Army draws down, Reserves build up

Forced out of the Army, soldiers find careers in the Reserve
Army Times
By Michelle Tan
Staff writer
January 4, 2014

Frustrated by his inability to get promoted and the looming Army drawdown, then-Sgt. James Davis left active duty in 1995.

He used his separation bonus to buy his mother a house and then moved on to serve with the U.S. Capitol Police. But Davis quickly began to miss being a soldier.

“I had 13 or 14 years in, and I really enjoyed the lifestyle,” he said. “The only reason I got out was because I couldn’t get promoted, and I decided if I could do both [a civilian career and be in the military], I wanted to.”

In 1998, Davis returned to the Army, this time in the Army Reserve as a counter-intelligence soldier. Today, he is the command sergeant major for the 203rd Military Intelligence Battalion in Maryland, and he still serves as a K-9 handler with the Capitol Police.

“If you would have told me that 30 years ago, I would have very seriously laughed at you,” Davis said about attaining the highest enlisted rank. “There’s no way I could have ever imagined that being possible. I’ve been extraordinarily fortunate.”

Over the next two years, the Army will trim about 38,000 soldiers from the active force as part of an overall drawdown of 80,000 soldiers.

And the Army Reserve, which is struggling to fill critical shortages in mid-career noncommissioned officer and officer ranks, wants to catch as many as 8,000 of these soldiers as they leave active duty.
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