Hey folks:
I'm looking into enlisting in the Naval Reserve in a effort to ease* into naval life.

* Ease not as much for myself, but for my family, and to get some relevant training before attempting OCS.

Let me break it all down for you: I'm a 29 year old male with a graphic design degree (the reason I'm choosing to go enlisted rather than officer corps), a 20 month-old son at home. I'm also pretty overweight, which I'm working on correcting. Right now, the weight is only physical limitation keeping me from joining the reserves.

I've got a few questions to ask about actually being in the reserves, though. First, are reservists treated like crap by regular Navy personnel? Second, at my age, what are my choices of jobs (billets?) in the reserves? There is a very specific reason I ask, because I would like to take a job on a civilian ship after I'm out in 10-20 years. Though it's possible I might be sick of seeing the ocean after a decade or two, I doubt it, and I want to plan accordingly. I suspect that I'll need to take an engineering job.

Another question is, a naval reserve officer recruiter told me that once I was in the reserves one year I could apply for OCS, since I have a degree. By that point I'd actually have some relevant skill for the Navy, and could move up. Assuming I do well in that year, what are my chances of moving on to OCS, and maybe full-time reserves?

One final question starts with a statement: while I live within 90 miles of two naval reserve stations, I am probably 5-600 miles from any salt water shore. This may sound like a very stupid question, but will I have to travel to my regular duty station for every bit of training, or can I go to one of these local reserve stations for training? If I'm stationed in, say, San Diego, the travel would be a killer. Not that my wife would mind moving to San Diego...

I apologize if this all sounds a bit incoherent, but it is 1:49 am, and this is one of the few times of the day I can do this.

Thanks for any input.