HOW YOUR FAMILY MEMBER WILL SERVE IN THE U.S. ARMY RESERVE MEDICAL CORPS.

Once your family member becomes a Commissioned Army Reserve Officer, he or she will take part in the Officer Basic Leadership Course (OBLC). This course will train your loved one to function effectively in his or her first duty position. Each session lasts 25 days and is offered five times a year.

Service in the Army Reserve Medical Corps is a part-time commitment. There is an eight year statutory obligation in which your family member will fulfill a minimum commitment requirement, which can normally be completed at a base or military hospital near you. The length of this requirement depends on your family member’s particular assignment. Commitments can also be tied to financial benefits received. For each year a financial benefit is received, usually one year of service is required.

There is a good possibility that your family member will be mobilized or deployed during the commitment period. During mobilization, your family member will most likely serve as a backfill for physicians who have been deployed overseas. Mobilization lasts 120 days and takes place in the United States. Although your family member may be able to serve in your home state, he will be expected to serve in other states depending on the need of the mission. The tasks your family member performs will be specific to his specialty. During deployment, your family member will travel outside the United States to serve on a specific mission. Missions can potentially last up to 120 days. Once the mission is completed, your family member will not be called again for at least another twelve to eighteen months – perhaps longer. If your family member is currently in a physician residency program, he will not be deployed until the program is completed.

As an Army Reserve doctor, your family member will also have the opportunity to participate in humanitarian missions. In the U.S., he may treat people wounded in a disaster. In other countries, he may be treating people who have little or no access to health care. Army Reserve physicians have served with missions in Egypt, Guatemala, South America and other locations.