policemedic
Verified SWAT
Have you ever served in either the Reserves or the National Guard?
Reserve/national vs Active
- Thread starter heritagevirginia
- Start date
Have you ever served in either the Reserves or the National Guard?
SpongeBob*24
Verified Military
Nope....does that make me a piece of crap?
One thing I always found funny with AD grunts is that none of them hardly read any of the damn FM/TM's but would get stuck on something because "that's how they did it in their unit". I'm not by any means saying that FM/TM's are the only way to go, but they are the baseline to start from. All that time playing X box and conducting "training" and it seems like very few actually took time to pick up the damn books and figure out what the Army had to say about what right is supposed to be.
@SpongeBob*24, I bet you are the dude who runs around telling Joe's to "half cock that 240B so they can put it on safe" and than couldn't figure out why all the units 240Bs turned into runaway guns on the range.
Hate that guy
@SpongeBob*24, I bet you are the dude who runs around telling Joe's to "half cock that 240B so they can put it on safe" and than couldn't figure out why all the units 240Bs turned into runaway guns on the range.
Hate that guy
policemedic
Verified SWAT
Of course not. I just wanted to qualify your level of expertise on the subject.
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2008
- Messages
- 1,230
No disrespect meant...just glad the originator of this thread is making an AD move to start with...
There are a lot of things that go into making the decision to going AD or RC.
If you want to help with National Disasters, State Emergencies, or other local activities as well as maintain a civilian career and lifestyle, go NG or to some extent, the Reserves. There are also full time slots available if you can find them. There are different task forces you can look into where you are a full time Guardsman.
If you want to make the military a career then try Active Duty.
I've seen as many dirtbags in AD as I have in the NG. Laziness is mainy a societal issue at this point. It infects almost every unit. Chosing between AD and the RC should be based on your goals, not perceptions of who is cooler than who.
Honestly, I think when you consider the drawdown and the stuff going on in the A.D., I think the best of both worlds is NG SF. You still get great training opportunities, and can likely still get combat deployments even after the drawdown in Afghanistan (They will still have advisors, aka SF, there), but you don't have to deal with as much of the day to day B.S. that comes in the A.D.
I'm glad I went the route I did, when I did - but it is no longer 2004 and different circumstance need to be taken into consideration now.
I'm glad I went the route I did, when I did - but it is no longer 2004 and different circumstance need to be taken into consideration now.
One thing many don't know about outside the NG is the JCDTF through state and federal JTF North, and the many LEA support taskers. My first bit of TAD outside of OSUT, was working with LEO's on drug task force, and was by far one of the funner things I did in the NG.
To give an example of some jobs available: there are some states like Texas who run full time SR teams (plain clothes/sterile uniforms) who specifically support LEA's on the eyes & ears stuff. AGR positions that carry more schools, training and operational time than you would probably get anywhere else outside of JSOC.
The two biggest regrets I hold are 1) not enlisting 11x opt 40 and 2) not getting my TXARNG CDTF SOD AGR packet in on time (too focused on getting deployed I guess, would have been a different career had I done either or).
Anyway any vetted guard guys have any questions about what I'm talking about, PM me (just know the jobs I'm talking about are few and far between and have an intensive A&S and OTC).
To give an example of some jobs available: there are some states like Texas who run full time SR teams (plain clothes/sterile uniforms) who specifically support LEA's on the eyes & ears stuff. AGR positions that carry more schools, training and operational time than you would probably get anywhere else outside of JSOC.
The two biggest regrets I hold are 1) not enlisting 11x opt 40 and 2) not getting my TXARNG CDTF SOD AGR packet in on time (too focused on getting deployed I guess, would have been a different career had I done either or).
Anyway any vetted guard guys have any questions about what I'm talking about, PM me (just know the jobs I'm talking about are few and far between and have an intensive A&S and OTC).
Or the numerous state technician jobs that you have to be in the NG to be applicable for. That allow you to double dip on pay, and accumulate two retirements at the same time...
There is a ton of good shit in the guard outside of just being a weekend warrior and having a civi career...
There is a ton of good shit in the guard outside of just being a weekend warrior and having a civi career...
Yes, but you were craptastic long ago
True in many aspects, but most of the time its nothing more than meeting the right people and being a personable person. I've gotten a few soldiers tech jobs simply by introduction and recommendation.
Texas is probably a little different mainly b/c of the size and amount of positions...
Yeah thats not how it is in TX, at least my exposure. That said, shop supervisor has to approve and its always good to be on his/her good side. I think that's pretty normal anywhere you go. I don't know much about the FLARNG.
I have served in all 3 components; Active, Reserve,Guard,Active (in that order).
Active Duty has (for the most part) a faster response and is expected to be at a higher readiness level. AD also puts up with more Bullshit because you can't go anyway for 4-8 years. In theory AD will offer more training opportunities, but that is depends on your unit of assignment. Some units/leaders look for training opportunities, some units not so. A lot of your opportunities are more being at the right place then anything else.
Reserves get used more because they AD Hq doesn't have to deal with State Politics. The Army put most of it's support functions in the Reserves because that's where we thought our augmentation requirements (support forces) were coming from. A Cold War (GWOT) style mobilization wasn't really considered as probable. Putting the forces we thought we needed in the Reserves made sense, we are probably headed back into that drection.
Combat forces in the Guard was more Political then strategy based, we didn't forsee a large combat mob, and the States wanted shiny toys to play with. The States do a good job with General Purpose forces, but have a hard time dealing with units that need more then the standard number of drill days.
In the end leadership, management makes and breaks a unit. Combat focused leaders can generate a meaningful training schedule with available dollars, while management focused units will complain that they are not getting enough training dollars.
Active Duty has (for the most part) a faster response and is expected to be at a higher readiness level. AD also puts up with more Bullshit because you can't go anyway for 4-8 years. In theory AD will offer more training opportunities, but that is depends on your unit of assignment. Some units/leaders look for training opportunities, some units not so. A lot of your opportunities are more being at the right place then anything else.
Reserves get used more because they AD Hq doesn't have to deal with State Politics. The Army put most of it's support functions in the Reserves because that's where we thought our augmentation requirements (support forces) were coming from. A Cold War (GWOT) style mobilization wasn't really considered as probable. Putting the forces we thought we needed in the Reserves made sense, we are probably headed back into that drection.
Combat forces in the Guard was more Political then strategy based, we didn't forsee a large combat mob, and the States wanted shiny toys to play with. The States do a good job with General Purpose forces, but have a hard time dealing with units that need more then the standard number of drill days.
In the end leadership, management makes and breaks a unit. Combat focused leaders can generate a meaningful training schedule with available dollars, while management focused units will complain that they are not getting enough training dollars.
heritagevirginia
Unverified
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2014
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- 7
Quick question, do you see ranger units still deploying to Afghanistan in 2015?
I had this very discussion with the CoS and VCoS (both 20th SFGA guys) Army NG in Arlington a couple months ago. You are not going to see combat arms going back to the reserves.
And the SOF NG units are starting to gain momentum in changing the MUTA standards so there is more of them and a much longer AT. Honestly it has never effected us (NGSF) that much post-9.11. We expend our MUTAs then let USASOC/USASFC pay for whatever else we wanted to do or go. The SOF branch at NGB turned in several million dollars last year because we couldn't spend it. While the training/OPTEMPO for the rest of the NG and Reserves slows over the next few years NG SOF (SF particularly) will remain fairly constant with a plethora of JCETS and "other" opportunities in Africa, SA, and certain ME countries.
Yes, assuming the administration stays with the "only advisors and counter terror" remaining in Afghanistan.
That's changed a lot then. FL use to routinely swipe 20th SFG funds to pay for who knows what.
UT wasn't much better (though MG Davis did cram the proverbial corn cob up their butts).
They damn sure did. I think, it has been well over a decade now, that they withheld state money, maybe Fed. but were smart enough to stay away from USASFC's bank roll.
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