This post is aimed towards reservists who have just finished their DP1 Infantry, or even just reservists who became trained this summer.
great post. i'm going to add a few of my own thoughts
Rule #1- Your regiment doesn't "owe you" anything.
Lots of troops come back and seem to think their regiments owe them for I don't know, passing their course? *
Basically, give me whatever course or class B tasking or I'll quit. Here's the thing. The reserves have a BIG turn over rate. I just head a statistic last weekend which said out of a new platoon of 30 reservists, the retention rate of them staying in the CF after 3 years (i believe) is 2%. 2% of the 40 people you went through training with will still be at your unit in 3 years. Regiments DO need soldiers but not at the expense of being blackmailed. We just had a kid say he wasn't going to show up until he got a support weapons course. Unless we give it to him he'll quit. We told him to bring in his gear Thursday to be turned in.
with what seems like numbers are going to be trimmed again for Reserves, you are using up a spot that your unit can use for a soldier who has a bit of sense of loyalty to the unit and not solely using army for own benefit.
2# Hiding from work.
People seem afraid to quit. They finish their summer training then don't show up to clean in, don't show up to parade, they have identa-call and hide from their regiment calling them. Don't answer facebook messages.
I guess they just think if they hide in their room and tell mommy and daddy to say their not here sooner or later the big bad army is going to go away. Surprise it doesn't work like that. You have thousands of dollars worth of equipment.If you don't wanna play anymore then stop hiding and turn your stuff in. If you just wanna hide then after 30 days of hiding, you'll be warned your NES (Non effective strength) then wait another 30 days or some crap then after a few other formalities you'll be kicked out of the military, given a 5f (meaning you cannot get a government job) AND if I'm not mistaken you'll owe the government a few thousand dollars and if it's one thing that gives the government a boner it's when someone owes them money.
Don't be a coward. If you want to quit, then it's not a big deal just quit.
with kit shortages, you are holding onto kit that an another soldier can be using, especially in the reserves where this is never enough kit to go around.
and FFS, your army kit is not your personal paintball or airsoft gear
nothing annoys me more than a guy who goes on NES, don't show up for a while, and still expects to get his promotion to Cpl. and guys who don't want to parade, but still wants to say that they are in the army so don't quit. don't be those guys
#3 Class B
Everyone wants class B work. A driver, enemy forces, role players, whatever.
It's good money and the work is pretty fun. Here's he thing, class B jobs can be a huge trap. You see guys and girls going from class B job to class B job with nothing to show for save a paycheck blown on drinking video games and pizza. Chances are you won't be put on any career-progressing type courses. Going from class B to class B was one of my biggest mistakes and really set me back. I've met people in 2000 doing specific class B jobs over the summer who for the last 9 years have did the same thing every summer. No full time job, no school, just odd jobs here and there for the army. Don't be that guy. Go to school or get a full time job. If you really like the army that much, go regular force. I hate when people say that "If you want full time then go reg force". There isn't a very big requirement for combat arm reservists working full time. If that's what you wanna do then go full time. If you want to do some work to save or school or whatever then save up for school and go. Don't keep getting sucked back in by the prospect of easy money. I know guys who have been "saving for school" for 7 years.
I'm currently dealing with a lot of young guys who come to me begging for employment. "I need a job I can't pay my bills I can't pay my rent I can't afford groceries".
It's not welfare guys. If you have bills to pay DON'T count on working class A days or class B. I actually had a soldier tell me he wanted work because he can't pay his bills and he wants to be a better soldier.
But, he doesn't wanna be gone for a month or two or anything. He doesn't want to leave the city, he doesn't want to work weekends....
When I did find something for him he wanted to know what it was and then decide if he felt like doing it or not 
on the other side, if you do have time available, and you want to something other than doing stuff at your unit, take taskings and courses and find out more about army. not only you might get the chance to do some really cool stuff (OPFOR for CSOR or JTF2? hell yes), you'll learn about the army and how it works (and not work lol), even if it's doing stuff like CQ for summer. learning new skills and experiences that'll serve you in your mil and civvy career. as well meet and work with some of the most switched on people you'll ever meet.
but like OP said, don't get trapped by Cl B. know what you want, and plan your life accordingly
#4-Excuses for not going into work.
If you don't want to work then say I'm busy. Technically you only need to parade 1 night a month. That's it. It's better if you come in every night and every weekend obviously but your commitment is one 3 hour period a month. If you can't even do that then you should consider leaving because you're wasting everyone's time. Making up wild excuses for not parading just looks silly and everyone See's through it.
most of the time your leadership will understand if you are really busy and will allow you to take time off, or even put you on ED&T if you need it.
however, it's up to you to manage your time well. you should have a calendar of all the unit parade nights and exercises months in advance. try to get your civvy boss to schedule your shifts so that it's not in conflict with army nights. use your school time wisely. just because you have an exam on monday, and you have an unit ex on that weekend prior, that does not mean you can't study the week prior to your exam.
#5-Being course loaded on PLQ
Don't be afraid to spend time as a private or a corporal. When someone asks your rank you should never say "I'm just a private". Be proud of your rank. The CF is pushing for leadership so units are sending people on their leadership course NOT by who is ready, but by who is available. Ultimately what happens is Young privates and corporals go on course get promoted and then they are leaders with no real time in as a troop. Those first few years are important to make mistakes and learn from them BFORE you're responsible for others. Don't rush and especially don't be pushed into it.
because of the way the reserves are, you will be placed in leadership position without benefit of a PLQ as a sect 2IC or sect comd. if you're a cpl, be ready to be told that you are in leadership position.
your pl cond and pl 2IC will understand that you will make mistakes and will help and guide you. embrace the opportunity to test yourself as a soldier and make the best out of the situation.
best advice i can give is that in your army career, you will have encountered leaders. some are good, some are bad. emulate the good qualities from the leaders you respect. don't do the stuff you noticed as bad from leaders you've met.
#6-Junior ranks mess
The junior ranks mess in the reserves is important but right after work people run for their cars. They want to get home and play world of warcraft or Ghost recon. Won't even mention the goofy excuses I've heard of people trying to get out of a 20 minute mes meeting at the end of the night.
Here's the thing, in the full time army soldiers will spend 2 months together on basic training, 16 weeks together on their infantry course, be posted to a base and live with each other in the barracks. Spend months doing work up training together then deploy overseas together.
Reserves don't have that. Aside from a quickie summer course there is no real time to bond with your peers. 3 hours a night training once a week (if everyone shows up) and maybe one weekend a month. That's it. That's not a lot of time to bond with people or get to now them. That's where the mess helps. Hang out your mess after work even if it's for an hour. Your level 60 paladin can wait, believe me. Get to know your buddies and push your mess to have mess functions to get your peers together outside of a training environment.
esp for young uns that aren't of age to drink, but you'll find that your army career will be much more enjoyable if you know the guys you are working with. there is something about fellowship and comradeship you'll form in the military that's totally different from any other civillian jobs. developing a sense of loyalty and bond with your unit and members of your unit starts with spending time at the mess and attending other unit social functions.
ask guys who have been in for 5 or more years why they choose to do the reserves thing. i'm going to bet that most will say despite the hard work and sometimes a lot of BS, being in the army is not like any other job in the world, and it has a lot to due with people you work with
#6-Watch your pay
Get a calendar and mark every day you work. The reserves is notorious for ******* up people's pay. We're like the only organization in the world that can get away with not paying their people on time every time. We just had a guy who was working for a month without getting paid. Another has been paid as a private for the last year and he's a corporal. That's a lot of money to be missing. That guy should have been watching his pay statements and said hey I'm missing $40 a day or whatever. You owe it to yourself to watch how much you're getting paid. The army isn't going to hold your hand and believe me they won't be in a hurry to pay you any money they owe you. Save yourself lot of hassle and get a $5 calendar and just write down which days you work.
try not to totally rely on army pay to pay your bills. like now, army is notorious for cancelling courses and exs and parade nights. try to save up a little so that you're not screwed if something does happen
#8-Paper work
Some units are on top of paperwork, others aren't. Nothing is worse than spending a year or two at your regiment opening up your Unit Employment Record and it being empty. Then having to try and figure out each and every exercise you've been on, every qualification you've picked up. Just like your pay- in an ideal world it's all taken care of for you but in reality you need to be proactive. You can get pissed off when you find out it wasn't done for you but in the end it won't matter and it's just more work for you.
speaking on being proactive, because of part time nature of reserves, your leadership will not be able to help you out when you need it. they probably have a full time job and a family that takes up most of their time.
having said that, there is really no excuse why you can't get hold of your leadership if you need it, with cell phones and email widely available.
but it's up to you to initiate stuff. you need dates for tasking? want to go on a course? bug the crap out of your chain of command.
give them a chance to work and pass on info and other stuff down to you. that means don't bug them everyday, but follow up frequently enough. and never leave stuff until last minute.
if it's something really important, learn to write a memo, and keep track of all the paperwork. never hesitate to ask a question.
stuff like CF98s, course reports and other important paperwork, keep a copy of them somewhere safe in your house, just in case you need them. because you'll never know when your paperwork gets lost and you get screwed
