I did an RSS posting as a MCpl for geographical reasons. Reserve units are generally manned by a skeleton crew that runs the day-to-day operations during normal business hours. Because of this, individual experiences will depend largely on the personality and dynamics of the skeleton crew.

Here were the pros and cons of my experience:

Pros -geographical location. -sometimes a change is as good as a break. -opportunity to see how the things work in different locations/units. Prior to this posting my military experience was limited to what I saw in the coy lines. As part of a small team running literally everything, you can be involved with every aspect of ops and training, planning, maintenance, procurement, recruitment, etc. Variety keeps it interesting and is a chance for professional development. -met some amazing people who kind of sucked at soldiering but really enjoyed it, were passionate about it, and actually WANTED to be there. The positive effects of good morale cannot be underestimated, it made the work enjoyable.

Cons -as one of the only full time staff, you can’t say no to tasks. All the reservists can. They might get pressured or guilted for not taking a shit tasking but ultimately the reservists can say no. You can’t. You get stuck with all the bullshit jobs no one wants - depending on your rank. As a MCpl I was the lowest ranking day staff and got fucked accordingly. This will partly depend on how much the rest of the staff is willing to look out for each other. -working evenings, weekends, and summer tasks teaching. This can be mitigated depending on the dynamic of the day staff. For example they can compensate with time off. But if your leadership doesn’t care to look out for you, you might find yourself working regular Monday-Friday hours, plus Tuesday and Thursday evenings, plus weekend exercises.

The main takeaway here is that it can be really good or really suck ass depending on the personalities/dynamic of the skeleton crew day-staff.