First hand information on the Army Reserve STRAP program

SBT 85, I am in a medical unit and am concurrently also recieving the HPLR also. It is a requirement that you go to drill if your half time but you can drill anywhere/anytime you want since you'll be automatically attached to the APMC. During drill we go to the county or va hospital and do training with the 68w on various things that go on in the hospital. Other times we go to the m16/m9 range, inventory stuff, put things together, medical srp's, lots of classes and sitting around, but it isn't all that bad. I'm with a combat support hospital.

SBT85, you're recruiter is right that you don't have to drill at a unit I just find it easier to and I like the people at my unit and being around other soldiers. You just have to complete 4 muta's a month and the APMC (AMEDD Professional Management Command) can fill you in on that. You can also substitute ceu's sometimes depending on what it is. When you start the strap they will give you 24months unless you call HRC to have them stop it and then you can restart it again when you want for a total of 24 months. I really don't have a point of contact at my unit as they are sort of clueless when it comes to all the entitlements and paperwork I need. I go through the APMC for all of that stuff. The APMC is the command your attached to when you in school to make sure you don't get deployed and makes sure you don"t get compromised while your in school. They give you the opportunity to drill when and where you want.

You get paid Strap even through the summer if you don"t take any classes. It goes straight for 24 months unless you stop it. I got strap even when I was in OBLC(officer basic course).It's a great program and better than the bonus if you have your bsn cause it's more money. The HPLR is just submitting the paperwork from your contract to HRC. The only bad thing is you have to pay the taxes from the money they payoff your loan which is alot. So since I only go to school once a weeknight and still work full time(12hr shifts) and work also pays for school and I drills are always Muta 3(fri,sat, sun) the strap/hplr program is great. BTW idk what AIM is, so I don't have it.