Opportunity for Continued Military Service Beyond Eight Years
If you
have served eight years or more of active duty, you may no longer have a military service
obligation and do not have to affiliate with the National Guard or Reserves. You may however,
elect to continue your military service by affiliating with a Reserve component in one of these
categories.
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Hot Tip:
Before you depart, explore your Reserve options in the geographic area in which you plan to
live after separation.
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Selected Reserve
You may volunteer to sign an agreement to serve for between one and eight years in a National
Guard or Reserve unit, or a Reserve individual program. Upon becoming a member, you may be
recalled to active duty in time of war or national emergency. You may also be ordered to
active duty involuntarily for up to 270 days, for any single contingency operation, without a
declaration of a national emergency.
Members participate and train as required by the Reserve category to which they
belong. For National Guard and Reserve unit programs, this usually means a minimum of one
weekend a month and two weeks of annual training per year. For Reserve individual programs,
the training requirement may be somewhat less.
Inactive National Guard
Currently, only the Army maintains an Inactive National Guard. This consists of National
Guard personnel in an inactive status; they are attached to a specific National Guard unit but do
not participate in training. As a member of the Inactive National Guard, you would be recalled
to active duty with your unit. To remain a member, you must muster once a year with your
assigned unit.
Individual Ready Reserve
The Individual Ready Reserve consists mainly of individuals who have had training and who
have served previously in the active component. Other IRR members come from the Selected
Reserve and have some of their military service obligation remaining. As an IRR member, you
may be involuntarily recalled upon declaration of a national emergency. Otherwise,
participation requirements may include an annual day of muster duty to satisfy statutory screening
requirements. IRR members may participate in voluntary temporary tours of active duty and
military professional development education programs.
Date Last Reviewed: June 29, 2009
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