My son has been accepted to NAPS instead of USNA and wants to accept. They are telling him that he needs to enlist in the Navy Reserves first. My question is two parts.
- If he enlists will he still have to do his one weekend a month and 6 weeks during the summer?
- When he goes to the Naval Academy after his 10 months at NAPS what happens to his enlistment status? I know they are all considered Midshipmen. How does all that work?
I thought that a commitment wasn’t made until your Junior year and if they are required to be in the reserves they are already committed.
While at NAPS he will be considered enlisted and will be paid as such. He will not need to drill on the weekends because his “unit” will be NAPS and his activities during the week will fulfill the requirement. His six weeks of summer training will be Plebe Summer before he starts at USNA. His enlistment status will be suspended once he reports to Plebe Summer since he will be starting a commissioning program. Once he begins at USNA he will have two years before he needs to sign his 2 for 5 paperwork and be committed.
In short, the enlistment in the Reserves is required for NAPSters as a formality to get their pay while at NAPS. Once he finishes NAPS and begins his education at USNA he will be just like all of the other Plebes, except he will have one year of enlistment on his record for pay purposes.