Army Guard vs AD

sheriff3 said:
Hello all, DS just completed advanced camp and is on the fence as to AD or guard. Please give me all of your pluses or minuses. Thanks.
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An 18 year old is all gung ho & wants nothing more than a career in the armed forces. A 22 year old, having been out on their own a little bit, mulls that option and says to themselves "Eh...one weekend a month ain't so bad." I would imagine that's not too uncommon a change of opinion. After all, how many individuals whom enlist right out of high school are out of the service after 4 years? The vast majority, I believe - even in the Air Force.

If you've gotten an ROTC scholarship, my recommendation would be the do the active duty for four years and then reassess at age 26 or so. Committing to guard/reserve duty until age 30 is a long, long time. And at age 26, how many young Americans can state they have a college degree, little-to-no student loan debt, years of managerial experience, a chance to have seen the world outside of the twenty-mile-radius they grew up in, etc.?

Bottom line: Either active or reserves, don't get married & start a family until at least 28 years old.
 
jocomom said:
The LTC at my DS's unit came back from a command briefing last year and told the unit that per higher, if trends continued, cadets would be forced AD to make mission in the near future. Apparently the improving economy, better job prospects and "war fatigue" are all contribution factors making a reserve component a more appealing option.
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It will not happen in @cajuncarrier son's year group.
 
I know this has been covered but DS was not impressed with following in chronological order:
His first PMS, CULP, and CLC. If it had not been for the NCO's that he met in his battalion and his internship in Stuttgart he may not have lasted. Don't make a decision based on CLC. He spent nine weeks in Germany met retired, active duty and reservists who were doing the kind of work that he could see himself doing, that made all the difference.
 
Thanks to all who have responded to my query about DS changing ROTC scholarship to GRFD. I'm trying to learn to guide him in the best way possible. For some reason my gut is telling me to guide him away from changing it. Don't know why!
 
DS had to state his preference 9/06. The last time we discussing it he was still on the fence. As most he has excellent job prospects in this strong economy. I guess he will let us know later this month or early October. It seems like more and more are choosing NG/Res.
 
Per Clarkson on a different thread: "Your (sic) going to state your preference when you go through the accessions process and if the Army decides that is where they need you to be then you will be commissioned into the reserves."

So it's just the illusion of choice? The Army is going to put them wherever they want/need. When I asked my MSIV son about this, he confirmed. He basically said he could put Reserves/QM and end up AD/Infantry if that's what the Army decides is best.
 
txpotato said:
So it's just the illusion of choice? The Army is going to put them wherever they want/need. When I asked my MSIV son about this, he confirmed. He basically said he could put Reserves/QM and end up AD/Infantry if that's what the Army decides is best.
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In theory your right, but with the fact that so many are still getting forced to Reserve/NG, I doubt that anyone who requests Reserve/Guard would be forced AD at this point. A couple years ago the #1 cadet in the country chose NG and received it.
 
I think at this point he pretty much decided against AD and wants to guarantee Reserves. He feels that is his only way to guarantee it.
 
cajuncarrier said:
Well, I never thought that DS would be asking this same question because for years all he has talked about is going active. However, I got the call this summer while he was at CLC/LDAC (or whatever it is called now) DS said they changed it again while he was there. We talked for about 40 min. how he was so disappointed in the training and the unorganized leadership of the camp. I was so stunned, I didn't really know how to react much less answer any of his array of questions. I didn't then and still don't know how to guide him in this situation. One good thing is that he doesn't commission until 2018, so he has time to work through some issues and come up with a plan. Being a super senior has its advantages sometimes. I would hate to see him go reserves when he so wanted to go AD for so long. Reserves wasn't even on his radar. That is what shocked me the most.

On the good side of this summer-- after he left CLC he was stationed at Fort Meade in MD with the Army Corp of Engineers as an intern. He totally loved it!. His major is mechanical engineering. So if anyone has experience and would like to give some advice on his options for AD and Reserves, that would be much appreciated.
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From a wife's perspective only....My husband spent 23 years as an Active Duty Combat Army Engineer and worked with the COE. He loved every job he ever had in the Army. Every tour he would say, as long as I love the job I will stay in. He has been retired for 11 years in October and is still in civil engineering. The Army paid for his grad school, PE, we lived in Japan and Germany, he jumped out of airplanes and we raised one hell of a great family! It is truly the greatest life. If he goes AD his 4 years will go by very fast. If he likes it he stays in and if not he has a good resume.
 
ENwifeArmyMom said:
From a wife's perspective only....My husband spent 23 years as an Active Duty Combat Army Engineer and worked with the COE. He loved every job he ever had in the Army. Every tour he would say, as long as I love the job I will stay in. He has been retired for 11 years in October and is still in civil engineering. The Army paid for his grad school, PE, we lived in Japan and Germany, he jumped out of airplanes and we raised one hell of a great family! It is truly the greatest life. If he goes AD his 4 years will go by very fast. If he likes it he stays in and if not he has a good resume.
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Thanks so much for sharing. It's great to hear some positive life stories. I keep telling him to try the 4 years. He loved his internship this summer with the COE. So I believe he would benefit greatly from this experience. But I think he believes that those 4 years not in the civilian world would hinder his career.
 
cajuncarrier said:
Thanks so much for sharing. It's great to hear some positive life stories. I keep telling him to try the 4 years. He loved his internship this summer with the COE. So I believe he would benefit greatly from this experience. But I think he believes that those 4 years not in the civilian world would hinder his career.
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One thing that 4 years of AD will bring is leadership experience. 4 years of leadership experience on his resume will make him unique amoung his civilian peers.
 
sheriff3 said:
Hello all, DS just completed advanced camp and is on the fence as to AD or guard. Please give me all of your pluses or minuses. Thanks.
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Some of the minuses of going Guard/Reserves is that I saw a poll that claimed 68% of employers "prefer" not to hire reservists. This is probably not as dismal as it sounds. These are most likely employers with a small work force, who represent a small minority of the total work force. Nevertheless it's something to consider. Those in the Guard and Reserves tell me that the so called "job protection" laws are basically toothless.

With the possible exception of Engineering majors, pay for military officers is higher, when taking into account non taxable benefits such as, housing and meal allowances along with base pay, than for most jobs requiring a degree, in the civilian sector. This includes those with "marketable" degrees, such as Business and Economics.

On the other hand, someone who has found an employer who is supportive of members of the Guard and Reserves, and they feel, along with Guard pay, they can do better economically, in the civilian sector, by all means, if that's what they want, they should do so.
 
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