Please help! Can anyone answer some questions on the National Guard?

[Tiggerlovinggrandma]

My SIL is interested in joining. He is 27 from NC and wants to be an MP in the Guard. Can anyone answer a few questions he has. It would help clear up some misconceptions. Thank you in advance for any insight you can give.

How long is the training?

Where would he go for his training?

Is there a $ bonus given for joining the guard? If yes, how much is it and when is it handed out - at signing, at entrance or after serving a certain length of time?

What is the rate of pay for weekend duty?

What pay do you receive for the two weeks a year you must serve?

Do guards get sent overseas and if yes, for how long?

Does the guard pay for college for the recruit like the Army does?

Does the guard offer any benifits to the spouse of a recruit such as paid college, health care, etc.

Please feel free to add any other info you can share.

 

[poohguys]

It has been a while, but DH was in the Army as an MP, then went in to the National Guard

Training is the standard US Army boot camp and MP acadamy which was a total of 18 weeks when he went. (6 to 8 wks basic training then 12 wks MP school)

The MP school is Ft Lenord Wood, MO.

The bonus depends on the State Guard if they have an incentive at this time.


rate of pay is based on your rank-higher rank for some college. Pay for the 2 wks is at the same rate.

Yes National Guard soldiers do get delpoyed over seas. If he goes in as an MP they are usually the first to go especially at this time. I am not sure of the lenght of deployment, but I want to say it is aqbout 18 months.

Here in NJ if you are in the National Guard you can attend the state colleges.
for free.

No incentive for spouse.

DH has been out for about 10 yrs now, so some of this may be out of date. He did say if SIL wants to be an MP to make sure that they specifically list that on the enlistment contrat, and don't take no for an answer because they will try to steer you to the less desierable jobs.

Has he talked to the recruiter at all?

 

[Tiggerlovinggrandma]

Thanks for the info. SIL has spoken to a friend only that was supposedly in within the last three years. His friend told him there's is $20,000 bonus right off the bat and that he would get $300 for every weekend he serves and he would get $3000.00 for the two weeks a year. His friend also said there is little to no chance SIL would ever go overseas and that not only does he get a full state college ride but his wife would too. Also if he was to died while in the guard his wife would get $550,000.

It sounds way too good to be true to DH and I so we wanted him to ask others what their expierence was with the guard and also told him to talk with a recruiter to get the real story. He has yet to do that.

 

[twins2again]

poohguys is right,altho my son just returned from a 13 mo deployment 3 mo at ft dix for training and 10 mo in iraq. Thought I wouldnt make it. The orders said no more than 400 days. They also gave a two week break to go home or wherever. I just started breathing again when he came home the first of july. he is an mp also.

 

[twins2again]

my son is 27 now . He was deployed the year after boot camp.He also said it wouldnt be the last deployment . they ship new troops over to replace the ones coming home.

 

[DNSYFRK]

There is a actually a good chance of a deployment overseas, especially in the time that we are in, Even if the war ends there will still be some security forces over there, and guess the first people to do security duties, yep MP's. I was in the gaurd in the past and we said that my unit would never be deployed, and now my buddies are prepping for the 3rd deployment in 6 years, at over 1 year at a time.

$300 a month for the weekend sounds about right, but depends on the rank and time in service.
$3000 for the two weeks is a little high, but with the housing allowance, and stuff it may be close, this is also dependent on rank and time in service, 6 years ago i made about $1000 take home with a rank of E-4 and 8 years of service.

life insurance is awesome high dollar amount for a low premium, wish i still had that life insurance,

There are great bonuses in the high priority jobs, and good ones in the other jobs,

Tuition reimbursment varies from state to state, but many are 100% as well as the GI Bill which is about $320 a month for 36 months in full time college. He is eligible for school benifits after initial training is complete

It was one of the best things i have done in my life and the college benefits are great, but make sure that if he joins he does know about the posibilily of being deployed no matter what anyone else says.

Good luck with the decision, and also take what the recruites says with a grain of salt, they are salesmen. The best advice comes from people currently in the guard.

Hope this helps and sorry it was so long

 

[powellrj]

there is a military board on the community board that has great people with lots of advice, I would ask over there too!

 

[drivencrazy]

I'm not totally sure but I think that the tuition reimbursment is for full time active guard.

I say this because my hubby decided since he is "active" guard, meaning full time he has decided to go back to school.

He is on active orders right now, when he was just doing weekends and the 2 weeks a year thing, I don't think he was able to have help going to school. I could be wrong and I can ask him tomorrow as he is at work now...

He does get deployed the last time it was 50 some days. But this too can be different with what guard he is looking at joining. My hubby is Air National Guard. We have friends in the Army Guard and they go for the 13-18 months!

The pay isn't great, but it isn't so bad and of corse it depends on rank. If he has some schooling he may go in with a strip or 2 which means more pay.

I can answer more tomorrow when my hubby is home.

If there is more you don't find out that you would like to know, PM me and I will have my hubby help answer what we can for you!