national guard

[mason]

Im thinking about joining then national guard to pay off my debts and pay for the rest of my college. I don't care if you think it's right or wrong(im against the war personally), I just want to know if anyone here has joined or knows someone who has and what's like. and the truth about the gi bill and bonus and what's it really like. and the likilhood of going to iraq(a few years ago it was 40 percent of soliders in iraq were n.g, but now I dont' know where the numbers are)

[PharmaceuticalCowboy]

I can't help you too much, but I do have a buddy who is a recruiter for the Marines and he has said to me on more than one occasion that the recruiters are pretty much allowed to say whatever they want in order to get you to join. I would keep that in mind and try to do as much research as you can into those issues which concern you. There are many benefits and many drawbacks to joining, but only you can determine if you are willing to accept those conditions.
Hope this helps, but it's tough to help when trying to make such a life changing decision.

[aaron]

i personally would stay the hell away from it if you like not dying. just get a second (or third) job.

[Funk, E]

I think the obvious point here is that if you're against war, DON'T JOIN THE GODDAMN MILITARY.

[retro_gammer79]

Why don't you post on a Military form? I don't think anyone here cares man. Now if you want to talk about video game elated topics, this is what this place is for. What you are asking is a personal choice and only you can make this choice.

[Mozgus]

Why don't you post on a Military form? I don't think anyone here cares man. Now if you want to talk about video game elated topics, this is what this place is for. What you are asking is a personal choice and only you can make this choice.

He put it in the Whatever section, so give him a break. Sometimes I too like to post whatever in the Whatever section.

As for mason, my statement is this: Take your health and life into consideration, and then ask yourself which path puts those two at the highest risk. I don't know the answer, but I hear it's very tough to actually starve to death in this country, assuming that you have no one else to provide for and you avoid becoming an addict.

[aaron]

Why don't you post on a Military form? I don't think anyone here cares man. Now if you want to talk about video game elated topics, this is what this place is for. What you are asking is a personal choice and only you can make this choice.

i'm pretty sure if he posted this on a military forum they'd all be like "FUCK YEAH DUDE, JOIN THE ARMY"

[mason]

well i am very poor, and I need money. So I'll just have to think about it some-more.
and also i didn't ask anyone what I should do. All I have asked is for experiences and the full truth about the national guard.

[Jimmy Yakapucci]

My suggestion would be that if you have any hesitancy about being deployed to fight, do not join. I work with many full-time military as well as a number of reserve/guard members. I remember during Desert Storm that a lot of guard members were complaining about being called up to active service. Apparently, they thought that they could just play weekend warrior and take a paycheck, but the whole purpose behind it is to be there if needed.

JY

[roushimsx]

I just want to know if anyone here has joined or knows someone who has and what's like. and the truth about the gi bill and bonus and what's it really like. and the likilhood of going to iraq(a few years ago it was 40 percent of soliders in iraq were n.g, but now I dont' know where the numbers are)

The military is like any other job; you get up, go to work, get paid. Sometimes you have a shitty boss that makes your life hell, sometimes you have a rad boss that you totally get along with. Sometimes you have to do stuff that you might not care for and sometimes you do nothing but have a fucking blast.

Basic training starts of real, real shitty but you get used to it. Waking up at 0-dark-30 every morning to the sound of your Drill Instructors / Drill Sergeants / whatever yelling at you to get the fuck out of bed sucks, but that goes away with time and they slowly transition to treating you with respect. Even then, you're bonding with other people in your Platoon / Flight / Whatever along the way and going through some downright fun training (hand to hand combat training is a blast, obstacle course and confidence courses are a blast, if you go Marines then you'll get to do the crucible...which is a blast, etc). Some days are insanely long, other days are just long. You're tired each night when you go to bed, which sucks if you have firewatch that night...but hey, everyone pulls their load. Those that don't wash out.

Outside of basic, you go on to your AIT/MCT/AFSC School/whatever. In the army and marines, that means you get to go play infantry for a little bit before going to your MOS school. Lots of fun to be had there, learning all sorts of fun infantry-based skills. As long as the platoon sticks together, you'll have a good time. Lots of playing with weapons (ever get to unload a fully automatic grenade launcher before? You will!), lots of forced marches, and a shit load of squad movements. Depending on the time of year you go it can be pretty nice or it can be insanely hot/cold/shitty.

When you hit your actual MOS/AFSC school, it's like college fused with the military. Classes are fairly easy because of the pacing, structure and curriculum and you'll still have military duties you need to do, but you have a lot of free time to fuck off. Which is what a lot of people wind up doing, especially with those built up libidos from being stuck away from women for the last few months. Hint: stay the fuck away from the whores off base.

After school, it's on to your first duty assignment (for active duty anyway, not sure about Guard). Chances are you'll be expected to keep your dorm/barracks room in an orderly state at all times (though not nearly as strictly enforced as at school), that you'll be expected to be in formation for PT every M/W/F at 0530, that you keep your uniform pressed, that you maintain proper military bearing while speaking with those of superior rank, that you do your job to the best of your ability...basic stuff. You get paid on the 1st and 15th, if you live off base your food and housing pay isn't taxed, and if you live in the barracks/dorms then you have free reign of the chow hall (which very rarely is as bad as people make it out to be).

Not sure how the GI bill works when paying off past college debt. I'll try to get a hold of the education center today and find out for you. If you decide to continue college while in, you're going to have to work it around deployments/tdys/exercises...but I've only seen that cause a problem for one or two people. Generally it works out pretty well to take a class or two a semester.

If you're strongly anti war but still want to mooch off of the military, I've got a lot of friends that joined the Air Force and they love it. From what I understand, it's much more civilian-like than the other branches. Pick a non-combat-related field (something like...a dental tech or mechanic on an aircraft) and you should be good...hell, even if you do go with the aircraft to a combat zone, you're so far away from the actual gunfire that you feel a little guilty for collecting the hazard pay (ok not really. money is good). I had a pretty good time in the military, got a lot out of it (changed my perspective on a lot of things), met a lot of great people (and a couple of grade A assholes), and got to travel around the world (got to live in Japan for about 3 1/2 years, in time to enjoy the last year or two of the Saturn, the launch of the Dreamcast, the launch of the PS2, etc).

Keep doing research and weigh the options of going active duty vs reserve / national guard. If you do go guard, you may want to explore the option to go Air National Guard. Either way, keep asking around...find out from people that went to your highschool and signed up how they feel (try to network through MySpace, your high school alumni page, etc). Recruiters will generally give you a sugar coated, glossed over version of the truth (ask the Marine or Navy recruiter to explain in detail about the shellback ceremony...then ask another Marine or Navy recruiter from the next town over the same question) while other people are overly negative because they had a bad time in, normally because of either behavioral issues (drinking under age, showing constant contempt for their superiors, constantly shit work performance, drug use, etc) or because their bosses were total pieces of shit that should have been filtered out years ago but somehow manage to ride the system (sadly, there's people like that pretty much everywhere you go).

Apparently, they thought that they could just play weekend warrior and take a paycheck, but the whole purpose behind it is to be there if needed.

Yea, this is an attitude I've seen amongst a lot of Guard members. The guard, if anything, is more likely to go than your average active duty fellow.