If I join National Guard and my boyfriend joins Air Force active duty will we be moved to different parts of the US? Also if he joins the military before I do, just being a girlfriend will I be able to stay with him? I know you have to be married but we don't want to rush into getting married. We are still young but do live together now. We have plans of getting married in the future. Please give me any info about the military as you can. Thanks!!!
retired AF
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first of all, if you are not married - the military does not recognize you at all. get married. save sex for marriage. just my position on the soapbox for what it is worth
second: you are talking apples and golf balls here. on active duty, he is stationed anywhere in the world where the air force needs him - to include overseas. in the guard, you are obligated to your LOCAL UNIT you signed up with. if you are both near Scott AFB, Illinois right now, and he joins the AD side, and you go join an air national guard unit in St Louis or Peoria, and he gets stationed in Hawaii - he goes to hawaii, you stay in Illinois! for you to change guard stations, you would have to get a conditional release from your unit and find a guard unit near where your boyfriend is going to be and see if they have your AFSC (for one), and if so, do they have space on their manning doucment for you (or would you have to be double-slotted which means you can't get promoted, can't re-enlist if still double slotted when that time rolls around) - and if you can't find a guard home to transfer to - then you still belong to your 'old' unit back home. it is a PAIN!
but if you stay single, you are going to put a lot of pressure on your relationship. you would be well-advised to reconsider enlisting in the guard (why not go AD and apply for joint spouse?). If he is stationed CONUS, you can move with him. but, E5 and below are generally required to live in the dorms on base. you can't live with him there. he can live off base, with permission, but, unless the dorms are 95% full or greater (could be 90%), he won't get BAH, so living off base would be at his own expense and he'd still have to maintain his room on base, be there for dorm GI parties, dorm detail, etc.
If he is stationed overseas, it gets a LOT more difficult. an airman E5 and below is highly unlikely to get permission to live off base because of the high cost of living. your utilities would easily be twice what you are used to spending in the states. easily. not to many ways to do guard duties overseas. it can be done, but there are a LOT of hoops and most guard units are going to have a problem with it, because they want you THERE, to join them, to train with your team mates on weekends and 2 weeks a year. you are of no use to them if you are performing your drills somewhere else. if he is overseas, you'd have to have a passport to be with him (again, at your expense) and you are not covered under the SOFA (statute of forces agreement) we have with the host country, and you would need to follow the host country's rules on being in their country as a TOURIST, because that is essentially what you would be. a visitor.
for both of these - if not married, there will be no command sponsorship, so all of your property can only be moved, if you move it yourself and pay for the cost of it yourself.
get married. or one of you needs to give up on wearing the uniform.
Bob P
National Guard = state agency. You are based in the state you join. Most remain in the same unit/location the entire time they are in.
Air Force = Federal. Can be stationed anywhere.
Stay with him? If not married he will probably be required to live on base during the early stages of his enlistment. If he gets orders to an overseas location, there is no way you can go and live with him as a girl friend.
You can move to where he is stationed, but will have to return to your Guard unit at least once a month at your expense. You can rent an apartment and he can visit, but he will sometimes have to stay on base.
He will not get paid a housing allowance to help pay rent as long as he is single.
You might be able to transfer to a different Guard unit when he gets transferred, but the process is not easy and they do not have to let you go.
usafbrat64
HE will be moved around the world, you won't be. If he gets a state side base, then you can request to transfer units, but your leadership does not have to approve it. If he gets sent to Europe or Asia, you will not be going with him at all. If you do get permission to move, then the cost of that move is all on you.
Also, he will be living in the dorms. No exception. Until he hits E-3/E-4 (depends upon the base), he will be expected to live in the dorms and will not receive BAH and BAS to live off base. You will be living in a rental off-base. And you will cover the cost of your own move and hope that you can find a new full-time job.
If you go full-time Guard, then you getting permission to transfer is even more difficult, because they have to have someone to fill that slot and there has to be a slot in the gaining guard unit.