If there’s one thing that is a constant about modern military life, especially in the Reserves or National Guard, it’s the relentless conveyor belt of online courses for this, that, and the other thing. I used to recommend Reserve or Guard duty to people as an ideal way to “sorta stay in the Army” but without the daily morale attrition of mind-numbing little tasks. Now, with the intrusion of online courses all the time, I think it’s only fair to warn people of this. For a lot of long-term courses, courses that require a few days of regular logging in for completion, you get paid for completing them– but one of the most important reasons for joining a reserve force component in the first place is “time constraints” and a desire to pursue other things in life while maintaining a duty status. Nibbling away at our off time defeats that purpose.