Good afternoon.
I'm applying as a 73B AMEDD reservist and wanted to hear others experiences.
Also, particularly interested in hearing from medical recruiters with regards to reservist status. Specifically, the likelihood of being changed to active status and/or sent away.
Currently, it has been explained to me that the closest reserve vacancy is in NC- I am in FL. What does this mean?
Thank you in advance for taking the time to respond.
I can't speak from the reserve side of the coin, but I don't know how you would be activated immediately. An active duty psychologist generally has training in operational psychology which is necessary for deployed settings. You won't get that at Basic Officer Leadership Course or during your 1 weekend/month and 2 weeks a year. It could be the case that your responsibilities would be to complete psychological and neuropsych assessments, assess for special school suitability, or help with security clearances. Pretty routine responsibilities.
With that said, the reserve vacancy is most likely at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina. The OPTEMPO (number of deployments) is exceedingly high at this base and if soldiers deploy, they generally are stationed here first. Ft. Bragg houses the 82nd Airborne Division and Special Operations Command. These are the guys who eat, sleep, and breathe for deployment and combat. You may be attached to one of these commands. When they deploy, you deploy as you are a part of their unit. Nobody can really give you an accurate estimation of the likelihood of deployment, especially with our new administration. However, it's safe to say if you're attached to 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (Delta Force) you can expect a deployment at some point during your contracted years. Edit; you'll also have to jump out of an airplane and attend the Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape course if attached to these units.
There are also missions you may be required to go on. These are generally shorter than deployments, like 30-90 days and may be part of humanitarian efforts.
Have you thought about the National Guard? The benefits may not be as stellar, and you can't really say you're in the Army, but they offer a nice 25,000 bonus over three years, have loan repayment, and less of a chance of deploying. It's also controlled by the state, so you'd be able to stay in Florida.
Something to keep in mind about recruiters: they don't know anything about what a psychologist does. They will not be able to give you accurate answers to your question and generally say whatever it takes to get you to sign the dotted line. I do think there are some prudent recruiters out there who want to provide the most accurate information. More of the time, though, you have recruiters who do not know the answer to your question and rather than putting in the leg work to get you into contact with a reserve psychologist, they'll say whatever.
Ask them to do this before making your decision, it's their job. 
