My friends and I have been trying to recall if this has happened before. We called up so many Reserves since 9/11. Several hundred thousand.
If a college kid is in the Reserves and playing a sport. Does he return to his team a year or two later after deployment?
Can someone on an athletic scholarship even be in the Military reserve? Any rules against it?
I know quite a few reservists have gone back to college. But can’t recall if any were athletes.
I don’t have hard numbers, but I would guess it’s pretty uncommon. There are no rules against it though and the NCAA will extend your eligibility while you are in active military service (among other exceptions like religious missions).
Playing college sports is rare among the Reserve Components IME. That one weekend a month conflict makes it hard to manage. “Sorry coach my First Sergeant won’t excuse me for the big game because it’s Weapons Qualification weekend.”
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That would be a problem in Division I. The smaller Division II and III school coaches might be more accommodating. They don’t always have a deep talent pool to pick from. If a kid is a really good athlete they may decide its worth losing him one weekend a month.
just speculating. I haven’t heard of any situations like this. Its probably happened occasionally. That military reserve check can be very helpful to a college student. He tries out for the team and then Uncle Sam decides to deploy him.
Roger Staubach and David Robinson attended military academies and had to fulfill their active-duty obligation before starting their pro careers.
Thread relocated to The Game Room.
There was a Navy officer, Napoleon McCallum, who played in the NFL while on active duty back in the 1980s. He was stationed in Long Beach, CA and played for the Los Angeles Raiders. You are allowed to have an outside job in the military as long as the command approves it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_McCallum
I don’t know of any circumstances as the OP asks. But there is some flexibility in military reserves. From what I remember from my days as an ET1 in the USCG reserves you needed 60 points for a “good year”…one weekend drill ( two 8 hour days) was four points, each day of the 12 required annual active drilling days was a point and you got 15 points for cleaning your lunch plate. You could also get points for volunteering for active duty at stations requesting help. I knew some teachers that were BM (boatswain’s mate) or MK (machinery tech) that would drill in Alaska or Great Lakes for the summer. He might miss a weekend or two
A college football player/reservist could do his weekend drill on weekdays with the permission of the command. In my case one shop I was stationed the regulars ETC and CWO (ELC) wanted us reservists to come in and drill with them on weekdays to become more efficient and spare them the need to have a regular come in and supervise them. I had Wednesdays and Thursdays off at my regular job so I said sure, just sign these augmentation drill sheets so I get paid. Did that for a year before they decided to have me come in weekends again.
Of course the key phrase is "the needs of the service". All kinds of variables at work and I imagine military branches are less flexible today than when I was in. I also imagine there are lots of college coaches who would shy away from anyone with an outside commitment. There are always scandals with coaches steering students into useless courses and pressuring professors into not requiring homework so the jock can lift weights.
This is straying from the topic a bit but Kevin Greene was an officer in the Army reserves while playing in the NFL. I don’t know how he got away with the long hair though.
You only have to meet grooming standards when you are actually on duty.
Based on wiki he did all of his time in the off season. The Army Reserve, as opposed to the National Guard, has some options for more flexible schedules. They also have a greater chunk of units that aren’t designed to deploy overseas that potentially offer the command more flexibility in working a deal. Based on the schools he attended it looks like he was an Armor officer. Since there’s no actual tank battalions or cavalry squadrons in the Reserve (they are all Guard) his opportunities would have been weighted towards those other types of units even if he didn’t have a conflict.
Cut his hair, do most of the years time early (since he has no job conflict), and immediately resume long hair mode. I’d bet if you looked he tended to start the seasons on the short side and keep getting longer.
Not sure of the situation you are describing but military personal who have been called up have the right (guaranteed) to return to their former job.