think I'm joining the Army National Guard.

[Atkins]

I think Im going to be doing the 6 by 2 plan with the National Guard. It'll work out good because I'll be in school and only have to commit 1 weekend a month, 2 weeks a year after basic, get a $15-20k signing bonus, have all my tuition and expenses for school paid for(i'll only have to pay for books), and on top of that the G.I. bill will give me $675 a month spending money while enrolled in school. Plus I get to serve my country and be there if they need me. Im also really excited because I'll be able to still go to college and live at home.

Sound like a good idea?

skrilla!

[400exrules]

Originally posted by Atkins
I think Im going to be doing the 6 by 2 plan with the National Guard. It'll work out good because I'll be in school and only have to commit 1 weekend a month, 2 weeks a year after basic, get a $15-20k signing bonus, have all my tuition and expenses for school paid for(i'll only have to pay for books), and on top of that the G.I. bill will give me $675 a month spending money while enrolled in school. Plus I get to serve my country and be there if they need me. Im also really excited because I'll be able to still go to college and live at home.

Sound like a good idea?

if you have watched ''off to war'' on discovery times channel, you would know that the 2 weeks a year is BS. the show is a documentary about a group of national guard from arkansas that were activated and spent a year in iraq. so dont get too happy about the 1 weekend a month, 2 weeks a year

[bansheeguy]

15-20k sign on bonus??? do you mean 1,500-2,000?

[quads14589]

my dad was in it in the 70's and he said it was some hard Sh*** at the end of ur traing course or at the end of how many years you want to serve you have to run like a 12 mile course in like 2 hours.

[Hondadudeehhhh]

Originally posted by bansheeguy
15-20k sign on bonus??? do you mean 1,500-2,000?

no he mean 15-20k. The national guard seems legit to me. You may be sent to Iraq and you may not be, if you are then you're doing a good service. The national guard's main duty is to protect the country (hurricanes, riots, ect.) I have considered it and still have 2 years to make up my mind. I was thinking the 4 year contract for me.

[Atkins]

Originally posted by Hondadudeehhhh
no he mean 15-20k. The national guard seems legit to me. You may be sent to Iraq and you may not be, if you are then you're doing a good service. The national guard's main duty is to protect the country (hurricanes, riots, ect.) I have considered it and still have 2 years to make up my mind. I was thinking the 4 year contract for me.

I wouldnt mind going to Iraq if they need me. I would just hope they would use up ther resources of full time enlisted service men and women before they pull me out of college to go, thats all I can ask for.

Anyways, I'm treating myself to a GSXR-600 if I do sign up, then I'll bank the rest. The money doesn't mean too much to me.

[Allen]

My brother has been in the Gaurd for 18yrs.....no real complaints from him

[400exrules]

Originally posted by quads14589
my dad was in it in the 70's and he said it was some hard Sh*** at the end of ur traing course or at the end of how many years you want to serve you have to run like a 12 mile course in like 2 hours.

i think thats the marines, its called ''the crucible''

[ak_stick]

Alot of the guard is what you put into it,

Yes, you can do 1weekend a month 2 wks a year. Or you can be like me, and do it 4 days a week (10hr days tho), 1 wkd a month, and the 2wks a year.

Yes, you can and often do get deployed, right now there are more guard and reserve units than active duty in iraq. Including my unit.


Rememer, you might get between 15-20K depending on your job, but your taxed on that as un-earned income, so your not gonna walk away with that much. I was lucky that most of my bonus was paid to me while I was in iraq, hence tax free.

On school, yes, they'll pay your tuition, and often books too, but read the fine print, in many cases, if you get the GI bill, you are not elligable for the Guard Tuition reimbursment program..... or vise versa, per your state...... That is what I had in mind when I joined my unit. Since then I've been at home for a grand total of 5 months in 2 years, and spent three months in haiti, and almost 10 in Iraq on deployements.

Yes, you have to do a long road march in the end of basic training, and after some schools (airbone, air assualt, ranger, ect) But its not all that difficult after all of basic...

All in all its a pretty good deal, but there are some pretty bad units to get into, depends on your MOS you might be gone alot like me, or you might get one of the lax units that give the guard a bad rap...

[quads14589]

nope its not the marines he was in the national guard.

[ak_stick]

Yes, at the end of basic, you have Victory Forge, a 4-6 day exercise that cumlinates in a 10 mile roadmarch to your barracks.

When you get out, you dont have to do a road march or anything, what are they gonna keep you if you cant do it?

[Atkins]

Originally posted by ak_stick
Yes, at the end of basic, you have Victory Forge, a 4-6 day exercise that cumlinates in a 10 mile roadmarch to your barracks.

When you get out, you dont have to do a road march or anything, what are they gonna keep you if you cant do it?

Yea, I'm definitely not worried about basic at all, and I don't think I'll mind being in the sandbox, but I just dont want to get screwed with college and everything. Idk, Im going to read and reread my contract over and over again before I sign it for sure.

[Atkins]

I was just thinking about it, and since Im going to college shouldnt I do some ROTC program and be an officer after school? Would I be guarenteed not to be deployed while in school or how would that work, and would I make less money?

[ugottabayou]

I'm considering the Air National Guard. I like the idea of going to college WHILE serving and still earning money for an education. I hate it when people say the army and air national guards are just wannabe army and airforce. Have some respect for the people who are actually serving and doing something. They are still important to our country. If the people were wannabe air force or army, then that is what they would join instead of the guards. My family has a friend that is a band teacher, and is in the guard as part of the governor's band. He just finished his 20th year in service, and can retire! Seems like a good choice to me...

Whatever you decide to do, good luck!

[csimp3]

i wont say do it or dont, but let me say this, if school is whats important to you, then this may not be the best decision, my buddy is in the national guard, he has been signed up and registered for college twice, and both times right before school started he has gotten deployed, he is now in kuwait, so if you want to go to school right away, you may wanna hold off on the army

Originally posted by csimp3
i wont say do it or dont, but let me say this, if school is whats important to you, then this may not be the best decision, my buddy is in the national guard, he has been signed up and registered for college twice, and both times right before school started he has gotten deployed, he is now in kuwait, so if you want to go to school right away, you may wanna hold off on the army same thing happened to my friend. he was actually able to complete this semester though

[Atkins]

this is more important to me then school for sure. im going to try to ballance the two but if i get called up halfway through a semester, no hard feelings. im being realistic about the situation, im 99.9% sure ill be in Iraq within the next 1.5-2 years.

well im 17, and my parents signed off last night, now its all on me. change of plans, im going Army Reserve now, theres just way more MOSs. My ASQT test score on the asvabt was a 94, and i dont have a criminal record(save a few underage operation of a recreational vehicle charges) so i think im going Military Intelligence if there's job openings. If there isnt any openings in that, then i dont know what im going to do, but i chose tonight what my MOS will be and i sign the final papers tonight too aswell. MEPS on Saturday(think the magic grass is out of the system by now, chugging water like crazy) and then i get shipped within the month i believe. Basic is 2 months and change, then MI MOS school is like 6 months, so i'll be gone fore a while.

[96lapis coupe]

Be carefull, and be prepared to be deployed.....my brother-in-law is on his second 18 month deployment in 4 years, he'll be in Iraq until March of next year....Iowa National Guard. Good luck.