Difference Between Army Reserves & The Regular Army

Army Reserves vs The Regular Army

Army reserves generally comprises of volunteer citizens who stay in their regular jobs and lifestyle but form a part of the nations army. They may be called in for active duty as and when required. The regular army is the main armed force of the country comprising of personnel who serve full time and maintain a military readiness at all times.

The main difference between the reserves and the regular army is that the reserves would normally only train for about a couple of days in a month and in some countries a week in a year. The reserves normally are volunteers who stay in their regular jobs and only work full time with the army when specifically called in to do so. This is generally during a period of national emergency, war, or disasters. The regular army, however, would train and maintain an operational readiness virtually every day of the year. The regular army personnel would be working in the army full time and would be entitled to the pay, benefits and leaves as per their service ranks. The Army forms the first line of defence and would be the first ones to be deployed in times of a conflict. It is only when the regular army is deployed that the reserves may be called in.

Having an army reserve pool is very advantageous for the government as the reserves would normally enjoy the pay and the benefits only during their active deployment. Secondly there is always a pool of personnel with basic training and their deployment can be carried out at very short notice. The training levels of the reserves, however, would vary from country to country. Some countries only offer a very basic training to the reserves meaning that they would only be able to serve at the very lowest level, however, some keep the reserves training upto date with their regular army counterparts thereby meaning that they would have a pool available for all the levels of the army.

Summary
1.Army Reserves normally comprise of volunteer citizens to have the basic army training but lead a civilian lifestyle whereas regular army is the main armed force of the country that maintains operational readiness at all times.
2.Reserves only train for a few days in a year while the armed forces train regularly.
3.Army reserves are only called to active duty when required whereas the Army is the first to be deployed in any operation / conflict.

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