Army national guard families- talk to me

[GreenGranolaMama]

I've been thinking about joining the guard for a little while now... I have student loans due and have the option of deferring them for another year. I am hoping to find a part time job in my field (public health) but if not, I need to find a way to help pay the bills, because DH's income isn't going to be able to cover it all.

What is the commitment like? What are the benefits? What are the drawbacks?
Looking for any and all information and opinions. If this were something I would do, it wouldn't be for another year or so.

I also have asthma- is that a big deal? I know my friends who went into the military were able to get wavers for this and that. Thank you so much for any info!

[notneb]

For me, the big thing to look at is how your family would cope with you being deployed. A friend of mine is in the national guard and will be deployed to Afghanistan for about 9 months later this year and I know it is heartbreaking for her to be away from her little girl for so long.

How would you cope with being on the opposite side of the world from your DS for months? Does your DH have the job flexibility to step in to the primary caregiver role for an extended period of time? Do you have a strong network of family and friends who could support your family in your absence? Deployment is really tough emotionally on the whole family, particularly when the one leaving is the primary caregiver for the children.

If you think your family can work through that, the military offers a lot of great benefits, including of course the help with your student loans.

[mntnmom]

My DH is active duty, but was guard for years. Talks about going back to the guard because he likes the general mindset better. But you must assume you will deploy. You could get lucky. In different times guardsmen(and women) have worked long successful careers and never been away for more than a couple months. But I have met multiple families uprooted because they chose to more with an activated soldier, and even more soldiers who left their family behind for 18mnths or more.
The asthma *could* be a big deal. Depending on your skills and their need, sometimes waivers are easier or more difficult to get.

[LCB]

Well, I can give you a look at the other side...the spouse of a guardsman. My DH is guard. His unit is not often deployed so he has not been gone overseas yet. However, there are other things to consider. If you do well and move up the ranks, there can be multiple week stints for training for new positions. My DH has been gone for 6 weeks three separate times in three years. That's in addition to his two weeks a year of regular duty. There are some great programs for student loan repayment and other things of that nature, but you just have to be sure that's it worth it to you. As the pp's have said, it also depends on what your job is inside the guard.

[kristenok18]

Dh is AGR (active guard/reserve), and was in the guard before going back to active duty.

Your experience in the guard is really going to depend on your field. Have you talked to a recruiter? Depending on what you do in public health, you might have the opportunities to be directly commissioned as an officer (nurse, pa, etc.). But whatever they tell you, double check and triple check. Most recruiters are good guys/gals, but we've run into a couple that will tell you whatever to get you in, and then you find out after getting in that you aren't even eligible for whatever bonus/benefit you were promised. Also don't let someone tell you that you won't deploy. You might end up in a unit that never ends up deploying, but when we have troops in war zones, I think it is irresponsible to say that you'll never deploy. You know, the old "never say never" phrase!

Our experience in the guard has been mostly positive. The once a month pay was nice, as guard we also were allotted a certain number of commissary visits a year, and the two weeks in the summer weren't awful. There are times when you'd have to go to longer courses (for advancement, etc), but we didn't find those too awful. It was definitely harder on dh to be away from us than it was for us to have him gone. Dh had all of his student loans from his undergrad degree paid off (although he didn't realize the repayment was taxable, oops!).

HTH!

I forgot to mention: a big draw for us were the retirement benefits. If you were to stay in a full 20, or go even longer, the benefits (retirement and health) are pretty good.

[shayinme]

Originally Posted by notneb

For me, the big thing to look at is how your family would cope with you being deployed. A friend of mine is in the national guard and will be deployed to Afghanistan for about 9 months later this year and I know it is heartbreaking for her to be away from her little girl for so long.

How would you cope with being on the opposite side of the world from your DS for months? Does your DH have the job flexibility to step in to the primary caregiver role for an extended period of time? Do you have a strong network of family and friends who could support your family in your absence? Deployment is really tough emotionally on the whole family, particularly when the one leaving is the primary caregiver for the children.

If you think your family can work through that, the military offers a lot of great benefits, including of course the help with your student loans.

I think that the possibility of being deployed and how you and your family would cope is the biggest thing I would consider. It's been something I have thought of us as a way of dealing with my student loans but the idea of being away from my family is just not something we could handle. We have no family support so in our case it would not work. But it could work for you.

[KSLaura]

Commitments: Once you sign an enlistment document, you are commited for that length of time. If you go the officer route, you are in until you resign and they accept your resignation.

Benefits: More money

Drawbacks: You will attend basic training for 8 weeks. Will your child wean during this time? Is your spouse prepared to continue with all baby-rearing activities? It is likely that you will be deployed for at least one year during your enlistment. It won't be any easier to be away from your child 2 or 3 years from now.

DH has been in the NG/reserves for 20 years and I was in for 8 years. We have both been to Iraq. You'll never know how hard it is until you are getting on a plane, wondering if you will ever see your family again...