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1) My Navy recruiter said that when I join I will sign a 4-year contract. Does that mean that I will only serve four years active duty and then be allowed to leave?
2) What is this active reserves/inactive reserves thing? How many years does one serve in them?
I'm unsure on the number of years required of active duty before you go to active reserve or inactive reserve. To give you an idea the difference between active and inactive reserve think of it this way. In times of war, once all available active duty personel are pulled up and more people are needed, the next up is the Active Reserves. These are the people who show up one weekend a month and two weeks a year for refresher training. Those on inactive reserve are the last called up depending on their job rating and the limited number of people within that rating. I can't remember if you serve 4 active duty then you get 2 active reserve and then the rest inactive reserve. I got out with an injury. I'm not on any reserve list. They wouldn't even take me back when I tried to rejoin after 9/11 because of my injury.
1) My Navy recruiter said that when I join I will sign a 4-year contract. Does that mean that I will only serve four years active duty and then be allowed to leave?
2) What is this active reserves/inactive reserves thing? How many years does one serve in them?
1. YES! Unless they implement "Stop Loss" or some other involuntary recall. The second 4 years is basically an emergency provision that if we are at war, and the Navy is undermanned, you can be forced back onto duty...kinda like the draft, but you are already trained, already have rank, already are ready to go. I don't personally know anyone it is has happened too. However, it is possible. I believe that it did happen in the First Gulf War, in the 90s.
2. The inactive reserves is a big group of people held in "reserve" status...like extras... who are NOT active (inactive).... you don't do ANYTHING related to the military. You just move on with your life. That is years 5-8. Again, unless #1 applies. Active reserves would be if you said, I want to be in the Navy Reserves and you were doing one weekend a month, two weeks a year. That is your choice, can't be forced on you.
There is no way around the second 4 year thing. It's automatic for everyone that joins any branch. It's a chance you have to take for the benefits.
Realize that if something were to happen, and you were forced back to active duty, it would be only for the time they *needed* you...maybe a month, maybe 3 months... chance are it wouldn't be the whole 4 years. That I have never heard of!
1) My Navy recruiter said that when I join I will sign a 4-year contract. Does that mean that I will only serve four years active duty and then be allowed to leave?
Generally, yes.
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2) What is this active reserves/inactive reserves thing? How many years does one serve in them?
Normally you would serve for four years and then get 'out'. That 'out' means that you are really in the in-active reserve component.
As in-active you get no pay, you wear no uniform, and you have nothing to do with the Navy.
However a 4-year contract usually means you go in as a seaman. Most training you will get is OJT. And it is hard to become a NCO.
As for asking will they call you 'up' from the in-active reserve component, it is all about what job skill you have and if they need you.
The Army needs riflemen. The Army trains every E1 to be a rifleman. So whenever combat zones need more riflemen, they freely call-up riflemen who have finished their 4-year contracts to serve to the end of the 8-year term.
The Navy on the other hand already has seamen on their ships. So to suddenly require an extra 10,000 seamen is unlikely.
Normally you would serve for four years and then get 'out'. That 'out' means that you are really in the in-active reserve component.
As in-active you get no pay, you wear no uniform, and you have nothing to do with the Navy.
However a 4-year contract usually means you go in as a seaman. Most training you will get is OJT. And it is hard to become a NCO.
As for asking will they call you 'up' from the in-active reserve component, it is all about what job skill you have and if they need you.
The Army needs riflemen. The Army trains every E1 to be a rifleman. So whenever combat zones need more riflemen, they freely call-up riflemen who have finished their 4-year contracts to serve to the end of the 8-year term.
The Navy on the other hand already has seamen on their ships. So to suddenly require an extra 10,000 seamen is unlikely.
---Most training you will get is OJT--
Did the Navy suddenly close all its "A" schools?
Are they getting that many 6 year enlistments to keep their " A" schools full? ( I doubt it )
I finished my 20-year Active Duty career in 2001. I had reached my High-Year-Tenure gate so I was thrown out, with a retainer paycheck, "Transferred to the Fleet Reserve".
In the Fleet Reserve I can be called-up to active duty at any time the Navy wishes me to serve.
Everyone who is in the Fleet Reserve is in it for 10-years before finally being transferred to the Retirement Roll. Once on the 'Retirement Roll' it then requires a vote by congress to call us up for active-duty again.
During this 10-year Fleet Reserve period if the Navy were ever in serious need to NCOs, here we are ready to go. The Fleet Reserve are NCOs with a lot of training and experience. Here I have sat here since 2001. The Navy is not calling us up.
The Navy's fleets are manned already. Before the Navy could have a need for us, they would first require a fleet of ships that are unmanned. All Naval commissioned ships are already operational and they are already filled with sailors.
The scenario would go like this; our nation would need to be under serious Naval attack, then congress would authorize our moth-ball fleet to be re-commissioned, our hundreds of vessels in moth-ball status would be towed into shipyards for major over-haul, and they would need experienced sailors, so the Fleet Reserve would be called up to man those vessels along with the Inactive Reserve.
There is a method, a sequence to the process. But if you watch world events, there is no perceived Navy threat currently hammering our nation right now. So the Navy's Inactive Reserve component, Fleet Reserve and Retired Roll components are fairly safe from being called up.
Are they getting that many 6 year enlistments to keep their " A" schools full? ( I doubt it )
'A' schools have been shortened a great deal, when a seaman hits the fleet they will rotate through the messdecks for as much as 6-months and often the deck gang.
A good portion of their 4-year tour will be working outside of their division.
It was seen that spending a lot of time in 'A' school was actually a waste since it would be so long before the seaman actually has a chance to work in his rate. The 'A' schools were shortened and the emphasis was placed more on training once they get into their division.
The Navy does offer a lot of training, mostly in their 'C' schools though.
With the 'C' school pipelines the sailor will be a NCO when he hits the fleet, so he will spend far less time out of his division, more time working in his rate.
With the 'C' school pipelines the sailor will be a NCO when he hits the fleet, so he will spend far less time out of his division, more time working in his rate.
A new sailor never working on messdecks will still see time there on most ships. The new E-4's fresh out of school usually do a tour as Mess Deck MAA.
A new sailor never working on messdecks will still see time there on most ships. The new E-4's fresh out of school usually do a tour as Mess Deck MAA.
Right.
When I was on a tender, E1 - E3s would rotate to the messdecks for 30days and back to their divisions for a month. Then back to the messdecks; until they had completed 90days of cranking. The CMC kept track and required all E3 and below to complete a full 90-days of cranking before they came off the rotation list. Each division was also tasked with providing seaman bodies to a wide assortment of duties either for squadron, or the pier, or Boat-Ops, or berthing, basically any function that needed seaman to chip, or paint, or haul lines.
E4s would commonly rotate to the MAA force or the brig for 30-days than after that one rotation they were done rotating, and they spent the rest of their time in their division. The need for E4 bodies to fill these 'hotel-loads' was far less then the need for seaman bodies in 'hotel-loads'.
Which was why there was a discussion looking at how much time a seaman truly spends in his shop his first year onboard; as compared to NCOs.
I only did one tour on a target vessel, so my exposure to that fleet was limited. Most of my time was in the Silent Service, where all E6 and below crank. All crewmen clean berthing it is not a separate function on subs.
Oh I bet you thought nobody'd catch this.
Listen at you...."target vessle"..... Damn bubbleheads.... That target is quite well protected as I understand, and has less of a chance of being rolled over or run into something.(I know someone from a submarine that this happened to recently..he's lucky to be alive)
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