Army Reserve or Army National Guard?

Damien435

Active member
Pretty simple question here, which would be better for a college student? The Reserve or the Guard? I will try to be brief is giving you my current predicament and will consider all you guys and gals have to say. As a large number of the members of this forum have in one way or another been in the military I value your opinions quite heavily. Anyways, my situation, I start college next fall (depending on the length of training, I may miss the first semester of college but I am already one year behind so no biggy.) and since I just found out that I can join the Guard or Reserve while attending ROTC I would very much like to do that, plus they both have outstanding financial aid to give out. If I join the Reserve about my only option is 31B (Military Police) because that unit is only 60 miles away and I definetly don't want to be a chemical engineer. If I join the Guard My options are 91W (Medic) and 31B (Military Police, again.). If I go MP there is a very real chance that I will miss my first semester of College because of the length of training, if I go Medic it is a sure thing I will miss the first semester BUT with the amount of college credits I could get for Medic and the number I have from AP classes I might be able to make up for that first semester. Cost is an issue here, in order to get the Montgomery GI Bill I must be MOS qualified which means I have to do Basic and AIT before I start schooling. Both the Reserve and the Guard say they give more money than the other, from what I can see the Guard does actually offer more money because I can get state money in addition to Federal money. I have to make a decision within the next couple of weeks so your wise words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.
 
The main difference between the National Guard and the Reserve is that if you join the Guard you belong the the state in which you join, in your case I presume S. Dakota, and you can be called to active duty by the governor of the State in State emergencies, or be called up by the federal government if they chose to. If you join the Reserve you only have to worry about the latter. Choice of the units to join is altogether another matter, as you have pointed out. One thing to note, MP units are in big demand in Iraq and unlike previous conflicts are now on the "front lines" so to speak.
 
As the good LTC mentioned, MPs are in great demand right now, and in the Guard there are more ways to be yanked out of the civvie grind.

Right now, I'm a freshman in college, in the Reserve, and in the process of contracting with ROTC. Since I knew I could not contract as a freshman under the Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP), I enlisted under the "split-option" path, where I went to basic last summer, and "will go" to AIT this summer. This does two great things: 1) I cannot be deployed during my first year of college since I'm not MOS qualified, and 2) I can skip AIT altogether since my reserve unit knows I will be a cadet in the fall and they won't waste funds to send me. I really had to dig myself and I had a trustworthy recruiter to show me that I could go this way.

So, my point is that you need to figure out your priorities, which to me looks like non-deployability (due to being in college), and money/cost. To cover the deployability, I highly recommend split-option enlistment, and to cover the cost, spend your freshman year working with ROTC to get a contract ready to start the first day of your sophomore year, and make sure your unit knows NOT to send you to AIT.

Ultimately, if cost outweighs everything else, don't even enlist, just go straight for the ROTC contract/scholarship. However, SMP cadets get invaluable training in a real unit, far away from the BS that in inherent in some ROTC units. Don't make the mistake of thinking you're better than non-SMP cadets because you know a little more about being a Soldier than others while in ROTC. Learn the Army values and you'll see why.

$0.02
Good luck
 
tomtom22 said:
The main difference between the National Guard and the Reserve is that if you join the Guard you belong the the state in which you join, in your case I presume S. Dakota, and you can be called to active duty by the governor of the State in State emergencies, or be called up by the federal government if they chose to. If you join the Reserve you only have to worry about the latter. Choice of the units to join is altogether another matter, as you have pointed out. One thing to note, MP units are in big demand in Iraq and unlike previous conflicts are now on the "front lines" so to speak.
The federal government can only call you up with the governors permission. If you join the Guard
 
Cadet, it helps to know who you are correcting before you go ahead and do it. Hint: look at tomtom's profile.
 
Damien435 said:
Pretty simple question here, which would be better for a college student? The Reserve or the Guard? I will try to be brief is giving you my current predicament and will consider all you guys and gals have to say. As a large number of the members of this forum have in one way or another been in the military I value your opinions quite heavily. Anyways, my situation, I start college next fall (depending on the length of training, I may miss the first semester of college but I am already one year behind so no biggy.) and since I just found out that I can join the Guard or Reserve while attending ROTC I would very much like to do that, plus they both have outstanding financial aid to give out. If I join the Reserve about my only option is 31B (Military Police) because that unit is only 60 miles away and I definetly don't want to be a chemical engineer. If I join the Guard My options are 91W (Medic) and 31B (Military Police, again.). If I go MP there is a very real chance that I will miss my first semester of College because of the length of training, if I go Medic it is a sure thing I will miss the first semester BUT with the amount of college credits I could get for Medic and the number I have from AP classes I might be able to make up for that first semester. Cost is an issue here, in order to get the Montgomery GI Bill I must be MOS qualified which means I have to do Basic and AIT before I start schooling. Both the Reserve and the Guard say they give more money than the other, from what I can see the Guard does actually offer more money because I can get state money in addition to Federal money. I have to make a decision within the next couple of weeks so your wise words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

The Guard will give you more money because of the state and fed benefits (but remember that Fed benefits are on a first come, first serve basis. They only have so much money they give).

What is your end goal? Do you want to finish college and get your commission or do you want to finish college and enlist, or just serve your six year term in the Guard/Reserves and be done?

What job do you think you would enjoy more 31B or 91W? Also, back to my first question, what's your end goal, where would you like to see yourself (if you decide to continue with the military) in five years?

C/2Lt Henderson said:
The federal government can only call you up with the governors permission. If you join the Guard

Negative. The Federal government can call up the National Guard (under USC Title 10) at any time, without the governors permission. They serve under the command of the National Command Authority, POTUS and SECDEF.

USC Title 32 puts them under the command of the governor, whether they're supporting the state, or they've been called up for the Federal government, under this title they're still under the command of the governor.



 
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My goal in five years is to have a commission in the Army in the infantry. My recruiters have told me that doing that shouldn't be a problem as infantry officers are in high demand right now. Along those lines I am going for a History major in college because an officer needs to be able to handle delicate situations and must have at the very least a basic understanding of the history of the people they are being sent to fight/protect.

And about the split-option path, Maytime, I considered it but I really don't think that would work well for me, I am joining the Guard or Reserve not only to serve my country but also because the GI Bill would help greatly. I can tell you from my personal experience that if I work during college I will drop out, I will try to get more and more hours at work and lose focus on college. If I join the Guard or Reserve I will still have to do the one weekend a month but I will not be working during the week, which is huge because it means I will have fewer distractions from my school work.

Also, does anyone know about how many credits I would get from my college for the medic training? Just ballpark it if you could. 4, 12, 16? If it's enough to make up for missing that first semester than I think I will go Medic with few second thoughts.

A few more things. A.) I feel guilty about accepting money from either the Guard or the Reserves for College, even though the DoD has like $500 billion to play with I still feel guilty about taking a few thousands dollars, but not guilty enough that I wouldn't do it and B.) I have been working with the Army recruiters for two years now and I would feel pretty bad if I bailed on them now and joined the Guard and finally C.) The South Dakota Army National Guard is all over SDSU, where I will be going to school, would it cause any problems with them if I joined the Reserve instead of the Guard?
 
Damien435 said:
but also because the GI Bill would help greatly.
True, and since I am not MOSQ'd I cannot get the GI Bill, but there is still TA up to $4500/yr, which is not that bad if the school isn't too expensive like mine (U of Idaho).

As for the credits for training, I beleive you have to CLEP out of them, and they may have to count towards your degree.

For the working during college, I totally agree that one weekend a month is less distracting than work during the week. However, if that weekend falls on a particularly schoolwork heavy time, Rescheduled Training (RST) is a must, but not always guaranteed, and on short notice can be thrown out altogether. I'm a mechanical engineering student, and my schoolwork comes at me faster than I can get an RST approved, so I get the short end of the stick if there's a conflict.

Haha one more thing; don't feel bad about hurting a recruiter's feelings, they understand that people have limits to what they are willing to do or how far they are willing to travel for drill, and as long as you don't totally tell them off, they won't think less of you. Most of them are decorated combat vets so they won't be too offended.

Hope that helps
Good luck
 
Well, I do know that there is more money in the NG right now...I think it was up to $20,000 for joining with a Top 10 MOS...And $10,000 for enlistment.
 
C/2Lt Henderson said:
Well, I do know that there is more money in the NG right now...I think it was up to $20,000 for joining with a Top 10 MOS...And $10,000 for enlistment.
Can you cite a source for this one also? You were quite wrong on your previous post.
 
C/2Lt Henderson said:
Well, I do know that there is more money in the NG right now...I think it was up to $20,000 for joining with a Top 10 MOS...And $10,000 for enlistment.

I think the better way to word it is to say there's more opportunity for money in the NG right now. Not everyone is going to want those top 10 MOSes or some of the other MOSes that have the 10K bonuses.

The Reserves isn't offering as much as the NG in terms of bonuses, I believe their cap is 10K at this time.

So, there is more opportunity to get more money in the NG as opposed to the reserves, but just how much money you get is in how much you're willing to settle on the fine print that comes along with it.

Damien435 said:
Also, does anyone know about how many credits I would get from my college for the medic training? Just ballpark it if you could. 4, 12, 16? If it's enough to make up for missing that first semester than I think I will go Medic with few second thoughts.

It won't be a whole lot since the civilian certification you get with 91W through NREMT is First Responder, which is 3 credit hours through civilian training. If you progress your training and up your cert to EMT-B/A/P, you'll get quite a few credits.

If I had to choose, I'd go with 91W. There's just a lot more wriggle room for you later on. Medical knowledge is needed in every MOS. Not all MP skills are.

B.) I have been working with the Army recruiters for two years now and I would feel pretty bad if I bailed on them now and joined the Guard and finally C.) The South Dakota Army National Guard is all over SDSU, where I will be going to school, would it cause any problems with them if I joined the Reserve instead of the Guard?

Like Maytime said, don't worry about the recruiters. This is your life and you have to make the best decision for you. Recruiters are like national allies, they're only your friend while they serve a purpose. They have a job to do, and that's to get you to join their service, your job is to do what's right and best for you.
 
Well, I do know that there is more money in the NG right now...I think it was up to $20,000 for joining with a Top 10 MOS...And $10,000 for enlistment.
Stop making up numbers, chieftain. We (those with experience in this matter), are trying to help someone who has questions, and to say something that could influence their decision that has little or no truth is irresponsible. If you would read the stickies the mods put out, they clearly say:

RnderSafe said:
I've noticed a lot of people with no military experience either time in service or recruiting experience attempting to answer questions that would require it. This will continue no more. Any one of you attempting to answer a question without absolute knowledge will be temporarily banned.
 
Maytime said:
Stop making up numbers, chieftain. We (those with experience in this matter), are trying to help someone who has questions, and to say something that could influence their decision that has little or no truth is irresponsible. If you would read the stickies the mods put out, they clearly say:

Woah, woah, let's slow down here. Weapons on safe, gentlemen, heathens, whatever. :-D

He's not wrong about the numbers, they're on the NG site.

NG raised bonuses for non-prior service to 20K

He was wrong about how the NG is called up, but hopefully that has now been corrected with the information I provided him.

 
Thanks PJ. Mr.Maytime. As I have mentioned before, direct family members who are recruiters for the NG are usually correct in their information. Yea I was wrong about it...i flip-flopped what my dad said...
 
Well, I would like to thank everyone for their help on this topic, I have decided that I will join the Army reserve, they have several openings in the area for jobs in the medical field, hopefully I pick one I can enjoy, preferably something with combat medic training since I am afterall going to be a medic in hopes that the training could be useful when I am an officer in the Infantry, if everything goes as planned that is.

So once again, thank you everyone for your help. When I get my fourth star I will remember you all and that you all helped me. So don't go changing your names here on Mil Forums anytime soon. :p
 
Out of curiosity, if you're already approved for an ROTC scholarship, why are you considering USAR/ARNG for the GI Bill? Doesn't your scholarship take care of your tuition?
 
It does, but maybe he needs other money for room&board...or a car...or something else...i dunno if im even close to the market, but those are some reasons people join the GUARD and Reserves...
 
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