What is army reserve civil affairs like?

Save yourself the trouble. Reserve CA is different in that they do not go through the same degree of training, are not a part of Army SOF, and in my opinion largely under perform compared to peers on Active Duty. This is not to say that all reserve CA are bad. In fact, some are great, but the overall climate, standards, and morale within units leaves a lot to be desired. If you really want to pursue CA, do it on active duty. Otherwise, you'd be better served working in public affairs or something like that.

I know a few CA soldiers, and they say it's not exactly like active duty, but much is the same.