my son is thinking about joining the national guard

[65ny]

AD is gonna deploy way before an NG unit will.



I said If you serve, you're either gonna deploy, or you're not gonna deploy, you don't have a choice in the matter. You can't pick what war you want to serve.

If you don't wanna deploy and wanna be safe, don't serve.

Ok, cool.

 

[Foxfire5]

Degrees with out great GPA’s and a long list of desirable career fields make enlisting and then going the officer route an easier choice. Plus the bonuses add up, having a degree isn’t enough anymore.

OCS is the way to go. Plus lots of benefits and the extra money doesn't hurt either.

 

[Foxfire5]

Not at all. That's a farce perpetrated on people, that if you have a degree, you must become an officer. Noise.
Some of the best NCOs I've had the pleasure of working along side had multiple degrees...before they came in.
Some of the smartest men I know are NCOs.

Some of the stupidest humans I've ever met on the face of the planet were Os.

Besides, the wheel that makes the Army and Guard go round and round is not powered by Os. They're here today and gone tomorrow, but NCOs and enlisted are always here doing real work.

Stupidest people I ever met were uneducated. Period!

 

[Foxfire5]

Have him explore both Air and Army guard. There are significant benefits to each. I just celebrated my 33rd year in the air guard and I wouldn’t trade a minute of it.

Congratulations! You deserve it. Thanks for your service!

 

[JokerofDeath]

I’m not being argumentative, but what makes you say that?

The officer side isn’t like being enlisted…it isn’t just one weekend a month, show up and go home. It can become all consuming and involve a lot of work and planning in between drills, especially the higher you move up. Also if it isn’t medical you can kiss your MOS good bye as you move up the ranks and take on more administrative and logistical work.

 

[Creding]

He'd better be in EXCELLENT shape going in, and I can tell you from first hand experience, war is a young man's game. I went into the infantry at the age of 32, and it was beyond tough. I made it, but there is a reason there is an age cut off. Plus, it is a lot harder on your major joints, no matter the age, so count on knee and neck problems down the road. Shoulders too if he's not lucky. He will also possibly/probably be older than his drill sergeants. That gets interesting. Mentally, he should be OK, but his age and current condition needs to be honestly looked at.

 

[JEVapa]

The officer side isn’t like being enlisted…it isn’t just one weekend a month, show up and go home. It can become all consuming and involve a lot of work and planning in between drills, especially the higher you move up.

Same applies to NCOs.... I was in the NM Guard for about a year way back when I was still a spec4, and all the enlisted did just that, show up Friday evening and leave Sunday afternoon. NCOs, on the other hand, depending on rank, had to pull the full four days of weekend drill and participate in NCO stuff. More responsibility and more demanding, so much so, that pretty much, all senior NCOs were AGR, along with supply, PAC, etc.

 

[65ny]

The officer side isn’t like being enlisted…it isn’t just one weekend a month, show up and go home. It can become all consuming and involve a lot of work and planning in between drills, especially the higher you move up. Also if it isn’t medical you can kiss your MOS good bye as you move up the ranks and take on more administrative and logistical work.

There is a lot of that in the NCO ranks as well. I haven’t experienced “one weekend a month” in decades.

 

[clintbailey]

After spending 13 years in the NG, and being out for as many, I would say this: if he is looking for a way to make a difference, help others, etc., find a good hearted (i.e. local) charity to help with...if he's wanting a challenge, then get after whatever he desires I guess...

 

[Choprzrul]

This is funny, it's like no one lived through or has bothered to study the 70s and 80s when the superpowers literally had their fingers hovering over the button and 20 year old privates in West Germany were in charge of live nuclear artillery shells.

What a joke. We are nowhere as close as we have been.

Thank God we still have hundreds of thousands of young people willing to serve our country in the military.

87-89 I was in Germany maintaining our stockpile of GB filled 155mm and 8" rounds. PCS'd to Johnston Island and played with those GB, VX, and HD rounds for a year.