National Guard or Reg. Army?

Honestly?

At this point, there's not much of a difference. NG's are mobilized for 18-24 months at a time, AD go for a year at a time......

Active, you have the continuity of benefits, and pay, while Nat'l Guard, you have the intermittent pay and benefits only while he's active....

It all depends on what he (and you) are lookign for. Security, and stability is Active. Nat'l Guard is uncertain...... you never know when he'd be activated or for how long.

ADDED: Warrior Training is crash course basic, for those that don't need the whole thing agan. Like a Refresher course. He can see if there are any "STAR" MOSs available for him that he'd qualify for. Those are high demand jobs, that are currently seriously understrength.

WOW! You need to seriously consider this. First of all think about where 20 years puts retierment, 61 years old! I mean no offense but I don't want to be in a foxhole with me grandpa. I think the Guard is a better option. Whlie you recieve the benefits of military service, your life can proceed in relative normality. The second part of this is deployments. Are you prepared fpr them? The fact is that we are at war and he WILL get deployed. I am not questioning you love life but can you hang? You have been married a long while now(I imagine) and it may be very difficult to adjust to. I don't want to sound like a jerk but it just sounds CRAZY! I went to basic with two older guys. The first was active duty and he ended up quiting because he and his wife were having serious trouble adjusting. The other was guard and although basic was tough he got thruogh because he knew his life would return to normal when we left Ft. Benning. No matter what you guys choose it will be an experience like no other and I commend you both for the defending freedom.

Warrior Training is no drill sgts or any of the teach you how to be an adult junk, it just teaches you how to be a soldier instead of Navy, Air Force, etc. The little differences in how the Army works compared to the other branches. BCT is take you back to 30 seconds to go take a dump and wash your hands and then go drop and give 20 because you didn't start out on your left foot sort of stuff. I don't think he can go officer because of his age, but depending on how much prior service he has, they might waive his age and let him go anyhow.

When you say regular army, do you mean Army Reserves, like the NG, but actual Army instead of state level organization, or do you mean Active Component US Army, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? I have done both, active component, and drilling reservist, and I am now an active reservist in the Active Gaurd Reserve program (I am active duty, but still a reserve soldier, work like a regular active component soldier, but only work for reserve units as their full time support).

When I was reserves, it was good for me, being married to an active component soldier, because I didn't have to worry about spending a whole lot of time away from my daughter at the time, I only had to worry about drill weekend and AT usually. I had to make sure my daughter would be well cared for if I ever did get deployed, since I was dual military, but that was not a big issue for me. But I also didn't get a whole lot of paycheck or benefits being a reservist. As active duty, I get full benefits, medical, dental, housing allowance, paycheck, leave, but I also have to work everyday, including some weekends, constantly on call for stuff, like funeral details, working late and no overtime, etc. Depending on what you are looking to get out of the military, AC and reservist can both be good options. But both require the support of the family in order for it to be successful and lasting.