Pursuing PhD concurrently with military reserves

[Vowel_Harmonizer]

I would like to hear feedback from those of you currently in graduate programs in Linguistics. I will be applying to doctoral programs for Fall 2016. I graduated with a B.A. in Linguistics last year, and decided to take two gap years to do some soul searching.

Those two years have led me to realize what I want in life. I definitely want to pursue a PhD in Linguistics and go into academia, and I want to start that as soon as possible. I had good grades, some research, a published paper, some small scholarships, and completed graduate-level coursework (about 3-4 classes) from my undergraduate career.

I also realized that I want to serve in the Navy or Coast Guard Reserves. I have no prior military service, would go through basically training, etc. For those unfamiliar with the reserves, the standard gig - as I understand it - is drilling one weekend a month and two weeks in the Summer. That is the minimum requirement I would want to do that for 6 years, which would allow me some extra allowance for education (the G.I. bill). Given the apparent flexibility of the reserves, how compatible is it with pursuing a PhD program? I know that graduate level research will be more challenging and time-consuming than anything I have done before, but I am confident that I would be disciplined enough to balance everything.

What I am looking for is anecdotes, hopefully from others who have tried the same thing, or who know people in their programs who did. I know that many programs forbid part-time jobs, but would this violate that? Would I be ineligible for funding from departments? Would it matter if I joined the reserves before or after entering the program? Would those two weeks in Summer really be a big deal if I planned ahead (months, semesters, years ahead...)? I think it is important to note that I have a strong interest in doing linguistic fieldwork and in working in a lab. I get the impression that a lot of that would involve Summer and Winter work, but would it be difficult to get away for two weeks?

And of course, the looming spanner in the works would be the potential for deployment. While I would obviously prefer to avoid deployment until after my PhD defense, I would willing serve, were I called upon; can I predict how a program would react (maybe some schools have policies for graduate students in such a situation)? I am looking into my programs' policies in my spare time, but not much has turned up yet.

[JD - (0)]

Ok, a few things that you may wish to keep in mind. If you are joining, are you joining as enlisted or officer, with a bachelors, or higher, you may wish to look into officer. If you go enlisted, every time you speak to someone, and mention you schooling will tell that you should go officer. PS, coast Guard may be a better choice. 

Point 2:, not very important, but the two weeks can be anytime doing the fiscal year, not necessarily in the summer, but that is usually what everyone says. Also, if you join a unit that does Unit AT, you may be required to the the AT (two weeks, or more, or less) with the unit, regardless of where it falls. But school usually excuses military absences, but you will still have to make up the work. (Do not, expect to get any additional work done during those times, though it may be possible). If you are doing linguistics, as enlisted, I would suggest go crypto.

Point 3: the GI bill for reservist is not all that you think it is. It is about $300 or so a month. For a college student, that may be a lot, but it does not pay for your classes or any such thing unless you have had completed prior 4 years in active duty. The military is outside of part time jobs, usually, because it is not a weekly thing.

Point 4: they have changed requirements for deployment. It is no longer on a involuntary basis, unless your unit is deploying, (good luck). Also, as a side note. Once you have been chosen, if you are, to deploy, you, or your unit, no longer have a choice in that matter. Your fate is practically sealed. But on the good side, you have to choose to be deployed (on many cases since the change).

Most programs would not be against you serving for your country. If anything, it's an added bonus to your application. But at the same time, it may not be an easy thing to juggle. 

 

keep those in mind as you make your decisions. 

PS. 6 years reserve, about to finishing my contract.

[TakeruK]

Seems like JD already covered your main points. I just want to say that I know another military reserve officer that just finished her MSc and PhD at the same time. This was in Canada though, however, our reserve program is very similar. My friend worked one night per week in the Navy, one weekend per month, plus a couple of weeks in the summer. My friend also participated in a lot of optional military exercises and exchange programs too, which doubled their opportunities to travel. My friend was very organized and disciplined and they finished both their MSc and PhD theses pretty much exactly on schedule (even meeting all their week-to-week deadlines). That is, my friend did much more than the minimum for the military and still excelled at academics. It's certainly possible!

In Canada, reservists will not be deployed unless they volunteer to do so. It sounds like the US is similar. If you do have to leave academia for a short time, almost every single school will have a leave of absence policy as long as you have a legitimate reason. As JD said, most schools will not hold the requirement to deploy against you and will likely let you count deployment as a legitimate reason! That is, you might not find a specific policy when looking in program handbooks for deployment, because most schools lump all leaves of absences into one category (or sometimes two, if they distinguish between "personal" leave and "medical" leave). 

Hope these two stories help!

[Vowel_Harmonizer]

Thank you both, those replies were helpful and reassuring.

 

If you go enlisted, every time you speak to someone, and mention you schooling will tell that you should go officer. PS, coast Guard may be a better choice ....If you are doing linguistics, as enlisted, I would suggest go crypto.

Yes, and that is why I am deliberating between Navy and CG. I would prefer to go into the Navy as an enlisted cryptolinguist, but I know that such a position is rare in the reserves, and I am uncertain about getting clearance, since I have recently traveled on a foreign passport, though I would be willing to surrender it.

 

Point 2:, not very important, but the two weeks can be anytime doing the fiscal year, not necessarily in the summer, but that is usually what everyone says. Also, if you join a unit that does Unit AT, you may be required to the the AT (two weeks, or more, or less) with the unit, regardless of where it falls. But school usually excuses military absences, but you will still have to make up the work.

....

Point 4: they have changed requirements for deployment. It is no longer on a involuntary basis, unless your unit is deploying, (good luck). Also, as a side note. Once you have been chosen, if you are, to deploy, you, or your unit, no longer have a choice in that matter. Your fate is practically sealed. But on the good side, you have to choose to be deployed (on many cases since the change).

I would expect to have a unit, so I am guessing that training would be in summertime, but I am not sure. True, it could be any time. As long as the department wouldn't mind, and I could schedule fieldwork and such around classes, conferences, and training.

 

Point 3: the GI bill for reservist is not all that you think it is. It is about $300 or so a month. For a college student, that may be a lot, but it does not pay for your classes or any such thing unless you have had completed prior 4 years in active duty.

It's definitely what I thought it was, which is quite a nice bonus. I wouldn't rely on it to pay for education, since I expect the departments to fund me, or to get outside funding (hence why I asked about funding eligibility). I would rather expect for it to be some nice food money towards the end of my studies. I am not joining for the money, obviously.

Most programs would not be against you serving for your country. If anything, it's an added bonus to your application. But at the same time, it may not be an easy thing to juggle.

That raises a question I hadn't thought of before. Where does this fit in on the application? I imagine that graduate schools have a military service section where you mention it, am I correct?

That is, my friend did much more than the minimum for the military and still excelled at academics. It's certainly possible!

In Canada, reservists will not be deployed unless they volunteer to do so. It sounds like the US is similar. If you do have to leave academia for a short time, almost every single school will have a leave of absence policy as long as you have a legitimate reason. As JD said, most schools will not hold the requirement to deploy against you and will likely let you count deployment as a legitimate reason! That is, you might not find a specific policy when looking in program handbooks for deployment, because most schools lump all leaves of absences into one category (or sometimes two, if they distinguish between "personal" leave and "medical" leave).

I appreciate the anecdote very much. Yes, it does sound like are systems are extremely similar. Again, both posts have made the decision quite a bit easier for me. I know that this will be a great opportunity for me to grow and work on my long-term time management, so I'm looking forward to it more and more.

 

[fuzzylogician]

In practically every department I know, there are no real obligations the graduate students need to fulfill over the summer. Many of them (usually international students, but not only) will be gone for most, if not all, of the summer. Everyone, including professors, will be gone for two weeks at some point over the summer. At most places I know, you don't even have to clear absences over the summer with your department, but even if you do, being gone for two weeks should be absolutely no problem. When you get to the final year of your program, the summer can be particularly busy, but on the other hand there will be other times in the year when things are less so, so I'm sure you will be able to work something out. 

More generally, although the stereotypical student does nothing but study, many of us have additional obligations (or, you know, hobbies or other things we take seriously beside school) that we somehow fit into our schedules. This can be a spouse and children, taking care of a sick parent, a part-time job that pays some of the bills, a role in an orchestra or choir that requires continuous practice, doing sports, etc. I think that spending one night a month (or even a week) in the reserves will be as accepted as going to choir practice. So, while I don't any opinion about being in the US reserves one way or the other, I think it could be compatible with the grad student life style as long as you prioritize it and schedule your time the right way.

 

[Vowel_Harmonizer]

Yes, of course. I was more worried about the notions against 'part-time sidejobs' or what professors might think of as a distraction from research. But then again, if a professor sees that as a distraction, they might see choir singing as nothing more than a distraction also. That would just be cruel. Thanks again everyone.

Edited September 3, 2015 by Vowel_Harmonizer

[fuzzylogician]

I mean, you can't control what everyone thinks. It's possible that someone will not understand and not like it. And it's true that sometimes people can get too distracted and that affects their work. That's part of why I said you'd need to learn to manage your time and prioritize so your work doesn't suffer. That said, I think that's just as doable in this case as in any other where someone has something else happening in their life, like the examples I gave above. Your advisors shouldn't (and can't, really!) believe they have a claim to ALL of your time for the next 5 years, and if they can't see that people might have other things going on in their lives beside linguistics, then you have to ask yourself if that's a person you really want to have as an advisor, however amazing their research might be. I'd much rather work with someone who recognizes that I am a person before I am a linguist.