I am curious about the GRFD (national guard/reserves) contract. My son has signed the GRFD (non-scholarship) contract which requires him to also take part in SMP and drill with a local Army Reserve unit. He will serve 8 years in the reserves upon commissioning however is it possible to active duty afterwards? can one have an affluent career in the army if he or she is in the reserves?
GRFD Contract
- Thread starter Army.Dad
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lifeofhonor
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Your DS will have to get his GRFD control number revoked in order to become eligible to compete for active duty.
So are you saying that my DS cannot switch to active duty after his 8 year reserve obligation? will the Army just relieve him of his duties?
He can continue in the reserves after the 8 years, but the likelihood of switching to active duty varies depending on the current climate. 10 years ago - maybe. Now? Not likely. 12 years from now? Who knows, but I would not bank on it.
One should never sign a GRFD contract, especially non-scholarship, if there's even a remote chance of interest in active duty.
To satisfy my curiosity, what is the purpose of a non-scholarship GRFD contract? Anyone going through AROTC is free to choose reserve duty as their component of choice. Why lock yourself into that for no financial reason?
To answer your original question, no one has an "affluent career in the reserves". Officer pay is in the neighborhood of $500-$1000 a month, depending on rank and time in service.
One should never sign a GRFD contract, especially non-scholarship, if there's even a remote chance of interest in active duty.
To satisfy my curiosity, what is the purpose of a non-scholarship GRFD contract? Anyone going through AROTC is free to choose reserve duty as their component of choice. Why lock yourself into that for no financial reason?
To answer your original question, no one has an "affluent career in the reserves". Officer pay is in the neighborhood of $500-$1000 a month, depending on rank and time in service.
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The only way I encourage a Cadet to sign up for GRFD is if the Cadet is sure they don't want Active Duty, and they are sure they want to start drilling immediately. Otherwise a regular non scholarship contract will keep the Active Duty option on the table and will allow the Cadet to start stipend and know they will be commissioned when they graduate in all likelyhood. A Cadet could also take advantage of the SMP program without GRFD. Currently even a non scholarship Cadet knows they can get Guard/Reserves after school if they want, so I'm not sure I understand the value of GRFD, at least at my program.
So why do it...My feeling is some Brigades are pushing GRFD to meet their GRFD mission. The Army/Cadet Command wants and needs Guard/Reserve Officers. They want them to be high quality, and their belief is that GRFD allows Cadets more surety regarding their fate after commissioning.
Army.Dad...your son will serve in the Guard or Reserves. They aren't revoking many GRFDs these days (not even for the JMCs). He should attend the career fairs at College and make sure he has a plan for a "real job" after college. He may also want to look into the PAYS program https://www.armypays.com/ There are also opportunities to work full time as a Guard/Reserve Officer in AGR http://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-j...serve-prior-service/active-guard-reserve.html If in 8 years he is still in the reserves, he probably has a civilian job that is paying most of the bills, so Active Duty may or may not be willing to leave his job to serve full time as an active duty probably Captain by that time.
Bottom line though is GRFD means no active duty commission in most cases.
So why do it...My feeling is some Brigades are pushing GRFD to meet their GRFD mission. The Army/Cadet Command wants and needs Guard/Reserve Officers. They want them to be high quality, and their belief is that GRFD allows Cadets more surety regarding their fate after commissioning.
Army.Dad...your son will serve in the Guard or Reserves. They aren't revoking many GRFDs these days (not even for the JMCs). He should attend the career fairs at College and make sure he has a plan for a "real job" after college. He may also want to look into the PAYS program https://www.armypays.com/ There are also opportunities to work full time as a Guard/Reserve Officer in AGR http://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-j...serve-prior-service/active-guard-reserve.html If in 8 years he is still in the reserves, he probably has a civilian job that is paying most of the bills, so Active Duty may or may not be willing to leave his job to serve full time as an active duty probably Captain by that time.
Bottom line though is GRFD means no active duty commission in most cases.