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Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Army Reserves after retiring from Navy Reserves

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Expert: - 3/9/2009


Question
I am a 48 year old Surgeon who previously served for a little over 10 years on
US Navy active duty and completed a total of 25 years of reserve service
retiring earlier this year.  I am a Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon and I
was contacted by an Army civilian recruiter who initially was very interested
in getting me into the Army Reserves -- this seems to have cooled and they
are now telling me that they could not bring a retired Naval CAPT (O-6) into
the Army Reserves even though they seem to need Surgeons.  They say that I
could join the active duty side.  Is there an instruction that deals with this
question and what is the real rule?  Thanks!

Answer
Bringing someone out of retirement into another branch is not allowed because you belong to your previous branch as part of the retired reserve.  I do not know the exact regulation on that, I just know from doing the job for a while.

You can be brought on as a contractor surgeon though.  

Thank you for your service to the country.

Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard

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John L

Expertise

I am a National Guard recruiter , been doing it for seven years and am a subject matter expert on qualifications for National Guard and I keep up to date on Regular Army regs and programs. I was in the Navy for 4 years and have 13 years in the Guard. I will not sugar coat my answers to you. They are usually short and to the point. If you need more in depth, ask me. Because each situation is different, alot of times you need to actually talk to a recruiter and let them evaluate your situation in person, by looking at your documents, issues etc. If I suggest this, it would be in your best interest to do so. Finally...thank you for your interest in serving this great nation of ours. Very few people can actually make the cut to serve let alone choose to do so. So thank you for wanting to and hopefully you will get a chance. Whatever branch you choose, thank you and good luck.

Experience

13 years Guard experince, combat missions and homeland missions. 7 years recruiting. I have been a platoon sergeant and squad leader. Mentor to new recruiters and recruits.

Education/Credentials
Recruiters course and advanced courses in recruiting

Awards and Honors
Top recruiter in district for FY 2008. Nominated for recruiter of the year for 2010.

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