[An.American.Expatriate]

Yes, this is what I recall as well - it would be interesting to know if it was just the "unfulfilled commitment" stuff, or something else - BUT the real point is he was STILL a commisioned officer!

PH - Since you were an officer, maybe you know the answer to this . . . does a commission "expire"?

[Viet Vet in Augusta GA]

1. Commissions don't expire...you have to resign your commission at the end of your reserve service.
2. This is a non-story, and a non-issue. I stand second to no one in loathing and opposing Kerry, but there are better arguments against him,

[PatrickHenry]

PH - Since you were an officer, maybe you know the answer to this . . . does a commission "expire"?

I'm not certain. I resigned my commission when my active reserve time ended. That's the way it was always handled. And even so, we were then placed in some kind of deep innactive reserve status. I guess there's still some crumbling computer tape in the basement of the Pentagon with my name on it.

I do recall, however, that we were sometimes joined at meetings by new guys who had recently completed their active duty overseas, and who still had some Ready Reserve time to serve out. My guess -- and guess only -- is that such was Kerry's status, as it's known that he was send home from Viet Nam early.

[JoeGar]

Since you were an officer, maybe you know the answer to this . . . does a commission "expire"?

Good question. I don't know the answer. My commission was a "Reserve" commission limited to the terms of my contract. "Regular" officers served at the discretion of the President.

[El Gato]

Since you were an officer, maybe you know the answer to this . . . does a commission "expire"?

In general no. One resigns it, or keeps it. If you keep it for very long in the IRR, they will transfer you to what is called ISRL (inactive status reserve list) from which returning to active reserve status is very difficult. I almost got to that point, but then applied for an active (Cat B, 12 drills/6 weekends per year and 12-14 days Active Duty for training per year) IMA (individual mobilization augmentee) reserve slot.