After ROTC

[Mairborn]

Hey all,

I am writing because I have a question about Active Duty/Reserves/National Guard. I am currently a 4 year AROTC scholarship winner and a freshman. I have always wanted to go active duty but I am having some second thoughts due to my desire to succeed in the corporate world. I really want to still be apart of the Army, and I am thankful that I can choose to go to the Reserve or National Guard after college. First of all, is it hard to go Guard or Reserve after graduating AROTC? Or will they make me go active? Also, is it common for Reserve and NG soldiers to be called to active duty? I am a little confused on this process, and am not sure how likely it is to get called to Active Duty from the Reserves or NG. Thank you.

 

[Day-Tripper]

These days, anyone wanting Reserves/Guard will most likely be allowed. They need officers. In 2004? I doubt it.

I've read that all Army guardsmen should expect one deployment/activation per term of duty. So anticipate one year of the first six out of college on active duty. Employers must, per federal law (Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act of 1994), keep your job open for you after you return from active duty.

Likelihood, in the real world, of being activated? Who knows? Some guys spend 30 years in the Guard never leaving more than two weeks in July of annual training. Others found themselves spending 3 out 5 years in Iraq in the mid-2000s.

 

[Mairborn]

These days, anyone wanting Reserves/Guard will most likely be allowed. They need officers. In 2004? I doubt it.

I've read that all Army guardsmen should expect one deployment/activation per term of duty. So anticipate one year of the first six out of college on active duty. Employers must, per federal law (Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act of 1994), keep your job open for you after you return from active duty.

Likelihood, in the real world, of being activated? Who knows? Some guys spend 30 years in the Guard never leaving more than two weeks in July of annual training. Others found themselves spending 3 out 5 years in Iraq in the mid-2000s.

Thank

These days, anyone wanting Reserves/Guard will most likely be allowed. They need officers. In 2004? I doubt it.

I've read that all Army guardsmen should expect one deployment/activation per term of duty. So anticipate one year of the first six out of college on active duty. Employers must, per federal law (Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act of 1994), keep your job open for you after you return from active duty.

Likelihood, in the real world, of being activated? Who knows? Some guys spend 30 years in the Guard never leaving more than two weeks in July of annual training. Others found themselves spending 3 out 5 years in Iraq in the mid-2000s.

thank you for your reply. Can NG people be deployed overseas or are they assigned during national disasters etc. ??

 

[goforspaatz]

Thank

thank you for your reply. Can NG people be deployed overseas or are they assigned during national disasters etc. ??

nationalguard.com says "Because of the National Guard's dual state-federal mission, Guard members can be mobilized to protect and defend America in battle domestically or overseas. Should this happen, you'll be trained, ready and prepared to go, mentally and physically."

So yes, you can deploy overseas.

 

[FutureArmy]

I think the saying, "The needs of the Army" could be applied here. If you ask for reserves, you will most likely get reserves. However, the Army will put you where they need you. If they need you on active duty, then active duty it is. It all depends on what the Army needs. Right now they are downsizing so their need is not that great. The needs of the Army can change though. Hope that answers your question.

 

[Day-Tripper]

Thank

thank you for your reply. Can NG people be deployed overseas or are they assigned during national disasters etc. ??

Read this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Fighting-69th...=1452294901&sr=1-1&keywords=the+fighting+69th

"The Fighting 69th: From Ground Zero to Baghdad" by Sean Michael Flynn

It's about a New York Army National Guard regiment with a long , llustrious history. Made up almost entirely of guardsmen from Manhattan, Brooklyn & the Bronx. Once it was mostly Irish, dating back to it's history in the Civil War when soldiers were recruited literally right off the boat from Ireland and sent south to fight General Lee.

Prior to 9/11, their biggest assignment was marching in NYC's annual Saint Patrick's Day Parade, when most of the Guardsmen got drunk before, during and after the event.

When 9/11 happened, the 69th was activated immediately to handle the chaotic emergency situation around Lower Manhattan.

Shortly after, it has companies sent to protect West Point, where it was thought Al Queda would strike. The book features some funny scenes where Guardsmen from Bensonhurst and Hells Kitchen were mistaken as cadets and USMA officers tried to correct them for not wearing uniforms properly or not saluting properly - the New York boys (more "citizens" than "soldiers" at that point) told them where to take their criticism, superior rank be damned.

After six months or so of active duty they returned to their Guard status, only to the be activated a year or so later and sent to Iraq. They featured guys itching to get into the fight and guys who were had wives, kids, businesses, etc and weren't too happy about going war. But in Iraq they became an excellent unit.

The famous "Route Irish", the road connecting Baghdad Airport to the Green Zone was once the most dangerous road in the world until the 69th pacified with such ruthlessness that the road was named after them and the insurgents began to recognize the Irish shamrocks on the 69th vehicles and left them alone.

They were Puerto Ricans, Irish, Dominicans, Jews, Poles, Jamaicans, inner city blacks, NYPD cops & NYFD firemen, bodega store owners, Wall Street bankers, etc. A real cross section of New York. But they were, above all, the Fighting 69th.

It reads like fiction, but it's all true.