Annual training for military reservists is a mandatory active-duty period each year, usually 14 or 15 consecutive days, during which you draw full basic pay, tax-free meal and housing allowances, and retirement points, while federal law protects your civilian job and health coverage back home. It is the single largest block of active service most Selected Reserve and National Guard members perform in a normal year, and nearly every pay, benefit, and legal protection tied to reserve service runs through it.
How Long Annual Training Lasts
The length depends on your component. Federal law requires Selected Reserve members to serve on active duty for training of at least 14 days each year, not counting travel time to and from the training site.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 10147 – Ready Reserve: Training Requirements National Guard units follow a separate statute setting the floor at 15 days per year.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 32 USC 502 – Required Drills and Field Exercises One meaningful difference: for non-Guard reservists, travel days sit outside the 14-day count; for Guard units, the 15-day requirement typically includes travel.3Department of Defense. DoDI 1215.06 – Uniform Reserve, Training, and Retirement Categories for the Reserve Components
Most units schedule the whole thing as a single two-week block. Some services allow it to be split into shorter periods when the mission calls for it. Unit-level training sends everyone to a common installation or training area to practice collective tasks. Individual training instead attaches you to an active-duty unit to fill a technical gap. Locations run from your home station to major training centers and overseas sites.
What You Get Paid
You receive basic pay for every day you are on active-duty orders, at the same rate as active-duty counterparts in your pay grade and years of service.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 37 USC 204 – Entitlement Daily pay equals one-thirtieth of your monthly rate. For 2026, basic pay rose 3.8% over 2025, so pull the current Defense Finance and Accounting Service tables for your exact figure.
Pay runs through DFAS after your commander certifies the training was completed. Expect a lag between the last day of training and the deposit, especially if order certification or voucher processing hits a snag.
Meal and Housing Allowances
On top of basic pay, two allowances kick in, and both are exempt from federal and state income tax and from Social Security withholding.5Military Compensation and Financial Readiness. Tax Exempt Allowances
The Basic Allowance for Subsistence covers meals. The 2026 monthly BAS is $328.48 for officers and $476.95 for enlisted members, prorated by duty days.6Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) The rate does not change by location. If a government dining facility is available, enlisted members may eat there instead of drawing BAS directly.
Housing comes through BAH RC/T, the non-locality version of the Basic Allowance for Housing that applies on orders of 30 days or fewer. It does not adjust for local cost of living; it is a flat rate set by pay grade and dependency status.7Military Compensation and Financial Readiness. Types of BAH The rates are noticeably lower than the locality-based BAH active-duty members receive, which surprises many first-time reservists.
Retirement Points from Annual Training
Reserve retirement runs on a points system. You need at least 50 points in a year for that year to count as a qualifying year toward reserve retired pay.8Military Compensation and Financial Readiness. Reserve Retirement Points come from several sources:
- Active duty days: one point per day, so a 15-day annual training earns 15 points.
- Drill attendance: one point per scheduled drill period.
- Membership credit: 15 points per year for being in a reserve component.
- Funeral honors duty: one point per day performed.
Between 15 membership points and roughly 15 training-day points, annual training alone puts you at about 30, over halfway to the 50-point threshold. Add regular drill (up to 48 paid assemblies a year) and most reservists clear the bar with room to spare. Skipping annual training, on the other hand, puts a qualifying year at real risk and directly delays retirement eligibility.
Civilian Job Protections Under USERRA
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act protects your civilian job while you are on annual training orders. To qualify, you need to give your employer advance notice of the service, written or verbal, and report back on time afterward.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 4312 – Reemployment Rights of Persons Who Serve in the Uniformed Services Notice can be skipped when military necessity prevents it, which is rare for a scheduled training event.
USERRA itself does not set a specific notice window, but Department of Defense regulations recommend at least 30 days when feasible. The notice can be informal, and a verbal heads-up counts.10eCFR. 20 CFR 1002.85 – Must the Employee Give Advance Notice to the Employer
Reporting Back to Work
For annual training of 30 days or fewer, you must report back by the start of the first regularly scheduled work period on the next calendar day after you return, allowing safe travel time and an eight-hour rest.11U.S. Department of Labor. A Guide to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) If orders end Friday afternoon and you drive home that night, you show up Monday morning. Missing that window can cost you your reemployment rights.
Seniority, Benefits, and Health Coverage
While you are on orders, your employer must treat the absence as a leave of absence. You keep the seniority and benefits you would have earned had you stayed on the job, and you cannot be fired for taking military leave.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 4316 – Rights, Benefits, and Obligations of Persons Absent from Employment for Service in a Uniformed Service
Employer-sponsored health insurance gets its own protection. If your health plan would otherwise terminate because of your absence, you can elect to continue coverage for up to 24 months. For training of 30 days or fewer, the employer cannot charge more than the normal employee share of the premium.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 4317 – Health Plans For longer absences the cost can rise to 102% of the full premium. Annual training periods are exempt from USERRA’s general five-year cap on reemployment rights.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 4312 – Reemployment Rights of Persons Who Serve in the Uniformed Services
Many state governments provide paid military leave for public employees, most in the range of 15 to 30 days a year. Private-sector employers are not required to pay you during military leave unless company policy or a collective bargaining agreement says so.
Medical Care for Injuries on Duty
If you get hurt or become ill during annual training, the military covers treatment through a Line of Duty determination. An LOD investigation establishes whether the injury or illness occurred in a qualified duty status and whether misconduct was involved. A favorable finding authorizes treatment for that specific condition for up to one year from the date of diagnosis.14TRICARE. Line of Duty Care for Service Members
LOD care covers only the condition named in the determination, not unrelated issues or pre-existing conditions, and family members are not eligible. If you live within 50 miles of a military hospital or clinic, care goes there. Reservists farther out may be authorized civilian care once the unit submits the required paperwork to the Military Medical Support Office.
For general health coverage, reservists on annual training orders of 30 days or fewer are not considered activated for TRICARE purposes.15TRICARE. TRICARE Choices for National Guard and Reserve Handbook Your regular TRICARE Reserve Select or other civilian plan keeps running as normal. The LOD process is the safety net for anything that happens on duty.
Getting Excused
Annual training is mandatory, and the bar to be excused is intentionally high. Your unit commander can excuse an absence caused by sickness, injury, or circumstances genuinely beyond your control. Work conflicts, overtime, school, and lost income generally do not count. If those conditions become a lasting hardship, the commander must refer your case up the chain to decide whether to keep you in the unit or process a removal.
If you are excused, you may need to provide documentation within 15 days: a physician’s certification for illness, an affidavit for other circumstances. Missing annual training without proper authority makes you an unsatisfactory participant, which triggers administrative action and can end in separation.
After Training: Pay and Travel Claims
When training ends, the paperwork is only half done. Settle your travel claim through the Defense Travel System; DoD policy requires the travel voucher to be submitted within five business days of returning.16Air Reserve Personnel Center. Chapter 4: Vouchers from Authorizations Missing that window does not forfeit reimbursement, but it creates administrative friction.
You upload a copy of your orders, signed and certified by your commander, into DTS. You then complete a travel voucher (DD Form 1351-2) for mileage, meals, and lodging. Dates and locations on the voucher must match the orders exactly.17Defense Travel Management Office. DoD DTS Best Practices Guide Keep every receipt during training, especially fuel and lodging.
Once the voucher is approved, reimbursement is deposited electronically. Turnaround varies from a week or two to considerably longer if audit flags come up. The most common cause of a delayed payment is a voucher whose dates or per diem locations do not match the orders, so verify both before you submit.