Army National Guard is anyone in?

[SPRINKLE]

Hey guys, I am thinking of joining the New Mexico National Guard as an 11 B. The recruiter is in charge of the unit (sorry I don't know the lingo yet) he said they are in a rebuilding stage. and only deploying to the border. He seamed like a strait shooter. I asked him about schools, sniper, pathfinder, ranger etc. he said I could go to any of them I wanted. I want to go to all of them no joke, I own my own businesses and have the ability to make time. He said they pay like as if you were full time Army, housing, food, separation pay etc. while you are training. Im pretty sure I understood him on that????? So if I was say to go to basic I would receive full army pay and housing for my wife and 3 kids. and say I go to a school lasting 2 or 3 months, while I am gone I get full pay right?
I am joining mainly to pay off college and finish then would re join as an Officer under a different MOS.
What do you think? did I get the pay right? and because they are rebuilding do you think I can get the classes I want.. Thanks

 

[gunjunkie45]

Re: Army National Guard is anyone in?

Oh boy. where to start with this one.... First of all recruiters generally tell you anything you want to hear. You got the pay part right but if entering as an E-1 you're really not going to make squat. I mean that. I just looked at my social security statement and according to that i made around 10k my first year in the army. That was in 97 so it's gone up a bit but still not a hell of a lot. Sniper is not something a recruiter can really guarantee you. To be considered you'd first have to qualify expert and then your commander is going to have to make the recomendation. Also you need to be an E-3 to an E-6. Other requirements are as follows:
* Must be 11B, 11M, 19D, or CMF 18.

* PFC-SFC (Grade waiverable).

* Active duty, or Reserve, or National Guard, must have a good performance record with no history of alcohol, or drug abuse, must be a volunteer and be recommended by his commander.

* Must be in excellent physical condition (70 percent or better in each event of the APFT).

* Must have a corrected vision of 20/20.

* Must not have a record of disciplinary action.

* Must be knowledgeable of skill level 2 tasks.

* Must have a GT score of 100.

* Must have qualified expert with the M16A2/M4 Carbine rifle within six months of course attendance.

* Normal color vision must be annotated on SF 88, tested within six months of course attendance.

* Must have a minimum of one (1) year retainability.

* Must pass psychological evaluation (MMPI/CPI) conducted under the direction of a qualified psychologist.

Pathfinder requirements:
Enlisted applicants must have a GT score of 100, or above. All applicants must have passed a valid Pathfinder physical within one-year, have a minimum profile serial of 111121 and have no speech impediment. Physicals for Airborne qualified personnel must indicate "Cleared to participate in airborne operations." Upon completion of the course, service member must have a minimum of one year remaining in the service.

Before ranger school you'll have to do airborne school. This I know a recruiter can get you into.

Bottom line is take everything a recruiter tells you with a grain of salt. Good luck.

 

[Switchblade]

Re: Army National Guard is anyone in?

First off, any of that sounds like pure BS.
The unit is the 'refit' stage, as if they are returning from a deployment. Schools are at the request of the unit BUT authorized at the STARC level and the Army School in question for the hardcore schools. SOme NG units will have 'ad hoc' schools, but try getting them accepted in regular Army and you will be laughed at.

PAY:
You will earn between $100 and $250 a weekend that you drill.
IF you are on an active state, or federal duty, you will then earn all the rest of the benefits ONLY while you are activated.

Once you sign that contract as a Private - Specialist, you will be expected to do all the grunt work associated with the rank. Period.

FYI:
The National Guard is pulling a lot of 'Tower Duty', 'ECP', and 'Base/FOB MERF' duty in Afghanistan. MERF is tasked with on post, and directly outside the wire(eye sight) security or incident. Don't think you will be chillin on the border watching illegals look you in the eye, laugh, and carry on while you are powerless to stop them.

If that recruiter is the First Sergeant you may want to look for a 'second opinion' without him finding out. You got the time, take a trip up to your capital and look for the NG recruiter there. Ask some serious questions about the schools, authorization of them, etc. If you get teh same story, go back to the original guy, and make sure you get it all contracted(IN TYPE WRITTEN GUARENTEE ON AN 'ANNEX')

The NG is a great place to be, has lots of good benefits as well as some states offering free tuition at a four year college. Just beware, you may find yourself sitting in some shit hole in Afghanistan lookin at haj kids picking up goat shit to cook with while they beg you for MRE's and your hard earned dinar

 

[Super Bee 950]

Re: Army National Guard is anyone in?

Better yet, call the unit you are going to be assigned to and talk to the full time readiness NCO for a reality check. When you join the guard you will be assigned to a unit even if you go straight to Basic Training. The full timers in the unit have no incentive to lie to you. You have the option of what unit to join, so check them out first.

 

[Victory]

Re: Army National Guard is anyone in?

Okay, there is a lot of stuff to cover. I will try to break it down as best as I can.

The pay issue you have correct. Any time you do anything in the guard, you are on orders. This means full pay and benefits.

Gunjunkie: Most of your info is way out of date. They don't even have 11m's anymore.

<span style="text-decoration: underline">Units</span>; get to an Infantry unit. It looks like there are numerous choices. I suggest that you get on the New Mexico NGB website and look at the units. The HHC in Las Cruces is probably where their scout platoon is located. Here is the number to the unit. HHC, 1st BN, 200th IN ·505.864.7257. I would call up there and find out if they have any slots in the scout platoon. Most of the time you will need to try out to get into the platoon, but sometimes in the guard you can get lucky and go directly there. The scout platoon will contain all of the people that you want to be around. Most will be former Active duty guys from SF, Batt, and Airborne units. Also when slots open up for schools, this platoon usually gets priority.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">"SOme NG units will have 'ad hoc' schools, but try getting them accepted in regular Army and you will be laughed at."</div></div>

<span style="text-decoration: underline">Schools</span>: Yes, there are some "ad hoc" schools, most are just as good. You can get into any active school that you get a slot for. My platoon doesn't get laughed at, we get the schools we want. In fact, I would bet that we get more schools than most Active units. These are the schools that are we have slots for right now. Ranger, RSLC, Pathfinder, Air assault, sniper, rappel master, combat tracker, and Mountain Warfare. I had to drop my college courses this semester because of the amount of schools I am going to be attending.

4 of my guys are at sniper school right now.

<span style="text-decoration: underline">Missions</span>, sometimes the guard does get screwed, sometimes not. It all depends on your unit and place in that unit. I will tell you this, sometimes guard guys end up guarding Fobs, SF, providing muscle for the CIA, working as an Embedded Trainer Team, or doing patrols. Active units get fucked just as much. Trust me, I have waived to them everyday as I left the wire. I would suggest just getting into a good unit so that has a lesser chance of happening.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">"Before ranger school you'll have to do airborne school. This I know a recruiter can get you into. "</div></div>

Not true at all. You can go to ranger school without ever being airborne qualified. You just dont do the jumps and get a different designator. V for airborne, G for a leg.

Look for the unit you want, then call them and see if they have slots. If you place a good impression on the guy at the unit, they will find a slot for you.

If you have more questions, please contact me.
Andrew

 

[gugubica]

Re: Army National Guard is anyone in?

Victory gave great advice. One advantage to NG over regular Army is that you have more say in which unit you wind up at.

Go talk to the Units you are interested in. Ask them the same questions, you will get better answers.

----<span style="color: #990000">Myth oficially busted</span>----I am not sure of the truth of this (now or ever) but I have a friend whos brother recently signed up NG as a sniper (like he got the MOS strait out of the gate). Again I am not sure if this is total BS, just a Missouri unit thing, was an option but not any more, or if it is true. It might be worth asking about though. If you are told it is an option, make sure you get it in writing though.----<span style="color: #990000">Myth officially busted, see below</span>-----

I am not familiar with the differences in NG and regular, so I would defer to people like victory for first hand knowledge.

 

[spot69221]

Re: Army National Guard is anyone in?



I recommend you speak/acquire advice from NG members that have families in your area (or where you want to Drill at). You will also find some excellent advise from NG members that were Active Duty got out and then entered into the NG that are trying to finish out to retirement.

More than likely you will have a better chance at 'schools' in an infantry unit (You do like to hump heavy rucks right?).

Recruiters understand the you don't completely 'understand' and will take advantage at times when the enlistment numbers are low.

I agree you should speak with the Readiness NCO's of several units, infantry or not. Call schedule a time with them.

I found it difficult when in to get the 'high speed' schools in my unit. Some of this was due to MOS and the Unit's Mission Training Plan. What are you willing to sacrifice to go to these schools? Time, money, family, as stated above it's not much money during the first few years. I had the mentality of doing it even if not paid. If I understand a question you alluded to about the family and housing, it doesn't work like that unless you are active duty, deployed or not. You see NG members on average actually train about 50 days a year. There are exceptions to this per Unit but things like, going to schools, MUTA 5's, going on Orders, deployment, etc... will net you more training days and retirement points.

So many particulars for your State and what Unit you decide, I'm not sure if it could all be addressed here. Something else to note, most units have something like a 'job shadow' day, go and hang out at a few units for the weekend.

Most of all in my opinion, don't go in the service ONLY for reasons such as, college, Ranger school, etc... try to make the meaning a little deeper than that, it will be more rewarding in the end. I have found some soldiers that can't commit and believe in what they do, results in a sarcastic and worthless time spent attitude.

 

[Victory]

Re: Army National Guard is anyone in?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: gugubica</div><div class="ubbcode-body">V
I am not sure of the truth of this (now or ever) but I have a friend whos brother recently signed up NG as a sniper (like he got the MOS strait out of the gate). Again I am not sure if this is total BS, just a Missouri unit thing, was an option but not any more, or if it is true. It might be worth asking about though. If you are told it is an option, make sure you get it in writing though. </div></div>

Sniper is not an MOS. He can not get sniper school in his enlistment contract either.

Complete bullshit.

 

[gugubica]

Re: Army National Guard is anyone in?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: victory</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

Complete bullshit.


</div></div>

I was pretty sure that was the case. I thought there was a SLIGHT chance it was a NG thing, so I never called him out on it. I did tell my friend (dude's brother) that I was not sure he was going to get what he was promissed.

I don't know who was full of shit, the recruiter or the new recruit. Either or both could very well be true.

Thanks for the clarification, I appreciate it. I will modify my post so that someone does not come along and get their hopes up.