As part of your service commitment in the Army Reserve, you are required to spend at least one weekend a month on duty and two weeks a year in training. Your total service contract length may range from three to six years, depending on your Army Reserve job.

The Army Reserve allows you to pursue a civilian career or attend college full-time and still serve your community and country. What is the Army Reserve? You can live where you want, receive medical benefits, educational benefits, tuition assistance, and build for retirement.

It can be a great option for lots of service members. Reserve duty can do more than fulfill your obligation. It's also a good way to keep one foot in the military community and one foot in the civilian world. As a reservist, you can be connected to the benefits of military life and civilian life at the same time.

Army Reserve Soldiers receive the same training as active-duty Soldiers. After Basic Combat Training (BCT) and Advanced Individual Training (AIT), Army Reserve Soldiers return to their civilian lives and spend one weekend a month and two weeks per year training to keep their skills sharp.

The Army Reserve has two clearly defined roles. Firstly, it provides highly trained soldiers who can work alongside the Regulars on missions in the UK and overseas. Secondly, it gives people who have specialist skills, like medics and engineers, a range of exciting opportunities to use them in new ways.

Con: You may be activated to full-time service and this may be on an individual basis or as part of a unit activation. You could serve 30 days in a unit near your hometown or up to a year supporting a mission outside of the United States. Opting out of a deployment labeled involuntary is not an option.

You will also need to pass a full Army medical. Check which medical conditions may prevent you from joining. Can I leave the Reserves? If you decide being a Reservist isn't for you, you can leave at any point except during mobilisation.

In general, there's no set deployment schedule for Reservists. Most Reservist missions will be for logistics and support, but some specialties such as the Security Forces are more combat-oriented. While it's not unusual to not deploy at all, all Reservists have to deploy when the circumstances require.

Am I eligible to join the National Guard or military reserves? You must meet these minimum requirements to join the National Guard or military reserves: Be a U.S. citizen or resident alien. Be between the ages of 17 and 42 (general requirement range; age varies by branch).

Pay for the time you spend with us, starting from around £51 per day after training (for which you'll be paid) An annual tax-free 'bounty' The Army's Reserve Forces Pension Scheme. Opportunities to enhance your professional qualifications.

Reserve duty is similar to a part-time job -- you keep your civilian job while receiving military training near where you live, and only serve part-time. The biggest difference between active duty and reserve duty is time dedication.

The maximum pension you can receive is up to 48.5% of your final pensionable pay, plus a tax-free lump sum of three times your annual pension. For AFPS 05, your pension is 1/70th of your final pensionable earnings multiplied by the years and days of service.