To reenlist or to not reenlist that is the question.

[Dinner]

MtG: They legally have to provide you with an equal or better paying position upon your return. If they don't then you get to sue for enough money to retire on.

Dan: The variability issue is something I hadn't considered. My income is only around 40k so it's not like I'd lose a HUGE amountif I got activated but it might still hurt. When I went to Kosovo I saw some guys who worked as layers making six digits go down to 40k per year. Even with deployment issurence it was devistating to their finances.

Luckly I'm not a high roller so I don't have to worry about that. I have an appointment to go talk to a reserve recruiter tomorrow at lunch time. I want to get te written low down on what they're offering.

[Sava]

The military isn't for me. If there were a war that entailed defense of our country, domestically, then I'd join. But now, the military is little more than a political tool for whoever is in power.

[Dinner]

I found out today that the Psyops unit in Sacramento is currently in Iraq or at leat 90% of it is. That means there's no big deployments for 2+ year.

Of course I could always be nabbed as an augmantee but the odds of whole sale call up anytime soon are less likely.

[Kramerman]

after reading all this, to me, it seems itll come down to how you feel about the army. My father loved it, a lot of people hate it. And you're just gonna be reenlisting in the reserve, so its not like you dont know what your getting into. But if you were called up, adn you dont mind the army life, then go for it i guess, cause you probably wouldnt for a long while, and if you do, you wouldnt mind (other than the possibly being killed thing, which you could find as a thrill).

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Oerdin
MtG: They legally have to provide you with an equal or better paying position upon your return. If they don't then you get to sue for enough money to retire on.

If the company is large enough, or has multiple offices, and you have a standard enough job position, yes, you can enforce it. In this economic climate in Cali, there are enough loopholes (elimination of the position, closure or moving of offices, sale of the company, etc.) that you can't necessarily take the legal obligation to the bank. Sometimes, the best you can do is end up with a "as soon as we need someone in that position, you'll be the first one we hire"

USERRA has a definition of "undue hardship" for the employer that you could drive a truck through, unless you work for a good sized, solid, firm with no problems.

(15) The term 'undue hardship', in the case of actions taken by an employer, means actions requiring significant difficulty or expense, when considered in light of--

(A) the nature and cost of the action needed under this chapter;

(B) the overall financial resources of the facility or facilities involved in the provision of the action; the number of persons employed at such facility; the effect on expenses and
resources, or the impact otherwise of such action upon the operation of the facility;

(C) the overall financial resources of the employer; the overall size of the business of an employer with respect to the number of its employees; the number, type, and location of its facilities; and

(D) the type of operation or operations of the employer, including the composition, structure, and functions of the work force of such employer; the geographic separateness,
administrative, or fiscal relationship of the facility or facilities in question to the employer.

Another area to check into (with VETS first, and with your employer second) is how USERRA applies when you are employed first, then go back into the reserves. Since you weren't an active reservist at the time of hiring, that may affect their policy, and/or enforceability of USERRA.

Basically just make sure your ass is covered in all eventualities.

[Dinner]

The company I work for is HUGE (20k+ employees) so I'm sure I could work something is it hit the fan.

FYI just an update today was supposed to be my last day in the IRR but I'm filing a 6 month extention just to make sure I don't "expire" other wise I'd have to go to MEPS again. Yuck. Also I found a Psyops unit just a few miles away in the same city which is on Jump status so I'd get to go to Airborne School in Fort Benning. Current bonuses are $5k cash and $20k student loans. I'm hoping it will go to $10k cash before my 6 month extension is up.

[Kirnwaffen]

Any idea when you'd go to Benning?

[Panag]

Re: To reenlist or to not reenlist that is the question.

Originally posted by Oerdin
As many of you know I spent six years in the Army and I've spent the last two years in the IRR ( a kind of nondrilling reserve) but what you may not know is that come Aug. 2nd I will be out of even the IRR. I've been reflecting over all of the good times, the bad times, and the in between times I had in the Army and now I'm mulling over the idea of reenlisting in the reserves.

I honestly thought I had decided not to reenlist several years ago but after a recent thread here at Apolyton (about good part time ways to make extra cash) I have once again reopened the Army can of worms. What do you folks think? What are the up sides and down sides that you can see to reenlisting?

I really like the free travel, the friendships, and the extra money would be nice but not really enough to get excited about since it would only be a few thousand a year. The idea of getting a military pension in addition to all my other retirement savngs is also a plus but you can't draw a reserve pension until you're 65 so I've got nearly 40 years to worry about that. The obvious downside would be the possibility (read almost certainty at least for a six year enlistment) getting pulled away from my civilian job, my family, and my friends to go to some hell hole overseas. Iraq and Liberia seem like obvious candidates but Bosnia or even another tour in Kosovo are possibilities. Am I missing anything here?

hi ,


, re-enlist

it does not matter what branch or army ( country ) , just re-enlist , ......

have a nice day


panag gives oerdin his re-enlist fee

[Kramerman]

Also I found a Psyops unit just a few miles away in the same city which is on Jump status so I'd get to go to Airborne School in Fort Benning.

HOOAH!

[Lonestar]

As Olaf said, if you aren't happy, go for it. If you are...eh, F**k 'em.

[Chemical Ollie]

For some peculiar reason, I'm still enlisted and will be one of the first they call for if Russia decides to take back Estonia or something. I wonder why they would need a cheesy old fart like me, when there is an excess of fit 20-something that they don't know how to use?