i leave for basic in june for active duty(army eod) i plan to do atleast my 8 years and see where i decide to go from there.

A co worker told me that if your active duty and switch to reserves that your active duty time will count as 2 years towards your reserves time for retirement. He did 8 years in the army(vietnam vet) and says he came back did 5 years in the reserves and retired with reserve benefits. i do know he served the time he says but have never heard of that type of retirment, only in reverse 2 years reserves coutning as 1 active duty when retiring.

can anyone tell me if this is true or not, and if so what benefits would you get? and do you have to wait to recieve them? my main interest is the medical, do you lose it when you retire until you hit a certain age or do you keep it?

i havent had the chance to talk to my recruiter yet. just thought i would ask.

Your co-worker is wrong. If you complete 8 years active duty, you would need another 12 GOOD years in the reserves in order to be eligible to retire from the reserves.

Reserve retirement is different from active. When you retire from the reserves, you must wait until you turn 60 to receive your pension/medical benefits, etc.

There's a lot more to it - ask your recruiter for the details.

alright thanks, that explains why i never heard of it. hoping to do atleast my 20 years in the reserves, but we'll see how the first 8 go.

Bear in mind, while active duty years count for reserve retirement there is a big difference between an active duty retirement (20+ years on active duty) and a reserve retirement (20+ years of any combination, active or reserve years). Specifically, active duty retirements pay from the day you retire (potentially age 37+). Reserve retirements don't kick in until age 60.

Yes, waiting until 60 for pay and medical for the reserves is a chore, but much outweighed by lifetime earning potential of a concurrent civilian career and retirement as well.

If you apply yourself to both, you wont be eating catfood and crackers for your Christmas dinner.