Read This (http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/09/23/national.guard.ap/index.html)

Wow. isn't this one a real no brainer? Maybe ask anyone in the Reserves or National Guard. It would be much easier to recruit people if it wasn't self evident that you will:

A) Be more or less on active duty, asked to do the work of people 18 to 24 years old while being over 30 (by alot in the case of many reservists)

B) Be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan with sub-standard gear and sub standard planning.

C) Can look forward to an extensive disruption of your life that goes far and beyond " One weekend a month and 2 weeks a year of training", that could ultimately cause your family to lose a very large portion of income.

D) Be lied to by an administration who goes far beyond the used car salesman tactics of any recruiter.

My unit...an active duty unit, is set to deploy soon. We are NOT going to anywhere that ends with the letter "Q" or has a "stan" in the name. Another unit training at my base, full of gray haired dads and moms and grand dads and grand moms...is gearing up tp deploy to Iraq. They are a Reserve unit. So, us, the professional full time soldiers, are going to do projects not directly related to to the war effort, while these 30 to 50+ years of age get yanked away from their families, farms, businesses and solidly established lives, to go to a war that PEOPLE HALF THEIR AGE should be fighting. Many of them had to learn all the basics over again.....such as how to shoot a fucking M-16. What a bunch of shit. And people wonder why the National Guard and Reverses don't meet quotas.

But then on the other hand, when the local infantry unit from my state deploys, they have too many volunteers (and quite a few of them the 30+ bracket) to take them all.

But you do have a point, why the fuck is an Active duty unit going somewhere less volatile?

How about.. they knew what they signed up for so many years ago? They can quit?I knew you posted this to me on the Rep thing as a negative hit, whoever posted this, but you actually have a good question.

Typically you have some options at the recruiter's office. You can be active duty in the branch you select, or you can be drilling reverses or some combination of a short active duty period followed by active reserve. ALL contracts have a reserve component, as usually they all require a 8 year commitment minimum obligation to the military. So, if you are active duty for 4 years, you are still active reserves for 4 more to make the total of 8. After that you typically go into inactive reserve status, which means your are no longer an active part of the military but you can be called up in the event of an emergency. The logic being that the government invested alot of money in you in the form of training and they want to get their maximum mileage.

As far as getting out... the "can they quit" part of your comment, there are ways out. Some are more unsavory than others. You could always fail a drug test on purpose, but reserves don't get tested as much as active. You can buy out your contract, if you have a degree of wealth. You can be way out of wieght standards, failing the PFA 3 times in a row. You can claim a hardship seperation if your family will end up in major distress as a result of your military obligation. Most all of these are less than honorable, and can follow you around. You lose your benifits and some are punishable crimes under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Remember, if you are in the military, civil law and the Constitution have different applications and many rights you enjoy as a civilian do not apply if you are under a military contract.

My real point with this is that the Reserves and the Guard are getting screwed, and it should be no surprise that people may not be lining up at the offices of these recruiters when there is currently no real difference between being a "Reservist" and active duty. With active duty offering more benifits, it becomes even more apparent. At the very least, you know full well what you are getting into. You train and prepare for it everyday. Bottom line is how they are marketed to the would be canidate and the alocation of the resources as far as rotation of active duty and reserve units. That is the origin of my "stupid ass comments". Perhaps have some of your brothers and sisters in arms get killed in a far off land before you are so quick to label the opinions of others. In the Naval Construction Force, Seabees are the common name, we have had two active duty personel lost compared to 7+ reservists. These are pretty much the only combat related losses in the Navy outside of special forces. Reservists have typically a much more vested interest in non military lives and families. Its my opinion that those loses are even more tragic.

I may regret this later......

But he is exactly right. I signed up for AD for 2yrs but it was really an 8yr committment. Currently I'm riding out the last few months of IRR 06/05 will be my final ETS.

As far as failing your PT test I know a guy who tried this during Peace Time, but b/c they knew he was intentionally doing it my unit made it extremely difficult for him to get chaptered that way so he tried other more malicious ways until they finally deemed he was worthless and booted his ass.

My thoughts are, if you signed up for Reserves or Guard thinking you'd never get deployed you were dead wrong and just plain dumb. Stop/loss has been in effect in some fashion since 9/11 it's not uncommon we're at war. But, some people are getting separated/discharged.

But back to your point. I agree with you completely and I have no idea how it can be helped.

Posting this here for Phel:

As a concerned, pro active american who is too old to join the military, what can I do as a citizen to fight terrorism and extremism in America and abroad?
Well, if you are over the age of 35, then yes, you are too old to enlist without a waiver. Officers may be different depending on the field of study you pursued in college. Most reservists I have encountered are in their 40s btw but that does not reflect the date they actually joined the service.

1) Keep up to date on current events.

2) Be mindful of what the bone heads in Washington are up to.

3) Vote.

4) Keep an open mind (also means take everything with a grain of salt) and remember what Yoda says:

"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering"

5) Live your life. The main goal of terrorism is to disrupt life through fear. If people become afraid to do their daily activities, than the terrorists win. That also goes along with personal freedoms and civil liberties. The government has an obligation to protect the nation, but that is not an excuse to degrade our lives and liberty.

The sad fact of the matter is, there really is no way to prevent terror other than taking away the incentive. A determined terrorist will find a way, and in a free society, there will always be many ways for a terrorist group to strike. Its unfortunate that people have died at the hands of these deviant savages, but you still have a far greater chance of being killed in a car crash than a terrorist act ( as insensative as that sounds). A life spent in fear is a waste, so don't worry..........Be happy.