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Mobcop • tour of duty.

Provides a portal to post, find and volunteer for Active Duty tours. Tour of Duty (TOD) is a system for advertising AD opportunities where RC Soldiers can look for available tours that match their skills and desire to serve. Soldiers can volunteer for consideration for the tours and the hiring commands can screen and recommend interested candidates as part of the TOD process. Soldiers recommended to fill the tours sign automatically generated request packets in DAMPS-A.

Soldiers that would like to volunteer for mobilizations should contact their unit and ask to be added to the G1 MOB Volunteer list.

HRC Contact Number:   1-888-ARMYHRC   ( 1-800-276-9472 )

MOBCOP -   https://mobcop.aoc.army.pentagon.mil/

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TOUR OF DUTY: EXERCISING CONTROL OVER YOUR MILITARY CAREER

Just some dogs and ponies lining up for a show. Yes, I’m wearing a helmet. I don’t want to talk about it.

September 22, 2019

Something that’s been very interesting to me over the last two years is figuring out how to maintain the most options and flexibility as I move forward. I discuss this idea in “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” and in this article, I’m going to share a resource with you that can help.

At this point, I have no idea whether or not I’d want to come back into the Army later in life, within one of the many Reserve Component opportunities available. I also know that I have zero interest in being a “weekend warrior” at this point. The unpredictability and minimalism of unemployment, international travel, volunteering, and van life aren’t exactly conducive to having to show up once a month for weekend drill in the National Guard or Army Reserves.

This is where the IRR comes into play. If you’re not familiar with the IRR, check out my other article: The Individual Ready Reserves.

So I’m going to tell you about something called Tour of Duty. It’s a website that lists individual job vacancies for soldiers in any of the Reserve Component entities: IRR, IMA, USAR, ARNG. Essentially, you can serve on active duty orders, on your own terms, whenever you want. These periods of service are also referred to as “active duty for operational support” orders,  or ADOS tours, which I’ve just written a new article about here. From what I understand, the only current limitation is that you can only serve three consecutive assignments before you’re required to have a “break in service” for one calendar year. I haven’t seen this in writing, but this is what my Reserve Component recruiter told me during my separation counseling.

To access Tour of Duty, you have to use this site: https://mobcop.aoc.army.pentagon.mil/ . I verified the site worked when I was on active duty and was able to access it with a CAC on a personal computer. A year after I wrote the original article, I couldn’t access the site because I didn’t have a CAC. It also appeared the link no longer worked. I read somewhere that the site had been further restricted to computers operating on a government network. Who knows. But the fact that this site is strictly CAC-enabled, and probably only accessible on a government computer when it’s literally intended for Reserve Component soldiers who may not have access to these resources is… clearly nonsensical, but pretty on-brand for the military.

Fast forward, and the Army Times published an article in December of 2021 stating that Congress passed a piece of legislation requiring the Army to make this site accessible to soldiers on their personal devices. The new site, called Carrera, was released in 2022. It provides the same information as Tour of Duty, but the difference is Carrera can be accessed from a non-government computer. This is super helpful for Reserve Component soldiers so they don’t have to head to a base or armory just to check job listings. As I understand, Carrera is only for looking for jobs, and you still need to log onto Tour of Duty to actually apply, so that’s why I’ve kept the information below.

The photo above is the Mobilization Common Operating Picture (MOBCOP) website. This site is how you access Tour of Duty. You’ll need your CAC to log in. After you log in, select the light green box that says “Tour of Duty.” This will take you to the TOD homepage. Since you’re going to be searching for a job, some of the menu options across the top will be disabled, as they only apply to those who are posting job vacancies. Click on “Find Job/Volunteer,” circled in red below.

As you can see, there are 2,580 available jobs listed. I’ve blacked out some of the information that’s irrelevant to understanding how the site works. You can filter results using any of the column headers. The most applicable are rank and MOS. In this example, I filtered the listings by rank, for CPT, and by MOS, for 01A, which means branch immaterial.

So you can see that the results above are filtered by “CPT” and “01A.” There are 121 positions for 01A CPTs. From what I’ve found on the site, tours can be as little as 14 days, or as much as 400+ days. Anything above 365 days constitutes a PCS move, and you can bring your family. For these tours, you’re put on active duty orders, and you’ll receive active duty pay, TRICARE, and any other active duty benefits. There’s a lot more to the process, but this is generally how it works. Locations are both CONUS and OCONUS and are in some unique places. I found jobs in Utah, California, and all over Europe.

If you look at the column farthest on the right, it lists the “Soldier Category.” Different jobs are open to different entities. Some are only open to ARNG (Army National Guard) soldiers. Some are only open to IRR soldiers. And some are open to all.

From my perspective, if you’re in the National Guard or Reserves, this is a great tool to use if you’re maybe between civilian jobs and are looking to travel and want to go on Active Duty for a bit. It’s also a great way to work towards retirement benefits. For my specific situation, I decided to stay in the IRR following my Resignation from Active Duty (REFRAD), with the understanding I’d have Tour of Duty as an option.

Something my Reserve recruiter told me is that while a job may be open to applicants from all Reserve Component entities, a Guard or Reserve soldier may be more likely to be selected for a job vs IRR because their readiness metrics (MEDPROS, annual/350-1 training, etc) will likely be more up-to-date. If you’re in the IRR, chances are you aren’t going to drill on the weekends for MRT or cyber awareness training.

While that may be true, it will still be MUCH easier for me to transfer from the IRR back into the IMA, Guard, or Reserves vs how difficult it would be if I completely resigned my commission. So this is why I only resigned from Active Duty and opted to remain in the IRR. While I have no interest in the military now, I want to maximize my options. For enlisted personnel, you can have a break in service. I don’t know too much about how that all works, but you have some more wiggle room than officers do.

If you’re reading any of the information above and notice something is incorrect or outdated, please let me know . I do my best to update articles when policies change, but I miss things. Also, if you’ve gone through this process before and have input, feel free to hit me up. I’m just a random with some experience as Active Duty officer but no Reserve experience. I’ve compiled most of this information from odd corners of the internet, YouTube, the HRC website, and my Reserve Component recruiter… But, I haven’t been able to find a one-stop-shop source on IRR or IMA information.

*UPDATE* It’s been four years since I wrote this article and I’m leaving this update to give you the link to my new article on ADOS tours, which is a product of a lot of time, effort, and help from about a dozen ADOS contributors who were willing to share their experience. Hope this helps.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this and my hope is this information can empower you to take ownership of your life!

Got feedback?

Let me know!

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Guard and Reserve Members Will Be Able to Access Job Board from Personal Devices

There's not a lot that members of Congress can agree on these days, but one issue that brought Democrats and Republicans together was allowing military members in the National Guard and Reserve to find active-duty gigs more easily.

Both sides of the aisle came together to put a provision into the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, allowing those troops to access the Tour of Duty online job board from their smartphones and other personal devices. Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, joined Reps. Chris Jacobs, R-N.Y., and Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, in pushing for the addition.

The Tour of Duty online job board is a database of active-duty orders and deployment s, and it usually features some 2,000 job listings. The Army has more than 500,000 Guard and Reserve members who can search the site and apply, but only through the use of a government computer. The provision passed in the 2022 NDAA will soon allow them to access the site using a "personal internet-enabled device."

The NDAA also extends the amount of time these troops can spend on temporary active duty for operational support orders (ADOS) from three out of every four years to five out of every six.

Without the new provision, users who want to search the database would have to make their way to their duty station to use a government device if they didn't have one at home. The new law also says the Army is responsible for the security of the website, which informs users about the Army's staffing shortages.

Tour of Duty is open to all Reserve Component soldiers to browse and volunteer. Any Army command with positions or missions available can post those jobs on the site. Soldiers must find jobs that not only match their skills, but also match their pay grade.

Soldiers can even post their availability and interest for active-duty tours. Commands looking for Reserve Component soldiers to fill vacancies can see soldiers' names, grades and military occupational specialties (MOS) in a pool of volunteers. If a soldier is selected from Tour of Duty, they can accept or decline.

Once accepted, the soldier signs a voluntary request for active duty, but must still be approved by the soldier's chain of command. The application is then sent to be transferred into official orders. The process usually takes 30-60 days.

A pilot program is expected to be released in the coming weeks, outlining procedures for soldiers to bring personal devices into their workspaces.

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Congress orders Army to open Tour of Duty portal to Reserve, Guard troops

Since late 2017, the Army’s more than 500,000 National Guard and Reserve soldiers haven’t been able to browse short-term Army vacancies except on a government network. Thanks to a new provision in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act , however, the service will now make those listings available on soldiers’ personal devices.

The Army advertises individual vacancies for deployments or short active duty tours on Tour of Duty, an online job board tailored for the service’s part-time soldiers to volunteer for such roles. But the required trip to an armory to get on a government network was a barrier for many troops that don’t have access except while on base.

“The Army will comply with the [legislation],” spokesperson Bruce Anderson told Army Times. “We are considering evaluating the Tour of Duty portal access as part of the Bring Your Own Device pilot program planned for this year.”

The service will have a year to implement the change.

Another new policy added that Guard and Reserve troops can now spend five years out of every six on temporary active duty for operational support orders (ADOS). Previously, such volunteers were limited to three years on ADOS out of every four calendar years.

Leaders of organizations representing Guard and Reserve troops praised the measure.

“Providing ease of access for Citizen Soldiers to find their next opportunity to serve is vital to their growth as soldiers and the readiness of the reserve force,” said the Reserve Organization of America’s Executive Director, retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Phillips, in a press release .

A spokesperson for the National Guard Association of the U.S. was cautiously supportive of the change, noting that ADOS roles were a “bandaid” for issues with permanent full-time manning.

“[This] has the potential to impact a lot of people,” NGAUS spokesperson John Goheen said, describing the provisions as a “win-win” that will give soldiers increased opportunities and create better application pools for critical short-term vacancies.

The bipartisan Tour of Duty legislative provision was spearheaded in Congress by Rep. Chris Jacobs, R-N.Y., and Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.

The author of this article is a member of NGAUS .

This article was updated at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 30, 2021, to clarify that Tour of Duty was accessible from non-government devices until late 2017 .

Davis Winkie covers the Army for Military Times. He studied history at Vanderbilt and UNC-Chapel Hill, and served five years in the Army Guard. His investigations earned the Society of Professional Journalists' 2023 Sunshine Award and consecutive Military Reporters and Editors honors, among others. Davis was also a 2022 Livingston Awards finalist.

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Has anyone else had issues accessing the TOD MOBCOP website (it hasn't worked in the last two weeks)?

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