ABSTRACT
Present studies underscore two features shaping the nature of reservists’ military employment. First, they see themselves as evaluated by regulars as a “second-class military” or as “weekend warriors” who are less professional than them. Second, reservists juggle multiple responsibilities, including military service, civilian employment and family obligations. Hence, one would expect reservists to be less satisfied with their military experience and to identify to a lesser extent with the armed forces. Recent surveys of the Canadian Armed Forces, however, reveal a puzzling set of findings since reservists demonstrate notably lower levels of work-life conflict than regulars and are more satisfied and more strongly identify with the country's military. We offer two explanations for this discrepancy deriving from the analytical metaphor of reservists as “transmigrants.” The first is that reservists’ decisions regarding service have become more conditional and contingent than in the past; and the second is that the pursuit of multiple careers should be seen not only sequential, as is often the case, but as potentially simultaneous, and that reservists enter service to achieve forms of self-actualization and self-fulfillment that are not readily available in their civilian occupations.
