Army Reserve basic questions, STRAP, $40k, etc

[mx_599]

I did a search, but lots of dated info as things have changed. Any info appreciated. (Family Med)

1) $250k for Army Reserve...does this include STRAP monies? (...otherwise why not 200K or 240k? a number divisible by 40k)

2) will being in Reserves hurt me in the civilian job market next year? (less desirable to employers?) Army Recruiter tried to tell me employers look highly on Reservists. I find this hard to fully believe for employment reasons...

3) Do I have to disclose military reserve to potential employer?

4) if I get deployed for 90-120d, do I still get salary from employer? if not, how do docs manage to support a spouse, mortgage, etc while away? do you only get Colonel pay at like $400 something a month??? that won't do anything to pay bills while gone....

5) can you lose civilian job for deployment?

6) understanding payback correctly: roughly 2yrs STRAP equals 4 yrs payback after residency. $40k Loan Repay (LR) x 2 yrs in residency overlaps. this is a cluster f. so 2 yrs of STRAP is about $50k...does that mean I have about $200k LR potential to loans? or is STRAP separate from that $250k?? if not, than that would be 5yrs of $40k LR with 2 overlapping the STRAP disbursements. so if I have 4 yrs payback for STRAP that totally overlaps with the consecutive 5 yrs of $40k LR starting in Residency? supposed to be an 8 yr deal...at what freaking year would I be able to go inactive?? 6th year? (4 yrs for the STRAP and 2 yrs for the $40k LR while in Residency)

7) $40k Loan Repay goes directly to loans...is this taxed??? so what is the true amount if taxed? why taxed if it never went into my hands? wtf

8) STRAP is $2060 plus you get Lieutenant pay at about $400? so about $2500 minus taxes...I can expect $1800 or so?

9) does Army always cover any travel expenses etc during these 8 yrs?

10) How much does army reserve colonel make a year? you get paid this plus whatever you make with civilian job, right?

thanks in advance for your time!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[militaryman]

I did a search, but lots of dated info as things have changed. Any info appreciated. (Family Med)

1) $250k for Army Reserve...does this include STRAP monies? (...otherwise why not 200K or 240k? a number divisible by 40k)

2) will being in Reserves hurt me in the civilian job market next year? (less desirable to employers?) Army Recruiter tried to tell me employers look highly on Reservists. I find this hard to fully believe for employment reasons...

3) Do I have to disclose military reserve to potential employer?

4) if I get deployed for 90-120d, do I still get salary from employer? if not, how do docs manage to support a spouse, mortgage, etc while away? do you only get Colonel pay at like $400 something a month??? that won't do anything to pay bills while gone....

5) can you lose civilian job for deployment?

6) understanding payback correctly: roughly 2yrs STRAP equals 4 yrs payback after residency. $40k Loan Repay (LR) x 2 yrs in residency overlaps. this is a cluster f. so 2 yrs of STRAP is about $50k...does that mean I have about $200k LR potential to loans? or is STRAP separate from that $250k?? if not, than that would be 5yrs of $40k LR with 2 overlapping the STRAP disbursements. so if I have 4 yrs payback for STRAP that totally overlaps with the consecutive 5 yrs of $40k LR starting in Residency? supposed to be an 8 yr deal...at what freaking year would I be able to go inactive?? 6th year? (4 yrs for the STRAP and 2 yrs for the $40k LR while in Residency)

7) $40k Loan Repay goes directly to loans...is this taxed??? so what is the true amount if taxed? why taxed if it never went into my hands? wtf

8) STRAP is $2060 plus you get Lieutenant pay at about $400? so about $2500 minus taxes...I can expect $1800 or so?

9) does Army always cover any travel expenses etc during these 8 yrs?

10) How much does army reserve colonel make a year? you get paid this plus whatever you make with civilian job, right?

thanks in advance for your time!

You can not lose your job because of a deployment (SSCRA) Sailors and Soldiers Civil Relief Act.

Your pay will depend on your rank. You will likely deploy as a Major. You will collect active duy pay while deployed. Your spouse and family will qualify for tricare insurance. Your pay would be around 5,000 dollars a month, plus board pay, plus housing allowance depending on your location where you live, plus hardship duty pay, imnient danger pay, etc. Plus your pay will be tax free.

 

[notdeadyet]

1) $250k for Army Reserve...does this include STRAP monies? (...otherwise why not 200K or 240k? a number divisible by 40k)

Yes, you get $250K in loan repayment for the Army Reserve, paid out at $40k/year (though you need to pay about $10K in taxes each year on that). I don't know why they set it that amount.

2) will being in Reserves hurt me in the civilian job market next year? (less desirable to employers?) Army Recruiter tried to tell me employers look highly on Reservists. I find this hard to fully believe for employment reasons...

What are your career goals? I'm going into Psych and basically had to come to terms with the fact that I can't go into solo practice while in the Guard and figure it will hurt me for getting hired into any smaller practice. Kaiser? Maybe not so much.

Generally, recruiters are right that employers look highly on Reservists, but generally reservists are high school graduates. Those employers know the person they're hiring to stock their shelves or deliver their packages are relatively honest, disciplined, and drug tested.

3) Do I have to disclose military reserve to potential employer?

If you're asked on your application or in the application process, you must answer honestly or else you're lying on your application and can be dismissed without cause.

If you're not asked, hiding your Reserve status is still a bad idea. The fact is, you don't want to work for someone who doesn't want to accommodate a Reservist.

4) if I get deployed for 90-120d, do I still get salary from employer? if not, how do docs manage to support a spouse, mortgage, etc while away? do you only get Colonel pay at like $400 something a month??? that won't do anything to pay bills while gone....

Some employers will make up the difference between civilian pay and military pay, but not many. While deployed, you'll get the pay of a full-time military physician, which will vary by specialty, but should be at least the equivalent of $120K or so. Do a search on salaries on SDN.

 

[notdeadyet]

5) can you lose civilian job for deployment?

No.

6) understanding payback correctly: roughly 2yrs STRAP equals 4 yrs payback after residency. $40k Loan Repay (LR) x 2 yrs in residency overlaps.

STRAP is 2:1 payback, and you can take HPLRP in R3+ as long as your specialty is on the wartime critical shortage list.

so 2 yrs of STRAP is about $50k...does that mean I have about $200k LR potential to loans? or is STRAP separate from that $250k??

STRAP is separate from HPLRP. No matter how much STRAP you take, you're eligible for $250K in HPLRP.

if not, than that would be 5yrs of $40k LR with 2 overlapping the STRAP disbursements. so if I have 4 yrs payback for STRAP that totally overlaps with the consecutive 5 yrs of $40k LR starting in Residency? supposed to be an 8 yr deal...at what freaking year would I be able to go inactive?? 6th year? (4 yrs for the STRAP and 2 yrs for the $40k LR while in Residency)

No. You can take HPLRP and STRAP concurrently in years R3+ while in residency, but once residency is over, you need to payback your STRAP commitment before taking HPLRP again.

So if you wanted to take 2 years of STRAP and 5 years of HPLRP, you'd take STRAP in years R3 and R4 wile also taking HPLRP. Post-residency, you'd spend 4 years paying back STRAP by drilling, then would taken an additional 3 years drilling to take the next 3 years of HPLRP. So you'd be drilling for 7 years post-residency.

7) $40k Loan Repay goes directly to loans...is this taxed??? so what is the true amount if taxed? why taxed if it never went into my hands? wtf

Your $40K is not taxed, but it's added to your amount of taxable income. In other words, if you're making a salary of $100K, taking HPLRP will boost up your federal income to $140K and you'd have to pay federal taxes on that, which I'm told usually comes to about $10K/year.

8) STRAP is $2060 plus you get Lieutenant pay at about $400? so about $2500 minus taxes...I can expect $1800 or so?

Depends on your tax level.

9) does Army always cover any travel expenses etc during these 8 yrs?

For what and why? If you're in residency, the Army will pay up to $2500 for CME expenses. Other than that, they'll pay you for travel for training or deployment.

10) How much does army reserve colonel make a year? you get paid this plus whatever you make with civilian job, right?

Google. There are lots of engines that allow you to punch in a rank and find out a weekend's drill-pay.

 

[mx_599]

thanks for the informative replies everyone