That is how it works, I was in the U.S. military.

The choice your brothers were given at the end of their four years was whether or not to sign up for another four years of active duty. Their initial contract was almost certainly actually for eight years, including four years active duty and four years IRR.

People don’t talk about the IRR because there are nearly zero requirements during that time, it’s not the same as the active reserves. No reporting in, no fitness, medical, or training standards, etc. It just means you’re among the first on the hook if ol’ uncle sam “needs” more people ASAP, and they can legally recall you to active duty without instituting a draft.

There are exceptions for some job roles and other circumstances, but that’s how the standard enlistment works.

They can still fuck with a lot of people without a draft though.

Most U.S. enlistment contracts have a period of four years in the inactive ready reserves (IRR) after the normal four years of active duty. Not to mention the active reserves and national guard.

That’s a lot of people leading otherwise normal, mostly civilian lives, that could get called up. Granted, that’s not the same as a straight up draft - all of those people choose to sign up in some capacity.

But we have a lot of bodies on tap to churn through the human meat grinder before a draft.

Isn’t that exciting and reassuring?

You should consider reading the article before “just sayin.”