate any stories or advice from veterans or people still serving. Thank you for your time!

Hi guys please I scored 31 on my asvab and I want to join the air force reserve

My mage scores are M-17 A-49 G-17 And E-23

Seems my Admin scores gave qualification for only air transportation only

Is that true?

And my recruiter said I can check army reserve if I didn’t want to wait

Please advice I’m willing to wait for months

Is air transportation

My fiancé is in the Air Force Reserve and is currently overseas on a short-term assignment. Because of the nature of his work, he wasn’t able to tell me much about what he’d be doing or exactly where he would be.
For the first few days I heard from him pretty regularly.
I’m just trying to understand this from the service member side since I have no experience with it.

For those of you who have deployed/TDY’d or done similar assignments: have you ever had access to personal communication abruptly disappear like this, especially when you originally expected you’d be able to call home? Is it possible to basically be told “no phones/no outside communication” with little or no opportunity to give your family a heads-up?

He also gave me an estimated date he thought he’d be back, which is coming up soon. If that date passes and I still haven’t heard anything, what would you recommend I do?
I know timelines change and communication restrictions happen. I’m mostly trying to understand what this can look like from the other side because this is the first time we’ve gone this long without speaking.

I am currently an active duty Staff Sergeant in the Munitions Systems career field with a little over 7 years TIS. Due to numerous reasons, I have decided that I am not going to re-enlist when my contract expires in June of 2027 and instead return to my home state of Massachusetts to pursue a career as a fire fighter. I am considering pursuing the Reserves in the interim period once I get out and was wondering if anyone here has been on a similar path. I intend to speak to a recruiter, but I am currently deployed, so I'm starting to feel things out in the meantime.

If there's anyone here in Massachusetts or New England who happens to be in Munitions Systems that could provide some insight as to what the job looks like Reserve side, it would be appreciated.

So far as I can see, nothing says no CRDP for less than 20 if longevity retirement, but everyone says no CRDP for less than 20. Any holders of solid info out there?