Reserves as IB Analyst?
My father's side of the family has always been in the military. My great grandpa fought in WW2, my grandpa served, and my father served before transitioning into his current career. My parents were immigrants and worked very hard to obtain citizenship, and I want to give back to the country that has given my family much opportunity, as well as continuing the tradition of service my family set for me.
FWIW, I would only be interested in joining a combat arms role. I've wanted to be a soldier since I was kid, but I also want to give my kids the ability to live out of a van if that's what makes them happy lol - hence why I went into IB.
I plan on exiting after 2 years (very rare for analysts to stay) regardless. It's a fairly sweaty group.
Curious to hear experiences/perspectives from anyone who has done the same!
Not a reservist, but I was active duty in a combat arms MOS. Bottom line, being in the reserves while being an analyst, in my opinion, is not doable.
For starters, you’re going to have to go to bootcamp or OCS (depending if you’re going the enlisted vs officer route) which is an 8-13 week commitment depending on branch and route, as mentioned previously. After that, you’re then going to have to go to follow-on training/MOS school. Again, depending on branch and route that can range from 3 months to 2 years.
In total, that’s about 6 months off the desk, at a minimum. Yes, your employer is required to hold you’re position, but you’re going to fall behind your analyst class, your bonus will probably be worse, for better or for worse you’ll be looked at as “less committed” than others, and you will probably get worse staffings/experience due to the fact that one weekend a month and 2 weeeks during the summer you will basically be off the grid (that is also a minimum, from what I have heard, you actually devote a lot more time than what is advertised).
My advice would be to grind for these two years, and pivot to corp dev or something with more of a WLB, and then if you’re still committed to serving still at that point. Go for it. I get that you want to go into a combat arms MOS—I was the same way, and youre probably thinking it’ll be harder on you physically as you age (which is true), but I would keep your options open on that front as well. We’re not at war, at least not yet. Combat arms during peacetime is a colossal waste of time. You spend about 1/4-1/3 of your time doing cool/fun stuff, the remainder is spent just sitting and waiting around doing BS.
Happy to talk through this more—PM me.
What MOS were you, if you don't mind me asking? I'm thinking of enlisting if I don't get an offer or internship before I graduate in 2027 and going in as an 89D(EOD Specialist.) I like the stateside mission and the job looks interesting. I can PM if you prefer that.
I was in the infantry—I would highly recommend the officer route as well. Aside from the fact that fact you’ll get treated much better, it will open up an entirely different network and increase your opportunities post military.
I was PMing with someone who is currently doing this so hoping they see this and chime in.
I think this would be a massive time commitment but fairly certain no employer can ding you for doing anything military-related. As the above comment mentioned, you could also grind for 2 years and find a bit chiller exit opportunity before going in.
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