National Gaurd

>>32650935
Everything he said was true except the college part.

>>32650956
what's the catch of that? they'll only pay if you go for certain things or they can't really pay 100%?

>>32650974
collage is kool-aid for most people anyway, unless you know exactly what youre going to or what trade/training programs they have.

you want to be in and out of college or university as fast as you can or else you are just wasting your time and money like all those other 1990+ born cucks.

>>32651021
Trust this guy about college. He can't even spell it so clearly he knows his stuff.

>>32650974
Dont listen to him, the state will pay you TA and you could also use the GI bill,l.

Source: did 8 years AD

>>32651232
i dunno what you mean by TA, or by "GI bill, I."
so they won't really pay for all of it is what im getting? idk what AD is either.

>>32651409
Do you know what google is?

>>32651647
i looked both acronyms and found a bunch of acronyms for both, none of which made a whole lot of sense or were too general. i assumed for "GI bill, I." he had meant to type something more but messed up or something.

>>32651681
TA= tuition assistance = free money for class
AD= active duty
And yes he mistyped GI bill

>>32651809
thank you

>>32650956
>Everything he said was true except the college part.
Well, that's state dependent. Some states have a program similar to the Chapter 33/Post 9/11 GI Bill for their Natty Guard troops.

If he's not in one of those states then yes, his recruiter is lying.

>>32650935
>so what aren't they telling me?
Well he's not telling you that there's going to be stuff the unit expects you to get done on your own time, like online "classes" for SAEDA etc.

He's also not telling you that you'll have PT tests and Range twice a year, which isn't a big deal but it does mean you need to stay in shape. He's also not telling you that there will be mandatory training events that for the CoC to know they can meet their METL, and 90% of the time all the planning and organization will be last minute and it will be a shit show. He's also not telling you that any suggestions for training events and such that come from outside the CoC and that don't allow them to check readiness boxes are unlikely to happen. He's also not telling you that most of your drill day will be spent trying to look busy or to stay away from the company or battalion area so you don't get shit on for not having anything to do (the secret is most people won't have anything to do but you won't have rank or an office to hide in).

Also some drills may be three days long. And he seems to not have told you about AT (active duty for training) which is the 2 weeks a year you will be put on orders.

>>32651988
Oh, and I forgot one thing: If it's not a combat arms unit, you still have to keep up on your basic soldier skills, and they'll have some shit heel power plant mechanic NCO from the motorpool who can barely speak English run react to contact lanes.

>>32652015
>>32651988

you seem pretty knowledgeable, personal experience? if so, how would you rate it?

>>32652260
>you seem pretty knowledgeable, personal experience?

Yes. Those are all things I encountered in a reserve unit.

>if so, how would you rate it?

Go active duty first.

If you're in a state that gives full benefits like 100% tuition for National Guard troops (it's a state program IIRC) check out the unit first. Tell the recruiter (at least in my experience Natty Guard recruiters are actually part of the unit) you want to come by and check them out during a drill weekend. Talk to a few junior NCOs and junior enlisted.

If it doesn't sound like a shit show it's probably okay.

>>32650935

The biggest catch I would say is that of we do get into another war you are going to be a deployment monkey. The active duty military actually has rules about how long you have to stay in America after getting deployed. So they cant just send you over and over again. The NG doesn't in a lot of cases, or the time is much shorter. There are NG who easily have more deployments than active duty. Also, the rules for extension of deployments are a lot more lax in the NG. Enjoy your 18 month deployment. That one weekend a month thing might turn into the entire childhood of your son or the hot years of your young wife.

>>32652349
Oh yeah, there's this. Early GWOT Natty Guard guys were getting deployed back to back. Because with the Natty Guard and Reserve you can get picked up as an IA/Individual Augmentee and used to fill slots that a deploying Regular Army unit needs. It slowed down as OIF and OEF dragged on, but 2003-2007 there were NG guys in combat arms units pulled for back to back deployments with a month or so home in between.

>>32652369
>>32652349
wow, that sounds really fucking lame. do you guys know anything about the coast guard aswell, btw? is it just as shitty, worse, better?

>>32652382
Coast Guard is completely different because it's not part time. Coast Guard is just like active duty, and are probably more likely to actually do their job. In the military there are a lot of MOS that don't or can't do their actual job in garrison so they just fuck around and do shit outside of MOS skills most of the time. For the Coast Guard they are doing drug interdiction, SAR etc. all the time. And when a war that involves water comes around they can deploy. They can also deploy to train host nations to do customs duties and shit.

>wow, that sounds really fucking lame.

Well at least that got that post 9/11 GI Bill money. For National Guard and Reserve the only way to get it is to deploy. One deployment for a year is only worth about 50-60%.

i really appreciate everyone's advice, thanks a lot guys.

>>32652296
by go active duty first, you mean go into like the army or air force first?

>>32652633
>by go active duty first, you mean go into like the army or air force first?
Whichever branch you want.

But I say that because it's pretty much impossible to go from reserve/guard to AD. Technically it's possible, you get a Conditional Release set up by and AD recruiter and get your chain of command to sign it. In my experience it's not going to happen. My chain of command literally pretended they didn't know who I was when I came to pick up my signed 368 and 4187 (conditional release and personnel action), even though I had literally talked on the phone to the XO about it the week before.

And everyone else I've talked to who tried to do the same thing said something similar.