Anybody in the guard?
 

Got laid-off a couple weeks back and can't find a job worth a shit round here. So I'm thinking about joining the National Guard, going to talk to a recruiter tomorrow. Any input / experiences / advice?

Have you considered the Air national Guard? You pretty much can pick when and where you want to work. All the people I know in the ANG are pretty happy, and deploy when they want to. I'm Acitve Duty Air force though, and pretty happy. My wife is leaving for BMT in november and going to be active duty intellegence operations. She was pretty anti military till I joined, then realized it wasn't so bad.

Army national guard gets activated all the time, and you may spend more time in the mideast than stateside.

~8 years in TX Army Guard. What specific questions do you have?

General advice: Look at Air and Army. Don't pick a unit really far away, unless you will love your job/unit in the long term. Driving a couple hours to drill every month starts to suck after a while.

Visit the unit before you ever sign any paperwork. See what they actually do and meet the people. Talk to lower and higher rank. Some units don't do shit at drill, others like to go to the field alot. Some units keep you until atleast 5 PM every Sunday, it really sucks.

If you are looking for a full time Guard position, aviation usually has the most openings. IIRC, there is a Nation Wide shortage of Commo Warrant Officers, ask about this. Other jobs, AGR, you usually have to know someone, or somebody has to die to get the slot (Counter Drug and HR).

Don't sign up to any service if you aren't prepared to be deployed (Iraq, Afghanistan, or locally). It happens. You can be called back up in IRR for up to 8 total (minus any original enlistment, IE 2*6 is 2 years in the Guard and 6 years in IRR, 6*2 is more common though).

Make sure everything the Recruiter guarantees is on your contract. Written contract over rides spoken contract. Don't let the recruiter tell you what you want to do. Most jobs do not actually transfer to civilian experience, but the Military Experience is good.

That's it off the top of my head.

Chris

Consider whether you want to have to balance civilian careers with the military side. I'm not trying to talk you out of NG/R but you will have to go through the same BCT/AIT and deploy just like the active guys. After all of that training, I know I'd rather do one job versus two.

I would go talk to a recruiter, take the ASVAB/DLAB and see how you do. After you've taken the ASVAB you'll know what jobs you qualify for. If you think you might want to, take the DLAB to gauge your aptitude for learning a foreign language. Do you qualify for a TS clearance? (no bad credit, criminal past, etc?) If so, that opens some extra doors.

Whichever way you go, if you get out at the end of your contract you'll be that much more marketable to employers.

...and get EVERYTHING in writing!!

Well like i said i'm going to talk to the recruiter today. Miatamaniacs pretty much answered a lot of my questions. My "recruiter" is based out of powhatan which is like an hour away, yet there is a post about 20 minutes away but it's in another division or something....should i be talking to him if i won't to be in the closer unit?

I actually started thinking about the guard when i was searching for a mechanics job and found a listing for "Light-Wheel Vehicle Mechanic" in the NG..what are the odds of getting into a position like that and if I do what are the odds of being deployed? i don't mind getting deployed at all in fact I'd probably enjoy it once i was over there (save for the obvious shit like camel spiders :giggle:) Another side note that's not really a major concern but might as well ask... there's a lot of talk on the NG sites/ads for "up to $20,000 signing bonus" what are the factors they look at for giving you a fat check when you sign up?

Lastlty, for now, If I'm "full-time" what will my life entail while stateside....will it be a get up and go to work for 40 a week job like anything else or how exactly will that work?

I'm sure I'll think of more questions to ask before 1 o'clock when i gotta meet my recruiter.

All things being equal, I would just go active duty USAF and be done with it. I think you get a better deal being active duty and the quality of life is best in the USAF. However, if you can swing it... I would go back to college, join ROTC, and go in as an officer. Night and day difference in lifestyle. The military is very much a caste system.

Don't get me wrong, being enlisted has it's own benefits... pay is not one of them, as an officer you make 2x more money. Most of the other benefits are the same and you don't work 2x as hard for 2x the money. The military has some excellent college programs and getting into an inexpensive college using student loans is totally doable.

If you do decide to enlist, take advantage of the educational benefits. I can't think of a reason other than you don't want to travel outside of VA to join the guard. Live a little, go travel, see the world... it's good for you.

Mark

PS - Light Wheel Mechanic = high chance of deployment. F-15 or F-22 Avionics technician = high chance of sitting somewhere safe and working on cool planes. Pick your job carefully, it will shape your career.

MarkP, you said pretty much everything I was going too.

So realistically since I'm probably going to end up being deployed anyway...which like I said I really don't mind... I should probably just go into the "real" armed forces (Navy and Air Force I would have to choose between) As far as pay goes is that something i just need to negotiate the hell out of before signing anything or is that and the "bonuses" all set in stone? I'm not TOO terribly worried about pay, I mean I wouldn't take a shittier job just for a few extra bucks but like I said before, no point in taking less than I can get, right?

Light-wheel-vehicle-mechanic = walking in front of a HMMWV scouting for IEDs...

Also remember that the military considers HMMWVs "light" vehicles, so you'd be working on those, and probably anything else that has or doesn't have wheels (LMTV, 5 ton, etc.)

While deployed (and not necessarily to Iraq) camel spiders won't be among your top 5 concerns. I only saw maybe 2 when I was over, and they left me alone. My guard buddy from AIT just got back from Kosovo after spending a year over there and a three-month trainup before leaving. Don't trick yourself into thinking that NG/R = no deployment..

"Full-time" stateside, I can tell you that being enlisted Army (for me) means PT first thing in the morning, then work an 8 hour day (or, nowadays, 7 hours in class) and go home. Sometimes you might need to pull watch but you'll usually be compensated for your time.

Ok, so after talking to some people and reading what I have here I'm not too excited in the Light wheel mechanic thing anymore, lol. I know that NG doesn't mean no deployment and that's more than fine with me. I'm looking into talking with some people from the AF and Navy now so I can explore all my options before signing up with anybody.

It's set in stone pretty much. There are distinct criteria for which MOSs get what bonus and such, a lot of it comes down to how much effort your recruiter puts forth to find out which different little bonuses you qualify for (high school grad bonus, seasonal bonus, college credit bonus, etc.). Think of it like having your taxes done, the more effort the accountant puts forth to find money the more you get. As far as your pay once you're in goes, that's non-negotiable, the charts are available online (search "[year] military pay")

Also, try to get promoted before going to basic. JROTC experience, college credit, etc. can mean earning some rank before even getting to BCT. I came in as an E3, so I was immediately in about $400 better shape per month than those who came in as an E1.

Joining any branch of the Armed Services (even the Guard) is not something you should do because you're bored or broke. First, you need to decide that giving your life TO (or for) your country is something that you can live with. I'm not talking about the motivation Rambo had in First Blood... but simply he fact that you will have very little control over everything you currently take for granted.

Where you live, what you wear, what you eat, how you speak, the people you live with... basically every aspect of your existence is immediately and dramatically changed in a manner that you have no say in. Some people thrive in an environment like this... some people fail utterly.

I assume you DO NOT have a college degree and are looking at Enlisting, rather than getting a Commission. The job you do in the military will depend on a few things. The first thing is any prior schooling or technical skills you may have... the second is you ASVAB score. If you do poorly, you paint ships or smear grease on tank treads. If you do well, you get to start the reactor or fly in the AWACS. In the end, you have very little say... it all depends on your scores and how many openings there are in each Rating/MO that morning... literally, THAT MORNING.

Take some practice tests to see how you do:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...ctice&aq=f&oq=

You can't negotiate your pay and "contracts" in the end don't mean shit... and they only give bonuses that matter to seriously skilled people. A one-time $20k check is nothing stacked up against signing for 8yrs to end up failing out of Tank-Driver school and living in Oklahoma rebuilding weed-whacker motors for the base Public Works department. If you end up at Nuke Power School, you get a nice fat check... if you end up a cook, you just get to make beans.

Bottom line, no matter what you think, no matter what you sign, no matter what anybody tells you, no matter what papers you hold in your hand saying something... you will do what you're told.

Sounds perfect for me to be honest. I was always interested in the military until I was about 14, then started focusing on cars and the thought never crossed my mind again. I've always strived in a structured environment and think the military would be awesome for me. I've had technical training down at ATI (near you and VA Beach) in automotive tech. I've been labeled as "gifted" since the time I was in second grade in every aptitude test or whatever they made me take, when filling out applications for technical school I was labeled as "extremely mechanically gifted' what all this means i really don't know but figure it may help my chances on the ASVAB tests.

I'm going to talk to the NG recruiter today. Then heading to the Navy and air Force recruiters to talk to them. I'll be enlisted in some branch soon I'm sure.

EDIT: As long as I can use a calculator I forsee absolutely no problems with the ASVAB test based on the link you sent me.

After spending a lot of time with all the services I would recommend the Air Force. There's a couple things that you should do if possible prior to going into the service. Finish college and come in as an officer if you are set on the Army. If that isn't an option, join the Air Force. They treat their people with more respect and are much better organized as an organization.

So I went and talked to a National Guard recruiter today...walked away laughing because he was so much of a joke. Went and talked to the Air Force recruiter and she was phenomenal, answered every question I had HONESTLY gave me all the downsides to everything spelled everything out for me very clearly, gave me a bunch of phone numbers/e-mail addresses of people in the AF to talk to to get a feel for it...I'm going to take the ASVAB test next Tuesday and I'm pretty much 100% set on the Air Force now. Thanks for all of the input though guys. One more question...realistically if I stay on top of my recruiter from now on about getting shit done, how long should it be before I'm in basic training, couple weeks, months, what?

Thanks Again.

college on loans is another option if you're jobless and want something constructive to do. that is if you haven't already done it :)

I retired from the AF in 2005 and now work for them as a civilian. I see you are in central VA. I'm in fayetteville NC. If you would like a tour of the base and would like to meet some AF people that will give you the straight poop, contact me. The AF is more like a 9-5 with a little more discipline. You live well. No 5 am PT and then a long ass day of work. You do 7:30 to 4:30 in most jobs and PT is done during that time. There are some position that do shift work. The AF is all about taking care of their people. The words "quality of life" is a core part of the AF. Single room dorms, great gym, pool, library, club, cheap movies ($2) are all part of the AF way of life. If you want to be a macho killer mofo, don't come in the AF. There are few career fields you can do that (but there are some). I did 23 years and don't regret any of it. I've been around the world time and time again, a few exotic places. Seen things that my country ass never would have, done things I never would have. When I retired I got out and came into my current job (with many more offers) at 74K, plus my retirement check and medical for the rest of my like for pennies. If I had it to do over again I'd do the same thing.

Exactly what I want to hear right now, LOL. Sounds like from everything that friends/family have told me along with the recruiter that I'm going to be VERY happy in the force (if i can get in that is.) Now I hae to decide whether I want to be safe and sign on for two years or say fuck it, sign up for 6 and get the extra dough.

Also, I'll probably take you up on your offer sometime soon.

Pretty sure the AF is minimum 4 year hitch. I recommend 4 year, that way if it's not for you it's a done deal. Oh, recruiters are lying bastards

+1 on by-passing the Guard route and going Active Duty instead.

By the time you complete boot, tech training and the obligatory deployment you'll pull on your first four year hitch, you'll have burned 8 to 18 months of the hitch. Full time will provide at least 4 years employment, medical and college $$$. Afterward you can decide if you want to transfer to the Guard, chase a commission, make it a career or run for the hills. Regardless, you'll have additional marketable skills and some stories to tell...

- L

The AF is a great quality of life, sometimes I wish I was in the AF (secretly, of course :x )

I think the only downside I can think of is that the AF doesn't promote very fast.. that's it.

I've been considering going into the AF post grad school for quite a while now.

I was enlisted AF and I am an officer in the Navy now. Drop me a PM if you like.

Mark

PS - Enlisted USAF > Navy > Army > Marines!

I was a 6 year wonder, I highly recommend it. It's easy to do 6 year and I am NOT a military person by nature.

Samnavy made some great points and although I disagree with what some of SamNavy said you should consider his advice carefully.

Here is where we diverge slightly, "Joining any branch of the Armed Services (even the Guard) is not something you should do because you're bored or broke." <- This is precisely why I joined, I was broke, they offered the best deal! Probably the best accident that ever happened to me, it's not like prison camp or anything (especially USAF).

and want to clarify this:

"The job you do in the military will depend on a few things. The first thing is any prior schooling or technical skills you may have... the second is you ASVAB score. If you do poorly, you paint ships or smear grease on tank treads. If you do well, you get to start the reactor or fly in the AWACS. In the end, you have very little say... it all depends on your scores and how many openings there are in each Rating/MO that morning... literally, THAT MORNING."

Mostly true, UNLESS, you score a 95 AFQT or better on the ASVAB, then you are suddenly "exceptionally well qualified" as an applicant and you get to have a little more input into your actual job, EVEN with the USAF which is notorious for not giving a guaranteed job. Navy will offer to send you to Nuke school (just remember the high failure rate before you sign any papers and what the consequences of failure are.)

"You can't negotiate your pay and "contracts" in the end don't mean shit... and they only give bonuses that matter to seriously skilled people. A one-time $20k check is nothing stacked up against signing for 8yrs to end up failing out of Tank-Driver school and living in Oklahoma rebuilding weed-whacker motors for the base Public Works department. If you end up at Nuke Power School, you get a nice fat check... if you end up a cook, you just get to make beans."

Some more clarification:

You can negotiate some things (like the USAF 6 year wonder program where you get 2 stripes for a 6 year commitment). I think you should consider this for several reasons.

1. That extra money helps out in the beginning

2. You'll have enough time to get a degree done if you focus on that goal, the first 2 years get sucked up with OJT and learning the ropes enough to manipulate the system and gaining a little rank.

3. Whether you realize it or not, ALL enlistments have an 8 year clause in them where you are still beholden to the government. Yes, technically you might be on inactive reserve but contractually they have you.

Job Advice

1. (If and when you have input in the process) When considering a career field, give thought to civilian world equivalence. Being a BB Stacker (bomb loader) is not as lucrative as being an avionics technician, which is not as lucrative as being a computer programmer when you get out an want to look for a job.

2. Find a job with a high security clearance, these are worth gold when you get out. When giving security references pick the most boring and nicest people you know... Don't give them the name of anyone who witnessed a tequila fueled table dance that you'd prefer not to remember.

3. Do not be an SP (Police) and if you have a high enough ASVAB insist on a guaranteed job on entrance. Some jobs require additional testing and if you want in fast you'll have to forgo those jobs (Computer Programmer, Computer Operator, Linguist are some of them.)

4. If you can't get guaranteed job, then guaranteed area is not a bad second option. Say if you want electronics... You might be able to go that route... avoid going open general unless you're a naturally lucky person and do prepare for the ASVAB, that score is important. You can be excluded from cool jobs because of it.

Mark

Hmm, I didn't know USAF and Navy don't necessarily get to pick their jobs. In the Army, as long as you qualify for it, everyone picks their own MOS and it's put in the contract.

I don't know if this differs at all, but you can change your MOS (with new commitment, of course) in the Army if you don't like it. I'm going from 35F to 35P right now, assuming I survive DLI...

If you sign up for 6 years in the AF and you qualify for a certain job, they can gauarantee it. I signed up for 6 years back in 2004, I just made E-5 SSgt and I hit my 4 year mark in Sept. As for the bonuses, not all jobs give you one. It depends on the job's SRB code 1 being 6k bonus and a 5 ending up to be 60k. Jobs that are really rare like Air traffic controller, aerial gunner and Aerial Refueler (Boom Operator) have the higher SRB codes. No Jobs in the maintanence world have any bonuses as of June 04.

If you sign up, you will be put in the Delayed Entry Progam (DEP) for 1-6 months. Be sure to score as high as you can on the ASVAB. More jobs will open up to you with better career opportunities in civilian life. The Benifits alone are worth the time serving.

People also throw some bomb ass parties. Well, on the maintanence side of things. LoL.

+1

The best parties I was ever a part of were maintenance parties. We would get hammered... I was an avionics tech, and we partied hard! Great job, I loved working on planes.

Mark

Another question I had, how often can I expect to be able to come home 9not that I'll necessarily want to once I'm there but always nice to know) Especially since I'll have to leave my pup (about a year old) with my mom for the next couple years until I've got a place i can have him with me. I assume I can have at least one vehicle (the miata if i only get one, lol) while I'm living on base right?

If your single, you will live in the Dorms until you've been in for 3 years and then you can move off base. No pets allowed in the Dorms exept fish. You can have as many cars as you want. If you get married, you can have up to 3 pets on base housing or off base and have as many cars as you want. You will get 30 days of paid vacation every year. About 2.5 days every month. Plus all the holidays and there are down days. These things will change some if you get stationed overseas tho.

You don't necessarily have to live in the dorms for 3 years. It depends on where you are stationed and dorm occuancy rate. At Pope AFB in NC, after about a year, most are given the option to move off base. Also, in the AF, most bases have single occupancy dorms, i.e, no roomate. The AF does not limit possessions. The AF is not that much into you personeal life. Show up when and where you are suppose to and don't break the law and the AF is happy, just like with civilian jobs...oh, and it's no longer "SP" it has been SF (Aecurity Forces) for years now.

I can tell you right now, that dorm occupancy is not full. BTW Pope AFB is no longer active.

What do you mean by "dorm occupancy is not full"? As in I will be in a dorm because they aren't full?

When the dorms are full they let you move off base and pay you extra money for rent and food. Dorms here are almost always full so mostly the newbies stay there

This is true at a lot of bases, all i can tell you is make sure you get a guarenteed job And dont pick SF, also ive been in maintenance for 2 years now, try not to get crew chief, im 2a6x6 Electrical and environmental specialist and its not to bad

When am I going to find out for sure if they are going to take me at all or not? I go Tuesday to take my ASVAB but other than that I really haven't had a chance to talk to the recruiter much about a time line of things yet.

I dont remember exacty how things went, but i think you take your asvab, and then you tell your recruiter what jobs you want from a list of things you qualify for and then after he finds you a guarenteed one, you go into the dep proggram until you ship out,then you have to go to meps to get your physical, then go to basic

Crew Chief - not so great (but not bad if you're really sharp either.) Think of it as chief mechanic for an aircraft (without the glory.)

3C0x2 <- Good Job, Computer Programmer
2A3x1 <- Avionics F-15/A-10/U-2, I loved it.

F-15 is much nicer to work on than F-16. Some planes are wonderful to work on and some suck ass. The F-15 is a maintenance persons dream compared to many others.

Here is a list of jobs:

http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0105/38_CareerField.pdf

Mark

I immagine, i work on b-52 h modelshere is what i work on

I am a:
2A651 Aerospace propulsion Journeyman. (Jet Engine mechanic) I consider it the best job out of all the maintanence careers. Great job outlook on the outside too. I work out of Test Cell and we run uninstalled motors on the test stand and run in full burner.
Pratt&Whitney FTL
GE FTW!!!

Attachment 211365

Working on Heavies isnt bad at all(ie KC-135R, C-5, C-17, and C-17's). I perfer heavies much more. Way easier to work on than the F-15, but nowhere near the F-22. F-22 is crazy easy to work on.

At Robins AFB, the dorms weren't full and you were put on a waiting list to move off base, usually at your 3 year mark. Same here at Nellis AFB. At Korea, you can be Staff/Tech Sgt and still be in the dorms.

B-52 FTL. Too many TF-33's to worry about... and you guys in barksdale have a ton of them.

Yes, the 22 is crazy easy to work on... Depends on your job of course... as people have stated B-52 FTL !!!(although it's a remarkable aircraft) For avionics, the F-15 is a dream... pulling motors is a different story, but still not horrible.

3 cam locks and you are into the avionics bay in the F-15... 62 screws later you are in the same bay for the F-16. LOL 3 Cam Locks > 62 aircraft screws!

Nellis is a cool base.

Mark

I agree, however i didnt have the choice, plus its close to home [granbury ,Tx] but the buff isnt that bad for us electricians,plus i hate how loud fighters always are when they stay at our base, Im glad im not at a base full of them

Yea, Nellis is really loud and annoying when theres the Green and Red Flag exercises. LoL. Are you chillin back on your 4 day weekend... FTW!!!

Oh yes, yesterday we packed up at 11, had a flight bowling party and now i dont gotta be back until tuesday.. I've been needing to get outside and work on my car (either one i need to work on both) but I just dont feel like getting up haha

They robbed me of my Friday off, lol. Mandatory study hall in the morning and driver training for everyone under 26 in the afternoon.. and I turn 26 in a month!

Thats retarded

Yup. I'm going to be studying all weekend too, just to get ahead in class. I just resent it being mandatory and on post.

Thats good, and yeah i hate when stuff is mandatory. I'm sure you've said before, but what kind of training are you studying for?

Take a gander at my avatar and guess, lol..

Arabic :)

fuck that

Don't throw any frogs in there. :bowrofl:

Chris

agree. Me trying to pronounce the letter "'ayn" (ع‎) = fail. :bang:

Ew, that sucks lol.

No frogs but we do have Lizards galore.. I've seen them get sucked down the exhuast tube before. That shit is hilarious.

Arabic..really. My younger sister is in the Navy and I believe is learning arabic too in Monterey. Part of her Tech School.

Lets talk great for a resume. Wish I knew Arabic.

Cool, campus is damn small so chances are we've seen each other around.

I wish I did too, it sure would make class easier. ;) It moves at a very fast pace. We've just learned the alphabet and numbers, and we can already form very simple sentences and recognize select words from arabic TV channels.

Just got home from taking my ASVAB today. My "unverified" score was 92. The recruiter says I will have the official score by next Tuesday, but that the score I got tonight was the MINIMUM score and it can only go up from that. What kind of position does this put me in for jobs in the air force?

AFQT? 92 ought to qualify you for everything, good job.

You can get any job you want with a score like that.

Fuckin - a. Sweet, thanks guys..did a lot better than I thought, I was kinda nervous seeing as I haven't done any math since 10th grade (5 years ago)

Just put intellegence operations (1N0X1)as your number one choice (they really need intel people right now, and its what my wife is going to tech school for in january.) They make tons of money on the civilian side. And you will get a TS clearence.

TS = Money with many companies. Usually about 20K more a year with a TS over a Secret.

I'm Security Forces in the Air force, and going to be a Combat Arms Training Instructor in January. Can't wait to hit the riverwalk (river crawl) in san antonio again.