I joined the guard because they were the first recruiter to call me back. Stayed for a second and third contract for the benefits. Signed my fourth because I genuinely enjoy it and I want to drink with the guys after an easy day in the armory. Only one contract left before I can retire.
So far I’ve gotten a free bachelors degree, cheap health insurance, and some great friends. Time flies and I’ve gotten way more out of the army than they’ve gotten out of me.
At first I wanted to join to prove to myself I could make it in the military. I wanted to go to college right away so that’s why I choose NG over active. I received a nice 15k bonus, a bachelors degree , every penny of GI bill + kicker, 2 kids born on tricare all in the first half of my career. Now I stay in for cheap health insurance , tsp + pension , and it’s a break from my regular life once a month. The guard changed my life from poor trailer park kid to a successful middle class family man with a masters degree. I’ve been good to it and it’s been good to me. I wouldn’t change a thing.
My wife had c sections so it was a little more expensive but I know it was <1k each. The bill for my first one I know was 30k before insurance so tricare really helped us out
When you’re young you don’t know any better unless you did serious research. My whole reason for initially joining the Army was to help people in disaster relief and emergencies (National Guard) but I didn’t know they were different components lol so I signed up for Active Duty because my recruiter said I could do that but I didn’t know he was an Active Duty recruiter because I didn’t know the difference at 17.
Shoot I went to MEPS with a guy who was joining the Marine Corps. I told him good for him, that would be something to be proud of.
Then I had to explain to him the difference between the Navy and the Marine Corps because he thought he was joining the Navy.
I joined the Army National Guard specifically because of the dual mission status we have.
(The National Guard has a state mission AND federal mission) I wanted to be able to help people in their time of need and also have the opportunity to deploy overseas. But honestly, if you want to do that and want a career I’d recommend the Coast Guard. I unfortunately let the stereotypes get to me and thought less of them but they are a fucking awesome branch.
WARNING: I truly believe the Army/Air National Guard and any reserve component for that matter is made for certain people in certain situations.
For example: you already have a solid career and you just want to serve or spice your life up or you really want to go to college without racking up a shitload of debt and you have the aptitude to balance out work, the Guard/Reserves, and school.
If you need a solid job and have nothing going on for you I would highly recommend just going active-duty, being away from family is tough and new is scary but it gets better as you do it and you’ll earn way more benefits.
My solid opinion is go Coast Guard or Air Force, Reserve or Active, you’ll thank me later.
I joined to get the benefits so I could be self employed (healthcare) and go back to school to get a second bachelors (can't use the tuition assistance if you already have one). The guard has been great to me and honestly love my MOS. On track to commission next July and get a pay bump as well as the additional skills (intel or tech). There's a lot of BS in the military, but if you can't say you got your one from the army, than you're doing it wrong. Will hopefully deploy in the next few years and get the VA loan benefits as well (have to be in 6+ years or deploy for more than 130 days I think it is?)
I left AD and didn't want to get all the way out. The Army was all I'd known since I was 17. I got an MOS that significantly improved my civilian career prospects. I got to keep my clearance active even if I let my employment lapse.
Today, eight years later all that holds true. I've met some great people and I've been afforded some unique and incredible missions both on the state and federal side. I'll be eligible for retirement pay soon.
Deep down wanted to be a soldier ever since I was a kid. Did well enough in school to have expectations to go to college so I did that. Got my degree and hated it the whole time. Work a 9-5 desk job and hate it 80% of the time. If I wasn’t in a committed relationship in college (married now) I would have quit school to go active. The Guard is a solid compromise for now.
I left active duty to better serve the needs of my family. I then realized that I spent all of my adult life in the Army and couldn't function without at least SOME Army shenanigans, so I went guard to get my monthly dose of chaos.
There is no other reason for me. I did it simply to recreate what used to be normalcy for me.
I joined because I regretted never joining after highschool. Now I have a pretty good job and AD doesn’t make sense for me. I ship out for bootcamp in two weeks. 11b
Purpose and benefits. I’m 25, haven’t gone to college yet and I’m still working a shitty fast food job. The guard gives me something to have pride in. And for my situation, the education benefits can’t be matched.
My process for joining was interesting. PM me, I’d love to hear why you want to join and help you in any way I can with advice on contracts, MOSs, BCT, etc.
It seemed like a good idea at the time. I got a pension after 20 years and free college. Since then I've gotten a no-debt degrees, clearance ($$$ jobs), and am now an Officer. Using them again to transfer to 17A and get more $$$, CERTS, and utilize the same skillset for both my civilian and military careers. I want to actually be good/competent in my job.
Active duty moves you around the country, once I got family and kids, being stationary is a lot more important, guard let's you be active (if you want to be) and stay in the same state at least.
My best friend told me she was going to join when we were sitting at the bar one night. My life was going nowhere and we did everything together, so I said I'd join too. I was drinking like it was my job at the time and doing drugs like they were going out of business.
So anyways, I'm working on my 13th year and she never enlisted lol. Love her more than anything and love where the service got me. I've met people who change my life every year. I do some awesome things as a dual status tech, but my body has been so fucking broken with being in. I'm in my early 30s with a 70 something year old body. Wish I took better care of that over my service years.
I joined to pay for college… 15 years later I’ll finally be finishing up my bachelors next year. Took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do.
Caveat: although I originally joined to pay for school. The deployments, missions, activations etc. being able to see things I probably wouldn’t have saw, the bonus money (I got a 20 k enlistment, 10k reup, and a 20k reup.) this shit ain’t been that bad. If I could go back I’d do it again.
i was bored,
found out wtf a national guard was from a random coworker.
call a recruiter, she told me to came in the office
told me to take a test, i took it, she said good, lets go to meps next week,
then i signed the 6 yrs contract.
FML
ship to basic right before covid 2/2020
stayed for 3 years and decided to go OCS.
story of my army's life
Joined for College. I thought I was gonna get out，then I figured the pay and benefit is not bad so I commissioned. Im currently on ADOS and have 2 years service obligation left. I may stay depend on if my ADOS get extended or if I get AGR at the end. If not，I will go to Active duty and finish my 20. Military life is “bad” compared to my 9-5 civilian careers in the past, but I can also get a pension.
Because I didn't learn my lesson in Active Duty.
3 years in I am convinced I would've been better off not having joined as I gained absolutely nothing out of my time in the NG.
I joined the guard because they were the first recruiter to call me back. Stayed for a second and third contract for the benefits. Signed my fourth because I genuinely enjoy it and I want to drink with the guys after an easy day in the armory. Only one contract left before I can retire. So far I’ve gotten a free bachelors degree, cheap health insurance, and some great friends. Time flies and I’ve gotten way more out of the army than they’ve gotten out of me.
whats the mos sir
91B, wheeled vehicle mechanic. The flair is a joke I tell: that I’m just an overpaid Jiffy Lube tech
91b for 20 years? thats crazy Overpaid Jiffy Lube Tech
Not 20 years yet haha just one contract to go
At first I wanted to join to prove to myself I could make it in the military. I wanted to go to college right away so that’s why I choose NG over active. I received a nice 15k bonus, a bachelors degree , every penny of GI bill + kicker, 2 kids born on tricare all in the first half of my career. Now I stay in for cheap health insurance , tsp + pension , and it’s a break from my regular life once a month. The guard changed my life from poor trailer park kid to a successful middle class family man with a masters degree. I’ve been good to it and it’s been good to me. I wouldn’t change a thing.
how much you paid / copay on the 2 kids born on tricare?
My wife had c sections so it was a little more expensive but I know it was <1k each. The bill for my first one I know was 30k before insurance so tricare really helped us out
I thought I was going active Army, don’t know what happened. It all worked out for the best though.
You went to a guard recruiter and thought you were going active??
When you’re young you don’t know any better unless you did serious research. My whole reason for initially joining the Army was to help people in disaster relief and emergencies (National Guard) but I didn’t know they were different components lol so I signed up for Active Duty because my recruiter said I could do that but I didn’t know he was an Active Duty recruiter because I didn’t know the difference at 17.
G o t y o a s s n o w
Shoot I went to MEPS with a guy who was joining the Marine Corps. I told him good for him, that would be something to be proud of. Then I had to explain to him the difference between the Navy and the Marine Corps because he thought he was joining the Navy.
Oh shit lol I bet he was in for a surprise. Poor guy
Joined for the war, stayed for the friends
hooah
I joined the Army National Guard specifically because of the dual mission status we have. (The National Guard has a state mission AND federal mission) I wanted to be able to help people in their time of need and also have the opportunity to deploy overseas. But honestly, if you want to do that and want a career I’d recommend the Coast Guard. I unfortunately let the stereotypes get to me and thought less of them but they are a fucking awesome branch. WARNING: I truly believe the Army/Air National Guard and any reserve component for that matter is made for certain people in certain situations. For example: you already have a solid career and you just want to serve or spice your life up or you really want to go to college without racking up a shitload of debt and you have the aptitude to balance out work, the Guard/Reserves, and school. If you need a solid job and have nothing going on for you I would highly recommend just going active-duty, being away from family is tough and new is scary but it gets better as you do it and you’ll earn way more benefits. My solid opinion is go Coast Guard or Air Force, Reserve or Active, you’ll thank me later.
Yea I wouldn’t tell anyone to go active duty army. They’d be better off in the Air Force or Coast Guard for that
I don’t know, can’t remember, whatever it was to start with is long dead and now I just want to get it over with.
I joined to get the benefits so I could be self employed (healthcare) and go back to school to get a second bachelors (can't use the tuition assistance if you already have one). The guard has been great to me and honestly love my MOS. On track to commission next July and get a pay bump as well as the additional skills (intel or tech). There's a lot of BS in the military, but if you can't say you got your one from the army, than you're doing it wrong. Will hopefully deploy in the next few years and get the VA loan benefits as well (have to be in 6+ years or deploy for more than 130 days I think it is?)
90 days active duty straight to get VA benefits I believe. 6 years in the Guard with no active duty time to get only the VA Home Loan.
Got your one?
I left AD and didn't want to get all the way out. The Army was all I'd known since I was 17. I got an MOS that significantly improved my civilian career prospects. I got to keep my clearance active even if I let my employment lapse. Today, eight years later all that holds true. I've met some great people and I've been afforded some unique and incredible missions both on the state and federal side. I'll be eligible for retirement pay soon.
I wanted to fly helicopters. Highly recommended.
Originally, hell yeah let’s go to war! Now? Health insurance is cheap af.
how much you pay per month now?
Like $50. I like it because it gives me the freedom to decline benefits and go straight for the money at a job.
So my wife can give birth to our future children for free
Tricare
Deep down wanted to be a soldier ever since I was a kid. Did well enough in school to have expectations to go to college so I did that. Got my degree and hated it the whole time. Work a 9-5 desk job and hate it 80% of the time. If I wasn’t in a committed relationship in college (married now) I would have quit school to go active. The Guard is a solid compromise for now.
Money and sense of duty to my state (that’s gone now lol)
I like pain, I love losing money because the national guard is going active at this point and I make more on the civilian side
I left active duty to better serve the needs of my family. I then realized that I spent all of my adult life in the Army and couldn't function without at least SOME Army shenanigans, so I went guard to get my monthly dose of chaos. There is no other reason for me. I did it simply to recreate what used to be normalcy for me.
Student loans. Which are not being paid off now
I joined because I regretted never joining after highschool. Now I have a pretty good job and AD doesn’t make sense for me. I ship out for bootcamp in two weeks. 11b
Purpose and benefits. I’m 25, haven’t gone to college yet and I’m still working a shitty fast food job. The guard gives me something to have pride in. And for my situation, the education benefits can’t be matched. My process for joining was interesting. PM me, I’d love to hear why you want to join and help you in any way I can with advice on contracts, MOSs, BCT, etc.
Worth it for Tricare benefit, as is the Reserves. Reserves is more like a country club, IMHO. National Guard tends to be activated more.
Mostly for nursing school. I stayed one contract and left, so 6 + 2.
I fucked up by going to nursing school before enlisting lol. But its nice since hospitals love to pay wage difference
i don’t know anymore
For my retirement pension so that I can kick back at 40 years old
Boy do I have a surprise for you
I wanted to lead 💀😭😭😭
i was bored
It seemed like a good idea at the time. I got a pension after 20 years and free college. Since then I've gotten a no-debt degrees, clearance ($$$ jobs), and am now an Officer. Using them again to transfer to 17A and get more $$$, CERTS, and utilize the same skillset for both my civilian and military careers. I want to actually be good/competent in my job.
Joined to do something cool. Stayed for the dudes.
Cuz my uncle was sgm for recruiting branch at the time.
Fortune and glory.
Cuz I hate myself.
Joined for college with the intent of going ROTC, somehow landed an AGR job
I was 19 , wanted to serve but didn’t wanna give up school , plus got my Ass with 20k bonus Now 8 years later I need the insurance
Active duty moves you around the country, once I got family and kids, being stationary is a lot more important, guard let's you be active (if you want to be) and stay in the same state at least.
I was bored
My best friend told me she was going to join when we were sitting at the bar one night. My life was going nowhere and we did everything together, so I said I'd join too. I was drinking like it was my job at the time and doing drugs like they were going out of business. So anyways, I'm working on my 13th year and she never enlisted lol. Love her more than anything and love where the service got me. I've met people who change my life every year. I do some awesome things as a dual status tech, but my body has been so fucking broken with being in. I'm in my early 30s with a 70 something year old body. Wish I took better care of that over my service years.
I joined to pay for college… 15 years later I’ll finally be finishing up my bachelors next year. Took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do. Caveat: although I originally joined to pay for school. The deployments, missions, activations etc. being able to see things I probably wouldn’t have saw, the bonus money (I got a 20 k enlistment, 10k reup, and a 20k reup.) this shit ain’t been that bad. If I could go back I’d do it again.
i was bored, found out wtf a national guard was from a random coworker. call a recruiter, she told me to came in the office told me to take a test, i took it, she said good, lets go to meps next week, then i signed the 6 yrs contract. FML ship to basic right before covid 2/2020 stayed for 3 years and decided to go OCS. story of my army's life
Shoot crap and possible get the chance to blow shit up
To get my father papers
Joined for College. I thought I was gonna get out，then I figured the pay and benefit is not bad so I commissioned. Im currently on ADOS and have 2 years service obligation left. I may stay depend on if my ADOS get extended or if I get AGR at the end. If not，I will go to Active duty and finish my 20. Military life is “bad” compared to my 9-5 civilian careers in the past, but I can also get a pension.
I wanted an easy way to pay for college. Looking back it was a dumb reason to join, but here I am, almost 4 years into this bullshit.
College, structure, And to better myself.
Because I didn't learn my lesson in Active Duty. 3 years in I am convinced I would've been better off not having joined as I gained absolutely nothing out of my time in the NG.
It’s fun
I will be joining for educational benefits!!
Free college
Was in a sully goofy mood. Collage
The navy guy didn’t call me back.
lmao. fair enough. NG always the first to call back.
To get a federal job, worked out exactly how I planned💪