Posted on 09/14/2001 11:20:42 PM PDT by freepersup
Due to circumstances involving acts of war upon this nation, I checked with 3 out of 4 branches of the military's recruiting stations, as to the possibility of whether or not I am eligible for re-enlistment.
For the record: I am 44 years, 2 months old, effective 19 Sep., 2001.
I have 3 years Federal military service time-active duty; Regular Army, 6 years military service time-Illinois Air National Guard, and 5 months military service time-Army Reserve.
My total military service time is 9 years, 5 months.
The US Marine recruiter stated that their enlistment cut off age is 28 years, plus, all Federal military service time.
In my example, that would be my 3 years of Federal active duty military service time; Regular Army, plus, the maximum age of 28.
Using the formula, my present age could be no more than 31 ( 28 + 3 ).
The US Air Force recruiter stated that their enlistment cut off age is 28 years, plus, all Federal military service time, active duty, plus, all National Guard military service time, plus, all Federal Reserve military service time.
In my example, that would be my 3 years of Federal active duty military service time; Regular Army, plus 6 years military service time-Illinois Air National Guard, plus, 5 months military service time-Army Reserve, plus, the maximum age of 28.
Using the formula, my present age could be no more than 37 years, 5 months. ( 28 + 3 + 6 + 5 mos. )
The US Army recruiter stated that their enlistment cut off age is 35 years, plus all Federal military service time, active duty, plus, all National Guard military service time, plus, all Federal Reserve military service time.
In my example, that would be my 3 years of Federal active duty military service time; Regular Army, plus 6 years military service time-Illinois Air National Guard, plus, 5 months military service time-Army Reserve, plus, the maximum age of 35.
Using the formula, my present age could be no more than 44 years, 5 months.( 35 + 3 + 6 + 5 mos. )
I have no more than 3 months time left to process into the military, should I pass my physical, and elect to re-enlist.
I wanted all prior service, military personnel, to know their options and to understand the age and time limitations that they face, should they contemplate re-enlisting.
Our reserves can not handle the demands of active duty call ups. The employers as well can't afford it. Train them yes by all means but get us back to a full active duty force that can stand on it's own.
We need more aircraft, tanks, subs, and ships. Much of this is still aviable and can be brought into service with re-tooling. That is a short term solution. Over the long term we must face facts that having a full ready standing military is a must. We lost a lot of bases, troops, and ships in the past 10 years. The cuts were too great. Having standing carriers in the Gulf and MED goes a long way in making an enemy or host nation of our enemy think twice about messing with us. It's time to restore our military to that standard.
FWIW, 35 years old, being the cut off age for active duty Army enlistment, would give the inductee 20 years to accumulate a pension in. This would take place prior to reaching the maximum age of 55 years old.
I do know that the Army Reserves has a maximum age of 64. That is what I thought the recruiter told me yesterday...
If one subtracts 20 from 64, 44 is the answer. Is 44 the maximum age that one can enter the Reserves in ? I don't know. I know that you can be 35 and still enlist, if that helps any ?
The reserves and NG's is great but it can not replace a full standing ready military nor can it be seriously considered part of the first wave military.
We need to get away from the idea the reserves are first line units. The simple truth is this. I am a former Army National Guard. I was assigned to a Howitzer Battery as an ammunition hauler.
I was allowed to join due to my Navy service. In my four years in the Navy I touched one .22 caliber rifle at boot camp for one hour and not another was touched. So I joined a combat unit of the National Guard and was handed an M-16. This is not a good situation. Yet these very same type units are being used for deployments overseas. These well intended warriors are at this stage not a help but someone else for the more trained combat units to have to look out after.
There should be enough trained active duty to be deployed on short notice while the reserves get some active duty workups in the states. This could take as much as 6 months. Right now we lack that luxury and have so since Reagan left office and the tearing down of the military actually started. The Gulf War showed us that much.
I understand and agree with your point wholeheartedly about the gutting of our armed forces. Many responsibilities that have traditionally rested on active duty forces's shoulders, have shifted onto the Reserve component's shoulders. It's a little bit like the way the gubmint juggles the fiscal "books". Rob Peter to pay Paul.
We all need to push our Senators and Representatives for answers as to why in the hell the age cut off is so low for practically every Federal job. They raised the age of retirement / the age at which one can collect social security, due to the fact that people are living longer than they used to, but they left the maximum cut off age for hiring, where it was.
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