Is anyone here a member of the Navy reserves? I'd just like to hear some pros and cons as I'm looking into it. Thanks!

I am. A lot of your experience is based on the unit you choose, O/E, etc., so advice isn't necessarily uniform across the entire organization. From my experience:

PROS:
-Flexibility. Depending on your designator, you can pick from a wide range of positions to meet your personal and professional needs. I'll break it down a little more below.
-Geography. Surprisingly, the Navy Reserve is everywhere. JRB Ft. Worth has a ton of billets, and even if you can't get a billet close to you, you can drill locally and be placed in a unit elsewhere in the country that matches up with what you want to do for quarterly or annual training.
-Billets. I'm getting my MBA in supply chain management and I am in a billet focused on logistics, so it helps bridge the gap a little bit. Also, my unit has a ton of different time periods to do AT (our two weeks/year), so I haven't had any issues getting a time that matched up with my schedule.
-Pay/Benefits. I essentially get a car payment taken care of each month for two days of work. Also, Tricare Reserve for $50/month is tough to beat if cost is your biggest concern.
-ADSW (Active Duty for Special Work). Fortunately it hasn't been an issue for me, but there is definitely a peace of mind that if I were to get laid off or have a long opening of time in my professional life, there are a good number of billets for anywhere from 3 months to a year that I can take on short notice.
-Bonus. This might not apply to you, but I got a pretty good bonus for transitioning from AD SWO to Reserves that has helped with the lack of revenue during grad school.

CONS:
-Not really just one weekend a month for Os. There isn't a HUGE commitment outside of drill weekend, but it is common for me to put in anywhere from 2-10 hours/week into Navy work.
-Admin requirements are surprisingly different from AD. This might not be a concern, but I've been in for right at a year and I'm still figuring out all the nuances of all the different order/travel/retirement points systems.

As a naval reservist, officer specifically, how easy or hard is it to catch a deployment aboard a ship?

especially if you're drilling somewhere like FW JRB

Its not the easiest thing in the world to do. The skills used on-board are such that if you're only going on-board two weeks a year, you're probably doing more harm than good.

Most O billets are for staff positions. I do my two weeks a year sitting in an office in Bahrain. There ARE some opportunities for underway time though. With my job, we do port ops for MSC (commercial and semi-commercial ships) and I have known people to be able to do ship rides from Bahrain to Jebel Ali, for example.

There are also some opportunities to get underway on extra duty orders for major exercises. Best example, I had a friend go stand Comms Watch Officer on an MSC ship for two weeks during RIMPAC last summer.

The easiest way to get underway would probably be through ADSW orders, but I can't say for sure, since neither my friends nor I have done this. I would imagine these orders would be more to augment training/staff teams than full blown deployments attached to ship's crew.

quote:

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Its not the easiest thing in the world to do. The skills used on-board are such that if you're only going on-board two weeks a year, you're probably doing more harm than good.

Most O billets are for staff positions. I do my two weeks a year sitting in an office in Bahrain. There ARE some opportunities for underway time though. With my job, we do port ops for MSC (commercial and semi-commercial ships) and I have known people to be able to do ship rides from Bahrain to Jebel Ali, for example.

There are also some opportunities to get underway on extra duty orders for major exercises. Best example, I had a friend go stand Comms Watch Officer on an MSC ship for two weeks during RIMPAC last summer.

The easiest way to get underway would probably be through ADSW orders, but I can't say for sure, since neither my friends nor I have done this. I would imagine these orders would be more to augment training/staff teams than full blown deployments attached to ship's crew.

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that's all about what i expected. thanks for the info

We had an LT on ADSW who deployed with us. We did direct support on submarines, attached to the boat while was in theater. We are 1810s though and don't get to drive. And he was one reservist out of the 10 other AD officers in the shop.

Can anyone speak to the entry process? Training, etc?

If you get in with the COMSEVENTHFLT DET 111 there in FtWorth, you will likely do annual training aboard the Blue Ridge during exercises...unless you end up in exotic places within Korea etc.

PROS and CONS listed above are pretty spot on. Biggest problems for O's is making sure you get good billets that are career enhancing through the annual APPLY evolution.

Regards,
Lee 72
CAPT USN (Ret) [in 2010]

While we're on the topic of the reserves, since I'm technically a reserve officer right now (while I'm in med school), can I deduct my uniform costs from my taxes? My understanding is that since I'm in the reserves, and don't wear my uniform everyday (or at all for at least another year), I'm allowed to deduct it.

So, is it possible to come in the Reserve as an officer after serving my time as enlisted?

Is it possible to switch to the navy reserve if you are still under an IRR contract for the Army?