Be a successful reservist

3 Parts:

How to be Successful While Being a Reservist

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This article will be on How To be successful in the Marine Corps Reserve Marine corps reserve life is totally different from active duty so I will explain a little on how to be successful while being a reservist.

1. 1
   Drill- Reserve drill is basically the weekend that you show up for work that month, some get it confused with the actual marching drill but that is not that type of drill

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   Drill for a reservist is basically your one weekend out of a month you do for you reserve base to brush up on skills, ensure deployment readiness or get medical treatment taken care of. Drill is never a same set time every year in the reserves, you will be notified by either a phone call or drill letter sent to your home. Drill for some gets over looked being that you are living your every day civilian life still and have to pause it to go to your drill, some people forget about drill altogether and get punished for missing them depending on the number of drills missed. While you are attending drill you will not always have days filled with work as you will have a couple of laid back days within your section, but during these times it is important to soak up as much information as you can as your days will not always be so laid back that you can get extra knowledge for the time being. Your drills will be your time to brush up on your skills so take advantage because you never know when your unit will be called to deploy, you will notice that others will tend to stray away from the section or gaining knowledge at drill by all means do not follow what they do but instead gain as much as you can while attending. Another thing about drill is that if you cannot make it there safely or in time you need to call ahead and let them know of your dilemma, very rarely will your chain of command be lenient on you not showing up so do not make it a habit.

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2. 2
   Hair Cuts- grooming will be one of the things reservists get in trouble for the most as some will let their hair grow out while away from drill making it more than likely to show up to drill last minute without a haircut

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   Some Marines will either be punished by doing extra work, getting wrote up or even losing the privilege of getting promoted. The haircut regulation in the Marine Corps is 0-3 inches from the bottom of your head to the top. Another grooming issue will be the facial hair on your face that needs to be properly cut when going to drill. Also another regulation for hair cuts is for you not have your hair "lined' up as you would if you are a civilian. A haircut can be either your biggest mistake or a nonexistent subject depending on how you take care of your appearance when coming to drill. While you are out in your civilian state understand that you run the chance of being seen by other Marines that you know and having a bad appearance can cause an issue when returning to drill.

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3. 3
   Higher Ranks- it is very important that was spent the higher ranks no matter what even though you do not see them but only once a month

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   Reservists sometimes do not render the proper respect because they do not see that higher ranks all the time. So what happens then is the higher ranks as he starts making samples out of the lower ranks. Your best bet is to always respect whether or not you see them once a month or every day. Also some believe that they do not need to show respect because they have civilian jobs and that's regardless of what the higher rank says they still have a job anyway. So it is very important to ensure that you do not fall into the category of believing that, before it was your decision to join the Marines some respect the rank. Also some reservists start to feel a lack of respect over higher ranks when they discover that they may make more money than a higher rank at their civilian jobs, this is becoming a very big issue in the reserves as some are becoming more and more disrespectful because they can say what they want and still go home.

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4. 4
   Physical training- as a reserve as you will not trained as much as active duty as some will be in real bad shape and can affect promotion

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   Some fall behind in promotion due to the fact that they do not exercise on their own so what is your best bet to exercise as much as you can in your civilian life. Most reservists lack the initiative to work out a loan due to the fact that they have other things to do in their lives unlike active duty that no choice but to work out. The average reservist will face many problems regarding their workout sessions so as a reservist is very important to stay on top of your workout habits.

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5. 5
   Marine Corps Institute- MCI's are a very important part to get promoted but as a reserve you will take to slack off on it because of what to do in your civilian life

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   You'll be only up to you to ensure that you get all of the NCI is done in a timely fashion. At first you will be motivated to get your courses than but as all reserves do MCI become non important, and will slow you down and getting promotions. Courses can be taken away from the reserve base to your home which should make the process of completing them easier but you cannot hold the NCI is for too long as you would need to re-register all over again slowing down the process yet again. The courses will not become important unto you wish to reach the rank of corporal, but it does not mean that you cannot take the MCI's out earlier to complete them until you reach the rank to turn them in to your operations chief.

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6. 6
   Civilian Life- during your civilian life you will feel as if you can do anything you want but understand everything done in your civilian life will affect your Marine Corps career

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   Because of the fact that you are not watched in your civilian life as much as your marine life you will do things that are inappropriate but understand it will follow you one way or another cause you to get in trouble in both your civilian life a marine life so your best bet is to live as a marine all the time even if you're not at your reserve station.

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Do reservist have the same haircut requirements as full time personnel?

Yes, reservists have the same haircut regulations as active duty Marines. The only difference is that it is demanded that when you arrive to drill on your weekend that you have a fresh haircut. As a Marine you are to act like a Marine at all times meaning that the choice to keep your hair cut while away from drill is strictly up to the Marine, but it is strongly enforced that you have your haircut on drill weekend.

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