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Concur on the possibility to deploy overseas. When you are home it is basically another component of your life to juggle along with your full time occupation, family, etc. Home station drills can include going through training sometimes slapped together at the last minute, completing administrative tasks and sitting through briefings. You will sometimes go to the field to shoot weapons or work on your military occupational specialty (MOS). If you are a leader especially at the platoon and company level and above you will need to find the time to do the planning and coordination to properly execute the next drill weekend. You won't be compensated for doing this "homework" on your own time. And you should be ready to respond to a civil emergency (riot, fire, flood etc) at the drop of a hat. Also a commander can involuntarily assign you to a unit up to 100 miles away from your home. But the Guard also has opportunities for full time work such as being a technician.
I continually regret not joining the service because of the many things I would gain from the experience of severe discipline.
Maybe you should forget about the Guard and look into joining either the Army or Marine Reserves as an infantryman.
Like others have said...You should expect to be away from home for 1.5-2yrs on your 4 yr. enlistment. When you figure in basic, school, pre-deployment, and the deployment you will go on.
If you have a job you like, I would advise against it.
Since my wife won't let me join any other branch of the military.
Won't "let" you? And why is she cool w/the Guard but not anything else??
Quote:
Originally Posted by Balad1
The National Guard isn't 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks a year and hasn't been for years.
The National Guard is fully intigrated into our country's national defense and deploy accordingly.
OIF/OEF opened many eyes about the their necessity and value.
As PM said it's important to distinguish between the (Army) Nat'l Guard and (Air Force) Air Nat'l Guard. I was in the latter for 6 yrs. 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks a year and never deployed. No I wouldn't count on that of course, but the Army vs Air Force distinction is an important one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Seattleite61
Perhaps your wife needs to talk to some military wives to get a good perspective on what it's like.
Won't "let" you? And why is she cool w/the Guard but not anything else??
As PM said it's important to distinguish between the (Army) Nat'l Guard and (Air Force) Air Nat'l Guard. I was in the latter for 6 yrs. 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks a year and never deployed. No I wouldn't count on that of course, but the Army vs Air Force distinction is an important one.
In the ARMY Guard you will go to Iraq pretty much without fail. I would look into the AIR National Guard, where you can still do just 1 weekend a month, and the two week summer camp and get out of middle east duty.
I would look into the AIR National Guard, where you can still do just 1 weekend a month, and the two week summer camp and get out of middle east duty.
I am not sure where you get that idea, there really are a lot of factors. From this news report yesterday: KSTP TV - Minneapolis and St. Paul - MN airmen to deploy for 3rd, 4th or 5th time (http://kstp.com/news/stories/S1546488.shtml?cat=1 - broken link) I would have to disagree:
Quote:
05/05/2010 9:04 PM
More than 350 members of the Minnesota Air National Guard's 133rd Airlift Wing will deploy this year to Iraq and Afghanistan, officials announced Wednesday. For many of them it will be their third, fourth or fifth deployment to southwest Asia.
The airmen--which include aircrews members, maintenance workers, security forces and others--will serve between two to six months.
According to guard officials, the 133rd Airlift Wing has sent more than 4,500 airmen overseas.
I am not saying you WON'T go to the sandbox if you are in the Air Guard, but it's certain AFSCs that deploy all the time, while others barely deploy at all. In the Army Guard, you WILL deploy pretty much no matter what. Also in the ANG, you can get out of it a lot easier than the ARNG.
Everyone's experience varies. For lower enlisted, the commitment may be just that for the most part-one wkd/month, 2 wks each summer. Of course understand you may have to drop everything at a moment's notice when your unit is called to respond to some emergency (riot, fire, flood etc). Many Guardsmen deployed to Iraq & Afghanistan but with the war winding down the main focus will be civil support. At least it is in my state. For NCOs especially senior NCOs and officers the commitment is likely to be more than just drills and annual training. Especially for commanders, 1SGs and the like you may find yourself spending a significant amount of time attending to unit matters on your own time outside of drill. That is part of the justification for double active duty pay for a day of drill. The Guard also maintains a full time staff so there may be opportunities to work as a Federal Technician or go Active Guard Reserve (AGR) and still drill.
edit haha didn't realize this was an old thread I replied to earlier
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Won't "let" you? And why is she cool w/the Guard but not anything else??
