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by The standard service obligation for American Army soldiers is eight years. Those choosing a shorter term of active service are actually still on the books in the Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR). Upon reaching the eight year mark, enlisted soldiers are automatically dropped from the rolls unless a conscious choice is made to stay with the Army. Officers, on the other hand, remain in the IRR unless they physically resigned their commissions, reached retirement age or died. On 16 July 2005, the undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, David Chu, changed that policy so that officers were also automatically released from the IRR.
The decision to make this policy stemmed largely because of problems the Army faced in recalling its officers. Many sought deferments or delayed their reporting leading the Army to begin declaring them AWOL. Many of the recalled officers did not even realize they were still in the IRR, believing their commitments had expired. Even then, there are cases such as CPT Jonathan O’Reilly who served an additional two years after the Army continued to deny his resignation.
For reference, the standards of the IRR are documented in Army Regulation 135-91 (pdf). Despite the alleged update to the policy regarding officers, the most recent edition of this document is dated 1 February 2005. Looking at Table 2-1 and Table 2-2, the verbiage describing the participation requirements between officers and enlisted soldiers both indicate "until 8th anniversary" of appointment or enlistment respectively. Section 5-2(c) of the regulation outlines that IRR discharges will be in accordance with the Enlisted Administrative Separations standards documented in Army Regulation 135-178 (pdf). There is no mention of officer discharge in this regulation.
This raises some questions:
- Where is it documented that officers are not released from the IRR without an approved resignation of commission?
- Did David Chu's update really happen?
- Should officers be held to a different standard of retention than enlisted soldiers?
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I do believe Chu's update is happening, I'm just at a loss to find it in writing. The recent surge in Captain (03) retention bonuses being offered right now leads me to believe that the Army is letting those that want out out, and trying to keep those officers willing to stay extra incentives. I can tell you from personal experience, I currently am serving as a junior officer in a aviation attack battalion serving in Iraq, that the army has been misusing and abusing the IRR system in recent years. Our battalion called up 5 captains from IRR, 2 who's resignations had been denied, to fill slots on an MTOE that was bloated for our mission. Now, 8 months into the deployement, only 1 one of these officers even has a "real" job, the rest just kind of float around day to day. I feel awful for these officers, they served for 6 years on active duty, then were uprooted from their new civilan lives for no reason. We could have easily filled these slots with guard or reserve officers, or even reevaluated our MTOE and not filled them at all. I hear the same story across other units, they called up numerous IRR fills and now have too many people with no jobs. My opinon is no, officers should not be held to a different standard of retention, we should be offered the same incentives as enlisted soldiers if the Army wants us to keep us longer. I would not want an officer in charge of me who didn't want to be there.
... Our battalion called up 5 captains from IRR, 2 who's resignations had been denied, to fill slots on an MTOE that was bloated for our mission. Now, 8 months into the deployement, only 1 one of these officers even has a "real" job, the rest just kind of float around day to day.
This sounds more like Chu's update is not happening if all that is happening for the 06-07 rotation. There would be no reason for a resignation to be denied if an officer never had to resign in the first place. You're absolutely right though that many of the call-ups seem absolutely pointless.
While I was at SCCC for Signal in '04, we had a captain, a major and a lieutenant colonel recalled from the IRR that joined us on occasion to get a feel for what was new in Signal (since they'd been out for awhile). As you might imagine, their 8 year commitment had long since passed. This was the first time I heard (from them) that in order to get out of the IRR, apparently you're supposed to resign your commission. "Who knew that?" was pretty much the common attitude between them. Needless to say, they seemed pretty pissed. Did they all end up going to Iraq? Nope - they sent one of them to Honduras. Many other IRR recalls, like you said, have gone to units that just plain don't need them.
When I was still in the Army I was stationed at FT. Jackson, and while there either 500 or 600 Soldiers from the IRR were called up and trained at some NG site right outside of FT. Jackson. I remember there being a lot of contraversy (sp) over a couple of Officers that were called back to active duty. They were older like in their 60's and 50's. I was told about the resignation then for the first time. An old GS employee (former CPT) told me about having to resign your commission.He served in the 80's. I went to the Middle East with a number of IRR Soldiers. SOme of whom were well past their 8 year commitment. I recently had breakfast with a Retention/Recruiter for the Army reserves. I asked point blank about wether I needed to resign my commision or not. He could not even give me a straight answer.
I know this doesn't answer any questions, but it should let you know that being released from the IRR is difficult and there are lots of ways for the Army to try to keep you in. If anyone finds the answer please let me know. Good luck my fellow on the journey towards the truth.
Hey, all these questions are discussed and answered over at the Command T.O.C. We are a site dedicated to the IRR recall and if you filter on IRR information you will find hundreds of comments from IRR recalled officers who have experienced this recall.
mod parent up! there's some good info at that site.
Unfortunately, being an anonymous comment, the parent post (of your post) cannot be modded higher than a 2. While anonymous comments drive a lot of the discussions here, we like to encourage people to register and participate, instead of just being on the sidelines. Towards that end, anonymous posts are limited in what rating they can be given.
To save people time, I've gone through many of the stories on Command T.O.C.
- Here's a case of a West Pointer who fulfilled nine years of service and then was denied his resignation by a general. The article details how he has pursued legal action against the government because the Constitution only grants the President the authorization to make such a move.
- Open Forum I and Open Forum II which are an archive of postings regarding individual experiences with IRR callbacks and IRR callbacks that have exceeded military obligation.
Doh - I forgot to index this one as well:
- A discussion on the continually changing rules regarding officers fulfilling MSO prior to actually deploying when given an activation notice. For example, your MSO is complete on June 1, 2009 but you receive an IRR activation on May 1, 2009 with orders to deploy on July 1, 2009. Apparently, DoD has been wishy washy on whether such a move is legal or not.
Just for your reference, despite no evidence that actually requires one to do so, this is HRC's sample document on how to resign your commission. I'm amused that despite the fact that contractual obligations have been fulfilled, HRC's instructions and sample still show an approval ... unless that is some vestige of allowing early resignations.
Just FYI - that link points to a page that doesn't allow anonymous access.
Just FYI - that link points to a page that doesn't allow anonymous access.
True - you need to have an AKO account to access the military websites.
The best thing to do is just fade away. I know of a few people who showed up for there IRR "reactivation" it turns out the troops who don't show up are not hunted like dogs, chased by MPs with night sticks. The fishermen just castout a bigger net. Now you can join the Warrior Reserves which take volunteers into IRR.
Real men would have stayed in the army
As a single man - I very well might have. As a married man - maintaining my relationship with my wife was/is more important to me.
How about real women? Should they have stayed as well?
I too got out the same time you did so I can appreciate your view.
Anybody else get an "IRR muster" notice in the mail recently? It says in bold letters you will not be mobilized, this is not a mobilization notice, etc, but I'm sure it gets you one step closer.
Basically you have to waste a day of your life, take off from work, and drive an hour to fill out some paperwork. Mine is end of July; I'll let you know how it goes.
I got my muster order over the weekend. I was surprised (and pleased) to find that inside it said I was authorized an ID card. Previously I was ticked off when 3ID issued me a card that expired when I transitioned to IRR. "Tough $hi7" they basically told me. So for the past twelve months, I've been missing out on a lot of military discounts and freebies that you can get in NYC.
As I sat in line at USMA yesterday (getting my ID card and vehicle registration), I was leafing through my military document book. In it, was the "letter of understanding" I had to sign regarding the IRR. There was a very interesting clause on it (which I'll post when I get home) that basically said the IRR can only be mobilized if Congress declares war or a state of national emergency. Then the President has the authorization to mobilize elements of the IRR. Interesting indeed!
So this is an excerpt from the document I signed upon entering the IRR.
The President may order up to one million Ready Reservists to active duty involuntarily for up to 24 months upon the President's declaration of a national emergency (10 USC 12302).
When Congress declares a state of war or national emergency, the President may order to active duty without consent, any Ready Reservist who (1) is not assigned to or participating satisfactorily in a unit of the Ready Reserve; (2) has not fulfilled their statutory Reserve obligation; and (3) has not served on active duty for a total of 24 months.
It seems a little loose to interpretation - one clause indicates the President can activate IRR people yet another clause indicates he can only do it if Congress has declared war or national emergency.
I heard from a civilian employee of Army HRC that this is a fishing expedition. The whole thing is a recruiting tool to try and bully people into joining the National Guard or Reserves, or to go back to active duty voluntarily.
If I did not resign my commission in, say 1970, then I apparently could have been called up at any time. Since I have been on-call since 1970, does that mean the Army owes me some sort of back pay, and retirement?
If I did not resign my commission in, say 1970, then I apparently could have been called up at any time. Since I have been on-call since 1970, does that mean the Army owes me some sort of back pay, and retirement?
A very interesting question indeed. Looking at the memos signed and letters received in the mail indicates that for current IRR members, we have to earn 50 points a year for that year to be a "good year" towards retirement. We accrue like 15 points automatically just for being in the IRR. I suppose the question is whether a sheer volume of points over time is worthy of a % retirement.
According to the regulations themselves, there is still no evidence that we ever had to resign - we should have been dropped from the books automatically like everyone else. That David Chu made the decree he did establishes a precedent that prior to that date, hearsay was the rule. Therefore, at a minimum, the Army should honor the unknowing/unwilling service of those they kept on the rolls through their status quo procedure.
The way I see it, they can't take the best parts from whichever policy they choose - even though that's exactly how they've conducted business. The only way to force the issue would be a huge class action lawsuit by all pre-2005 IRR members for all points incurred since ETS. The precedent is there as they've had to verbally rescind it and can't deny they've used it to bring people to Operation Iraqi Freedom. So the burden is now on legacy IRR members to collectively use that irrefutable evidence to leverage a case for retirement. I'm sure there's a savvy lawyer out there somewhere who would love a 1% cut of retirement from a few million IRR officers for providing such a service.
Does anyone know the process for resigining your commission upon the "8-year anniversary?" Do you have to submit the letter in the window of 1-year to 6 months upon completion of your MSO? Additionally, how the heck do you find your Carreer Management Officer as an IRR officer according to the statement on AKO I found below:
• If you are IRR or IMA officer, send the resignation letter to your Career Management Officer (CMO).
I hope this helps everyone. Thanks.
Additionally, how the heck do you find your Career Management Officer?
I think that's an amusing one because I keep getting letters in the mail from multiple officers and multiple NCOs all claiming to be my CMO. I typically reply back to all of them in a "chain mail" fashion so they all see each others names with the response - "only one of you might be telling the truth."
Does anyone know the process for resigning your commission upon the "8-year anniversary?
Now this one is interesting. The other day I got a letter in the mail from HRC-St. Louis. At first I thought it was the dreaded recall order but it turned out to be an address correction form. On the BACK of that was a little box for IRR Officers at the completion of their obligation to resign - which was a different process than I'd ever heard about before.
Ultimately though, if the Army follows the policy dictated by Chu, your resignation is automatic whether they want it to be or not. But according the regs - I still don't see that it was ever necessary.
If you feel like writing the letter - some links to an HRC sample is found in this comment thread.
Great blog. It nice to see there are other people out there confused by what it takes to get out of the Army as an officer. I am in the National Guard with one year left on my MSO. I was wondering if any of you know what the process is for getting out of the guard and resigning my commision? For civilian job reasons I am considering transfering states, however I am trying to find out more information about going into the IRR. More specifically, what is the likely hood I would get called up in the IRR with one year left as an engineer officer. It's not so great to be building your civilian career, and family all the while with a big gorilla in the room. Any info would be great.
FYI I received my commision through ROTC (non-scholarship).
When you joined the Guard - did you take any of those multi-year incentives like school or the $10K bonuses? (or are those only for the Reserves - I dunno). If not, I think you just submit the papers saying you're done with the guard and automatically drop back into the IRR. Try calling HRC St.-Louis's Reserve people. They may not know how you get out of the Guard, but they'll have the details on the IRR piece. Even though we're not "Reserve reserve" we fall under them in terms of who controls our packets.
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AR 600-8-24 by VnutZ :: NR8 :: on 17 May 2007
It was pointed out to me that I should look at AR 600-8-24 Officer Transfers and Discharges. It was some 145 pages of mumbo jumbo within which the words "IRR" never appeared and "ready reserve" appeared once. Searching on the term "resign" actually produced quite a few results - but they pertained to resignations for retirement, pregnancy, in lieu of a court martial, etc. etc. None of the sections indicated there was an imperative to ACTIVELY resign in order to be released from the IRR.
RE: AR 600-8-24 by Anonymous :: NR0 :: on 18 February 2008
anybody from the IRR that is a VSI recipient recalled to active duty?