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Some do, they consider Reservists and National Guard to be “weekend warriors”.When deployed though, the reservists usually prove themselves to be good soldiers. There are even some advantages the reserve soldiers enjoy.Reserve troops tend to be older, and more experienced. We also have a lot of different skills in a unit than the active component does. Active duty troops often enlist at 18 and have been trained and are experienced in one job, the job the military trained them to do. A Reserve or Guard unit consists of people who all have very different careers in the civilian world. When we trained at Ft Dix, the heat in the motor shops didn’t work. The regular Army guys put in a work request, while next door,we had a plumber who just repaired the boiler.We had everything from plumbing and heating guys to a barber. IT pros to carpenters. Eventually, some of the active Army units came to us when they needed things done. Any that initially looked down on us didn’t after that.

I can answer from the Navy side of things more than the Army. I would like to say there was one answer but there isn’t just one. I know I guy who tried to get thru BUD/S three times. He did not make it thru but he went on to a successful career as a Navy Rescue Swimmer. I knew someone who was so busted up after two medical rolls, he knew he’d be crippled if he went back to BUD/S a third time. He switched to Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and loved it. Others we the Navy Diver route.Conversely, some guys who “ring out” go to the fleet. In this case, you generally go as an undesignated sailor, which generally meaning you’ll be sent to a big ship (eg a carrier) where you’ll likely be in the deck division, which means you’ll be chipping paint, scraping paint, painting, and handling lines and hosed during underway replenishment (UNREP). Some people (generally junior guys) give you crap about failing but most seniors do not. Remember, the over completion rate is around 24%, which 76% of people fail.I have know several guys who were performance dropped from BUD/S, went to the fleet, busted their hump, and went back to BUD/S having been in the fleet. They all made it thru (one was a Senior Chief who recently retired), so it does happen.

The Coast Guard has always been a small marine force that asks much of each member in performance. A junior petty officer has more responsibilities and command capabilities than his/ her counterpart in the Navy.Think about this: In Foul weather, the Navy comes into port; but that is when the Coast Guard goes out.“Ditto” flying weather/ hurricanes, disasters and of course Search and Rescue.For example, in four years: I went to 18 months of Search & Rescue in the Bering Sea off Alaska, went to “A” school in Groton Connecticut, did a tour on a 269 foot Oceanic Icebreaker that went from Baltimore, through the Panam Canal Zone, Hawaii, Suva, Fiji Islands, Sydney, Melbourne, then Hobart Tasmania, then Christchurch New Zealand to arrive for the Icebreaking season at McMurdo Antarctica.While there, I volunteered by radio for orders to Combat in Viet Nam at the request of Headquarters Washington, D.C. , the Commandant's office.Before going to Squadron ONE Viet Nam, I attended the Famous COIN- Sere “prisoner of war camp” conducted by the U.S. Marines. I was trained to toss grenades, fire an 81 mm. (Coast Guard invented) marine mortar, a 50 caliber Machine gun, fire a Colt 45 pistol. I already had training on an M-1 Garand AND a M16A1 (full automatic M-16), not to mention a Starlight scope.I had already been to the then world-famous Alameda Naval Fire Fighting school run by the Navy when I was in boot camp. So I had training by two other services while in the Coast Guard.Does that give you a clearer idea of my statement?