Applicability. This regulation applies to Army National Guard/Army National Guard of the United States and U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers not serving on active duty.

Purpose

a. This regulation sets policies, standards, and procedures to ensure the readiness and competency of the U.S. Army while providing for the orderly administrative separation of Army National Guard of the United States (ARNGUS) and U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) enlisted Soldiers for a variety of reasons. Readiness is promoted by maintaining high standards of conduct and performance. The separation policies in this regulation promote the readiness of the Army by providing an orderly means to—

(1) Judge the suitability of persons to serve in the Army on the basis of their conduct and their ability to meet required standards of duty performance and discipline.

(2) Maintain standards of performance and conduct through characterization of service in a system that emphasizes the importance of honorable service.

(3) Achieve authorized force levels and grade distribution.

(4) Provide for the orderly administrative separation of enlisted Soldiers in a variety of circumstances.

b. Department of the Army separation policy is designed to strengthen the concept that military service is a calling different from any civilian occupation.

(1) The acquisition of military status involves a commitment to the United States, the Army, fellow citizens, and Soldiers to successfully complete a period of obligated service. Early separation for failure to meet required standards of performance or conduct represents a failure to fulfill that commitment.

(2) Millions of Americans from diverse backgrounds and with a wide variety of aptitudes and attitudes upon entering military service have served successfully in the reserve components of the Army. It is the policy of the Department of the Army to provide Soldiers with the training, motivation, and professional leadership that inspires the dedicated Soldier to emulate their predecessors and peers in meeting required standards of performance and conduct.

(3) The Army makes a substantial investment in training, time, equipment, and related expenses when persons enter into military service. Separation prior to completion of an obligated period of service is wasteful because it results in loss of this investment and generates a requirement for increased accessions. Consequently, attrition is an issue of significant concern at all levels of responsibility within the reserve components of the Army. Reasonable efforts should be made to identify Soldiers who are likely to be separated early, and to improve their chances for retention through counseling, retraining, and rehabilitation prior to initiation of separation proceedings. Soldiers who do not conform to required standards of conduct and performance and Soldiers who do not demonstrate potential for further military service should be separated to avoid the high costs of continued service in terms of pay, administrative efforts, degradation of morale, and substandard mission performance.

c. This regulation provides—

(1) The authority for separation of Soldiers upon expiration of their military service obligation (MSO).

(2) The authority and general provisions governing the separation of Soldiers before the expiration of their service obligation to meet the needs of the reserve components of the Army and its Soldiers.

(3) The criteria for characterizing or describing military service as being honorable, general (under honorable conditions), or under other than honorable conditions, and when the service is not characterized.