Well, guys, I just enlisted in the national guard. I take my asvab next Tuesday, go the meps Wednesday, and then I'll be sworn in later that night :) I can't wait. I'm really looking forward to this.

HOOAH!!!!!

Go Active Duty.

Go Active Duty.

I agree. I believe you can do a two year active duty and get a good deal of benefits for it. Also, what state's guard and what MOS are you trying for?

You Air Guard, or Army? Depending on where you live, you could get a civilian/contractor job with your clearance, and make as much, or even more than going active duty. Being in the Guard is actually pretty good, but it depends on your situation, to determine whether you should go active or guard.

I agree. I believe you can do a two year active duty and get a good deal of benefits for it. Also, what state's guard and what MOS are you trying for?

lol "2 year active duty"

Try "2 years active followed by 6 years active duty." In the business, I guess they call that stop-loss.

I probably should have pointed this out earlier. An enlistment is 8 years. No matter what. Generally, you're active for however many years you "sign up for", which is generally 4. You spend the remainder of your time "inactive" meaning you're basically a reservist without any monthly training. They can re-activate you at any time.

However, in the national guard, you're not going to be guarding the nation of the United States, either. Better chance of going to Iraq than active duty.

At least, that's what the numbers say.

lol "2 year active duty"

Try "2 years active followed by 6 years active duty." In the business, I guess they call that stop-loss.

I probably should have pointed this out earlier. An enlistment is 8 years. No matter what. Generally, you're active for however many years you "sign up for", which is generally 4. You spend the remainder of your time "inactive" meaning you're basically a reservist without any monthly training. They can re-activate you at any time.

However, in the national guard, you're not going to be guarding the nation of the United States, either. Better chance of going to Iraq than active duty.

At least, that's what the numbers say.

Adding to this, your time in before Basic counts towards your time inactive duty status.

However, in the national guard, you're not going to be guarding the nation of the United States, either. Better chance of going to Iraq than active duty.

At least, that's what the numbers say.

In the Air Force, guardsmen don't deploy more than active duty. Sometimes, guardsmen even deploy less than active duty. In the Army, I believe guard guys are deployed for less time than active, at least for now, but I don't know whether army guard deploys more often than active duty. Last I heard, the guard is bigger than the active duty component, so that could explain as to why you see more guard guys in the desert, than active duty.

I agree. I believe you can do a two year active duty and get a good deal of benefits for it. Also, what state's guard and what MOS are you trying for?

Indiana State National Guard, Army, and 25 uniform. I would like to go active duty but I'm in school right now, but I plan on going active after I finish school. By that time, I'll be a commissioned officer because I'm going to go through ROTC.

And to all the people who said, "have fun in iraq", etc. I don't care if I get deployed. I enlisted knowing damn well there is a good chance I will be deployed to Iraq. If I get deployed, I get deployed. End of story.

Don't they have a program where you are guaranteed no federal deployment for 2 years if you are a fulltime college student?

Trueborn: The time you spend in the Individual Ready Reserve after your tour of duty has nothing to do with stop loss as far as I know. Stop loss is an extension of active duty or deployment, not the eight years total everyone spends as a part of the IRR.

It doesn't mean anything, really. You don't drill or answer to anyone, etc. From what I hear, no one is ever pulled from IRR to serve.

That is exactly what I meant. You enlist for two years and NEVER come off active duty. This has happened to four people I know personnally, and I have heard stories of others being activated from IRR as well as knowing one person to whom this happened. Fortunately, he's out now.

Yeah.

Oh.
Okay, then.
Thanks.