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A few years ago I enlisted in the NY Army National Guard. Long story short I ended up with an entry level separation. RE-CODE 3 and Separation Code JGA ( Entry Level Performance and Conduct ). I've been told over the last few years that if I were to apply for a Federal or State job that they would take a person who didn't serve over me. I don't know how true it is or not. I know I made some mistakes because of my immaturity at the time. At this point I'm really just trying to figure out if I'm out of luck or not in terms of government jobs.
I also have an RE-3 from the guard but since even retired guard members (without active duty time during war) do not qualify as veterans I would not even worry about it. I have applied for 5 or 6 fed jobs now and since I don't meet the threshold for a 5 point bump I don't even include it because I am not technically a veteran.
You are basically just applying as a non-vet. Back in the heat of Iraq/Afghanistan they were really hyping those codes up but now no one cares nor asks. Now if you have a dishonorable from active duty and served time in Leavenworth that might come up in a security clearance but short of that I don't think anyone cares.
Maybe someone in the know on the back side of security clearances will chime in but from the front end of USA jobs you are either a vet or not and if not you just click no and move on with the application. Now weather they dig that up in a top secret is another matter, hopefully not because I have one as well. From what I learned in basic is that the regular army and fed govt does not take the guard seriously anyways.
Even though guard guys experienced the anxiety of being activated they did not get any points for it unless they actually deployed so being guard is not really a very good deal, your med bennies suck and so does the retirement compared to active duty but you are just as exposed to deployment even if you are never actually deployed, you get to hear all the scuttle butt during drill and its in the back of your mind when your having a kid, parents are ill or you just want to spend time with your wife, etc etc. It effects your life when so and so gets deployed and you never know if your next but don't get the 5 points like the active guy who never deploys.
Those codes will not bar you from any government employment. It may be an issue to explain if undergoing an intense background check or requires a security clearance, but overall they are not disqualifying. Your biggest hindrance is if you fail to disclose the information. In most cases (specifically federal) if you omit it, you will automatically be rejected.
Our application require full disclosure. You will list it under any Active/Reserve/Guard experience. A failure to disclose is an automatic rejection. In many cases, we may not even tell you that was why; we figure if you want to hide things from us, we'll hide things from you.
Don't not apply just because of that. It's easy to explain to a non-paramilitary employer and most will see it as more understandable from a traditional common civilian world.
What I have been told is that applying for any State or Federal job I have to mark yes that I was in the Military but for any private sector job I can just say no. Again this is what I was told.
If anyone else on this message board has less than an honorable discharge from the Military and has been able to get a job with the Federal Government I would like to hear about your experience. Thank you
I received a BCD in 2003 and have worked in the private sector for the past 15 years no issues at all. I have stayed away from government work or contracts. I went to school got 3 degrees(AS, BS, MA) and I am thinking of applying for a state College) job just to see what happens.
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