What is the standard military enlistment time????

Question

I cant find anything with a straight answer. I just want to know what is the standard or normal enlistment time total for military, more importantly in this case Army, Army Infantry?

Answer 1

4 years is a standard contract. Minimum is 2 years of active duty with an 8 year mandatory service obligation. What that means is once enlisted you are obligated to serve a minimum of eight years. You do your active duty upfront and the remaing time in either active (drilling one weekend a month) or inactive reserves ( keep a current adress with DOD)  the rest of the time.

Answer 2

8 years.

You may choose to do 2 years Active and 6 in-active,

or 4 years active and 4 years inactive

or 6 years active and 2 years inactive.

Answer 3

The standard enlistment contract is for 8 years.  The first four years are active duty, and after 4 years you can opt to transfer to the reserves.  It's the same for all services.

Answer 4

OK Everyone is right with the 8 year Military Service Obligation. The Army is one of the few that offers a 2 year enlistment, however it is 2 years after your basic training and AIT training. So a 3 year would be more beneficial as you would get a better GI Bill. So the answer is you can do a 2x6, a 3x5, a 4x4 or more Meaning you can do a certain time in active duty and the rest of the 8 year MSO in inactive or a reserve or National Guard status. It 100% depends on the different branches and the individual. the 3x5 and 4x4 is common in the Army. I can only speak for the Army, however I do know that the Army can offer less time than other branches for Active time. Everyone above me is right in a lot of aspects, but I just thought I would add a bit to it since you seem a bit confused. If you want the least amount of time do the 3x5 and you will get better GI Bill. Especially since a 2 year contract would be more like 2.5 years with your training time.  

It also depends on which job you choose. IE an MP in the Army is a 5 year service obligation, however a Mechanic can be as little as the 2 year obligation.