the guard

[0481]

I have been out of the corps for sometime. I just turned 41 this month. Thanking about joining the California guard. Anyone take this road after EASed. Maybe not cali but other states.

 

[rero360]

I would recommend you chat with a recruiter, you might be too old to reenlist, I don't know what the current regs are on that. There are a fair number of units up that way, so there should be a wide range of MOSs to pick from, I know the 1-143 Field Artillery has a few locations up that way, same with the 79th IBCT. Just keep in mind, if you are able to reenlist, that the guard has a vastly different mindset than the Corps, in some regards its a good thing, in others, most regards, its not such a good thing. I've been guard my whole career, 13.5 years now, and there are so many members that I see and don't know if I want to puke or go scream at them and their CoC until my vocal cords snap, example: I stopped by my armory during the last drill weekend (I'm still on terminal leave from deployment) to see the guys as I was the only one from my platoon to deploy, another unit was drilling at the armory that weekend as well, I saw a female soldier from another unit who had to have been close to 300 pounds waddling around in PTs, absolutely disgusting, and whats even worse is I last saw her attempting to take a PT test two years ago and she was just as fat then as she is now. How in God's name is some disgusting fat pig like that still wearing the uniform, complete failure by her CoC, if I had a soldier like that I would chapter them out a long time ago for failure to adapt, after spending the appropriate amount of time working with said soldier to make height and weight and pass the PT test.

All I can hope is with the downsizing that is happening that those turds will be flushed first.

 

[roggom]

Depends on how many active years you have already served and your military separation code. Every year active will go toward your 20 for retirement, you of course will have to hit 20 qualifying years before the age of 60. As for the Guard, thought they changed the age limit to 42 back in 06' but if you have more than 10 years of service you may be able to get into the Marine Corps Reserve. The 4th Recon is out of Alameda and the 4Th Logistic is out of San Jose.

Good Luck

Whichever you decide, make sure to take advantage of any special programs. The Reserve looks at civilian certifications and degrees. You may find yourself in a totally different MOS than your previous tour.

 

[former naval person]

Mississippi guard always looking.

 

[kraigWY]

I say got for it. I got out of the Army in '69, and after a three year stint in the Reserves I joined the Alaska National Guard and stayed there until 92. 25 years all total. Enjoyed ever minute of it. My only regret was that I got out when I did. About the same time (in Mar 94) I retired from APD and moved back to Wyoming. I could have transferred and stayed in the Wyoming Guard until I turned 70.

I tried several times to get back in, its a lot easier to get out then get back in.

Anyway I did get a retirement. Plus Tri-Care for Life, (meaning I'm exempt from obamacare).

Anyway when I joined the AK NG, I met the recruiter at the Fair in Fairbanks. He tried to get me to join and I told him only if they had an Airborne Unit. Lo and be-behold he got me in the 38th SF unit. Didn't make it to the Q course because I hired on with the Anchorage Police Dept, and wanted to get my probation over first. In '76 they disbanned the 38th and we were converted to an Airborne Recon Unit. (same job I had with the 101st in Vietnam).

We got all sorts of "adventure training", doing stuff civilians would pay thousands of dollars to do. I got the Guard to send me to the USAMU Sniper school and started conducting Sniper Schools for the Guard, Reg Army (172 Inf BDE) and civilian police departments. Spent three years with the Native Guard Units on the Bering sea and had the time of my life.

Also shot on the Guard Rifle team, being made Coach and OIC. Ended up running the AK NG Marksmanship Unit where I spent a lot of time traveling around the country shooting rifle matches.

Did a lot of survival training and taught Arctic Survival.

As I said, worse thing I did was get out. If you are a salesman, and you can sell yourself, you can write your own ticket in the guard

 

[Izot]

I made that move back in 2005. Let me first warn you that it is not the Marine Corps. The ANG is a completely different culture. By that I mean a Marine drill instructor would lose his mind. Not that ANG isn't proficient at their job, its just different. I had a bad experience. I couldn't get into the school I was promised because of limited openings for my rank. The armory I worked at did not have the systems or equipment that I was responsible for and all the manuals where obsolete. My drills were more sitting around than working and I was bored out of my mind. It wasn't worth my time financially. I never got used to it and opted out as soon as my time was up. There were a few other prior service Marines there and they seemed to enjoy the ANG more than I did, but they were all admin and using the ANG to pay for college. Make sure you get the MOS you want, locked into a school and billet before you enlist. Their recruiters will throw you the same bullshit they all do. It doesnt matter if you out rank them.
If I could do it over I would go to a Marine reserve unit and switched MOSs.
Im sure there are a few others on here that made the same move. Hopefully they had a better experience.