Individual Ready Reserve - Activations in The War On Terror

Activations in The War On Terror

Until the War on Terror, members of the Individual Ready Reserve had not been called up since Operation Desert Storm. A major difficulty in activating the IRR stems from the fact that many of its members, typically those from the junior enlisted ranks, are unaware that they are even in the military. This results from such members typically being informed that they are "discharged" upon release from active duty when in fact they have been transferred to the inactive reserves. To solve this situation, many military separation transition courses now spend additional time explaining the nature of the inactive reserve. As of 2005, the military also began to enact "IRR Musters" which were once a year occurrences where an IRR member would be required to report to a military base, confirm their personal and contact information, and sign acknowledgment paperwork that they were members of the IRR.

The military has encountered isolated incidents of IRR members who "disappear" and cannot be located or IRR members who refuse to mobilize, stating they were advised that they were "out of the military". This normally has little impact on benefits obtained following release from active duty, but can lead to a less-than-honorable discharge from the reserves.