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. «The Army will comply with the [legislation],» spokesperson Bruce Anderson told Army Times.
«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. Army Maj. «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.