Yesenia Novoa
College Comp
Compare and Contrast
16 October 2014
When considering someone’s options after high school, many consider working, going to college, or maybe even the military. Many choices can be made when deciding what someone wants to do after high school. Many would not consider the military, but both Army active and
Army reserve have many things to offer. The reserves and active have different lifestyles, offer benefits, and education.
One of the most noticeable differences between being active or reserve, which is the major difference, is education. Education in the military is not the same as it would be if the soldier went to college straight out of high school. The soldier receives the Montgomery GI Bill
(MGIB); it provides the soldier with up to 36 months of education benefits, to soldiers who are active duty. The soldier has up to 10 years to use the MGIB they received after leaving active duty. (1) If the soldiers go active, they would receive more money and in addition, also have the option to transfer some or all of their GI Bill to their dependents. The amount of the soldiers’ GI
Bill depends on the college the person chooses. “Say someone chose UCCS, using the GI Bill comparison tool, the GI Bill of a reserve soldier totals out to be $21,578 and Active duty, receives $17,204.” (2) The only problem is that, for reserve the soldier would have to pay for housing. “If you are active, you are automatically enrolled in housing in your post, and the soldier can also apply for more military funds and scholarships. (Hernandez4) The soldiers have to complete basic training and Advanced individual training. As an active soldier at AITs, the
Novoa 2
soldier can take as many courses that will help them before going to college.
Another, important difference between active and reserve are the benefits that the soldier receives. ”The benefits received are, total compensation, money, education benefits, healthcare and vacation, addition incentives, soldier and family services, and after army.” (3) “Whether the soldier is army reserve or active duty, the soldier can acquire any of the following: annual leave, special leave accrual, army post deployment/ mobilization respite absence (PDMRA) leave, holidays, and sick leave.” (1) The soldiers insurance is the same for both active and reserve. The only difference is that the reserve soldiers insurance is partial and the soldier has to pay $60 per month. There soldier can receive two types of insurance, which are TRICARE and Service
Members Group Life Insurance (SGLI). SGLI starts from $1,000 to $400,000. A soldier only pays .65¢ every $1,000. The TRICARE insurance, in when the insurance is mainly for family members of the active duty soldier. There is no enrollment fee. The only thing that the soldier must purchase is a Medical Supplement Coverage to pay for prescriptions. (1)
Being in the military is a choice one can make. One of the main things in a lifestyle is the support from people. Active duty members are distinguished from the Army reserve, in the fact that reserve soldiers have fulltime civilian jobs, and that the soldiers are requested to duty when needed. Army reserve soldiers have to attend training sessions, near their home, or a station in their state, one weekend every month. (Hernandez, 4) Once a year, the reserves have to attend field training exercises for two full weeks, and could be asked to go to active duty if they are needed. As an active solider, the soldier’s daily life really is not that different from the life of an ordinary person.
