u/PT_On_Your_Own

I wanted to keep up to date information flowing. I feel like I'm a bit out of touch. My advice is starting to begin with a "Back in my day..." qualifier. This thread is Army Reserve specific.

Can the hive mind help? These questions are meant to serve as a baseline for a normal civilian USAR applicant.

As of 15 AUG 2026...

1. If an applicant is selected for the USAR, how are units and branches chosen?
2. Does the applicant have any input for their first unit and branch assignment?
3. Can a selected applicant attend Battle Assembly (aka drill) with the unit prior to BCT / OCS?
4. Can the applicant change units and branch prior to BCT / OCS if they find their own open slot?
5. Can an applicant receive a Common Access Card prior to BCT / OCS?
6. Is an applicant eligible for TRICARE Reserve Select before BCT / OCS?
7. When and how does the Officer Candidate schedule BOLC?

One thing you’ll hear about in the Army is a thing called an “I Love Me Book”. Basically, a binder filled with hard copies of any records you receive. People organize their documents like their initial military record, oath of office, appointment memo, counselings, promotion orders, PCS orders, TDY orders, OERs, DD214’s, medical records, anything and everything.

You never know when you’ll need them, and after many years into your career, or when you’re out of the Army, you don’t want to be scrambling to find a record from 10+ years ago.

Example: You’re a reservist ready for retirement and the Army is shorting you 179 days worth of credit because they don’t have a specific set of certified orders. You need to prove you’re entitled to those days. It’d be real nice if you had your orders for that time at the ready.

I have an “I Love Me Book”, but I think the hard copy is a bit antiquated, so I also digitize it using Google Drive.

My recommendation: Create a Google Drive folder called “Military Records.” In that folder create one sub-folder called “Army”, and one sub-folder called “Medical”. In the Google Drive folder, when you click the + symbol to add a document, there is an option to Scan Document.

Scan. And. Save. Every. Document. You. Receive. In. Your. Career.

Name the documents something obvious like “Germany PCS Orders 2LT 01JUL2026”, or “2LT OER Germany 01SEP2026”.

I recommend Google Drive only because it has the Scan Document feature built in the app. It is extremely easy to use.

Since most of you are at the start of your Army career, you have an awesome opportunity to ensure nothing is lost.