My apologies for the hijacks. Anyway, yes, the CG has a reserve program, same as the other branches. As to its desirability, that’s certainly a matter of opinion. It depends on your friends interests and goals. The main CG job info is here. The reserve specific info is here. Best advise is to have all questions ready to go, call the applicable recruiters and talk to folks who are already doing the job. As its been mentioned before, recruiters may not always be forthcoming with certain info. I’d be happy to answer any CG specific questions you or your friend may have via e-mail if you’d like. I’m not, nor have I been a recruiter, so I’ll be as candid as possible.
Oops… I forgot to mention, when I was in Basic Training there were people from the National Guard, Reserves, and Regular Army. Everybody received the same training. Same thing with AIT. Once AIT was completed the Regular Army soldiers got there orders for there next assignmnet. BTW, some of them were told by recruiters that they would be in the states but to there dismay, many of them were off to South Korea and Germany… at that time…West Germany. The Reserves and National Guardsmen reported to drill stations and resumed civilian lives. We drilled one weekend a month and we had summer camp. Summer camp was 10 or 15 days. I can’t remember now. What was a complete surprise for me was this business called a “MUTA 5”. We had those three or four times a year. That meant report for duty on Friday early evening and you are not released until midnight Sunday… if Top wants to be an ass that is. Sometimes we would be released at 6 or 7pm on Sunday. Just want you to know that when the Army says “weekend”, they mean all of it.
jacksen: When I went through BCT at Fort Knox, KY, the National Guard troops received the same training we Regular Army types did plus they got additional NG-specific training (crowd control and the like).
I went through Basic at Ft. Jackson, S.C. I do not recall the National Guardmen getting any special training there or at Ft. McClellan, which is where we did AIT. It would only make sense for them to get this kind of training so they probably did. I was too busy doing push-ups to notice. I know there were at least a couple of guardsmen in my platoon.
quote:
Originally posted by Monty
jacksen: When I went through BCT at Fort Knox, KY, the National Guard troops received the same training we Regular Army types did plus they got additional NG-specific training (crowd control and the like).
Well, when I went through BCT at Fort Bragg, NC, the National Guard troops received the same training we Army types did. I got some NG-type training (crowd control and the like) in the Army at Ft. Monmouth, NJ).
Back to the OP. Your friend is leaning toward the Navy or Air Force and seems to have skills useful in either. It is my impression that, in general, the Air Force treats its people a lttle better and has generally more interesting jobs than the other services, but the Navy is not far behind. (I may be wrong and beg someone to correct me if I am). So I think it comes down to what she likes. If she really likes boats, then she’d probably be happiest in the Navy. If she really likes travel, she’d probably be happiest in the Air Force. If she likes sand and mud, then the Army is the way to go.
Yeah, I’d say the two have equally interesting jobs, but you’re right in that the AF definitely has a better quality of life. This is because of money. The Navy literally can’t afford to build nice buildings, bases, houses and facilities for its people. The AF can.
Btw, jacksen9, keep in mind that getting a Navy commission through ROTC means you’ll be reserve, but you’ll be active-duty reserve, which is practically speaking no different than being regular active duty. You’ll owe a minimum of 3-4 years before being able to resign and join the “real” reserves. Also, they may not necessarily pay for your college (mine didn’t). But military life is much better as an officer, so it’s worth the commitment.
Little known benny to being a Reservist on Active Duty: when your Active Duty time is up, your travel time back home is still on your active service. For the Regular Branch folks, the travel time (although paid for with per diem) is on your time.