Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/switching from active duty to reserves

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Expert: Rod Powers - 12/15/2007


Question
Hi I am in the Navy DEP program going active duty.  I have my regrets right now for going active duty.  I want to finish my college education now and not later.  I signed up for 4yrs as a Master-at-arms.  I want to switch to Navy reserves right now before I ship on 1/29/08.  This is what I really want and I know from being prior service Army that your not technically in the military till you take the oath again.  So can I switch to reserves from active duty while in DEP and will I lose my current contract.  Thank you

Answer
Hi Brandon,

You can't simply "switch" from an active duty Navy contract to a Reserve Navy contract. It's more complicated than you think.

First of all, the active duty Navy and Reserve Navy are two separate branches -- they have different recruiters, different enlistment contracts, and different requirements. Enlistment contracts, enlistment bonuses, shipping dates, education benefits, etc., are all very different between active duty Navy enlistments and Navy Reserve enlistments. It's an entirely separate enlistment and qualification process.

You can't "switch" from active duty Navy to Reserve Navy. You're going to first have to request and receive a DEP Discharge from the active duty Navy (see: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/joiningup/a/dep.htm). Once the DEP discharge has been approved, you can then apply to join the Navy Reserves, through a Navy Reserve recruiter.

Don't be surprised if enlistment in the Navy Reserves will then require a waiver. The Navy Reserve Reserve Recruiting Commander is going to want to know why he/she should take a chance on enlisting you, when you've already once backed out from a previous Navy enlistment contract (and oath), just because you've suddenly decided you've changed your mind. Not trying to be "mean" here, but the Navy Reserve commander is really going to want an answer before he/she decides whether or not to approve a "DEP Discharge" waiver to allow you to enlist in the Navy Reserves -- so, you need to have your answer ready.

For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my U.S. Military Information site at: http://usmilitary.about.com

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com

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

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Rod Powers

Expertise

Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.

Experience

Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.

Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).

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