Which branch to join: Army Active Duty or Army National Guard?

go active. you can go to college while you are in and probably get a degree by the time you are 25 or 26 anyhow. it's not so much when you start, it's how you finish.

the "college experience" isn't what it is cracked up to be. personally, i got more out of college when i had matured a little bit. i graduated from high school when i was 16. went straight to college the next year. i was still a kid, and with those new found freedoms, there were parties, women, yeah - that was some 'college experience'. i wasn't mature enough for college at the time, and my grades suffered horribly. by the time i turned 18, i had been academically suspended from school because my GPA had fallen below 2.0. i worked for a few years, got tired of having 10 bucks left after paying my bills, and went into the air force. After a couple years in the AF (and you figure, the first year and a half you are busy with basic, tech school, OJT anyhow), i decided to go back to college. The difference was astounding. i had matured a lot after i 'bombed out', and the military taught me how to study, what was important, gave me the discipline to focus on the important materials, the confidence to get the grades, and i was an A student (for the most part) after that, repeated some courses to get rid of the bad grades, and eventually graduated from college with a 3.89 GPA.

why did i share this? because i was in your shoes once, and had a WHOLE LOT of external stressors, all of which i am sure, combined with my young age, resulted in a horrible college experience the first go around and it could have sent my life on a downward spiral. but the military helped me be a better student, and helped me deal with the stressors that were challenging me.

you can go in the army now, take care of yourself, help the family as best you can, work on your degree while you are in (100% tuition assistance - ZERO loan debt), and then go for OCS/OTS. just make sure your college program is a more-technical degree (engineering, math, meteorology, nursing), have a 3.5 or better GPA,. and you may have a good shot.

once you are AD though, you won't be able to go ROTC. but if you work on a good degree program, you may not need it. another problem: with the national guard - they don't cover SQUAT for room and board. that's on you. the guard/reserves MAY help you with tuition only at best, and that depends on funding by the legislature. in the guard's case - a STATE funded organization, find a state that isn't broke? many guardsman i know don;t even get tuition assistance because the state is broke! plus, if you go guard, you will be prior service and there are not many prior service opportunities to go active duty. your only way to go to school now it sounds is via pell grants, student loans, and scholarships. the guard may or may not help you.

if it were me, i think Ad is really your only option. if you have any questions, email me

good luck

Go National Guard. You get many of the same benefits as the active duty soldiers, but at only two days worked a week. You can go to college at the same time, as you said, and being an officer will put you at a much higher salary once you finish ROTC. National Guard won't station you in a distant location, and you'll be around your family and friends. Plus, you can always switch from Guard to active duty if you decide that it would benefit you.

Many NG soldiers have jobs basically identical to their MOS during the week. For example, a signal soldier who works on IP networks might be a government contractor working a network admin job Monday through Friday. This is the case in many NG units I've worked with. The pay is much more lucrative this way, and Monday through Friday is spent actually doing your job, not mopping floors and pulling weeds. Since many of the jobs are gov't jobs, you can earn toward your retirement as though you were active duty, AND get credit toward your retirement for your work in the Guard at the same time. My advice is to talk to the local Guard units and ask what the soldiers there do for full-time work. You'll likely discover some great opportunities.

The only people to say that are stupid recruits... The Guard is the oldest component of the US military with roots dating to 1636. The Guard has fought in every war this nation has been involved in. Currently the Guard makes up about 30% of all deployed forces (40% in 2003-2006) second only to the active Army. Since 9-11 the Guard has deployed almost three times as many folks as the USMC. The Guard also has an additional role that no other branch does and that is homeland security and disaster response. The Chief of the national Guard (a 4-star General) will soon have a seat on the JCS because of the importance of the Guard's role and mission.

I would recommend joining active duty because of your sitsuation. If you did go to the university while in the NG how would you pay for your books, food, "college experience", and the rest of tuition that the NG doesn't pay for. It seems like it will be very stressful added with your weekend drills, and lack of respect that AD Army shows Guard and Reserve members.

In active duty you get the military experience. Depending on the job you choose you will have time to attend collge on base or online while getting paid well. The average age of a college graduate is 25 years old (37% graduate in four years). Look at other military branches also for more jobs to choose from.

Good Luck

Which way you go depends on what you want to do for the next few years. Going by what you are saying, active duty is a much better choice. It's better to get paid now than do NG and struggle for the next four years.

Going active duty gives you the opportunity to take classes at night and on weekends using the Army's tuition assistance. After three years of active service you should apply for the ROTC active duty option. That means the Army sends you to college to complete your degree while you continue to collect active duty pay. Active duty pay is a lot more than what you get one weekend a month.

First of all, they are both the same Branch, but different components of the Total Force.

Not sure why you would be missing the college experience if you go with number 2 - you would just be doing it a few years later, and probably having a better time as you would have some money in your pocket, be using the GI Bill, and would be a bit more mature and not subject to all the typical college drama.

From your background, there really is no option but to go with Course of Action 2.

With NG you won't get the same medical and dental as active duty.

go active and do 20+ years so you can get a retirement .

(i did 33 years active duty 1975-2008 and got a retirement )

If you go Guard, pick an MOS which directly translates to a civilian occupation. Then you can be making money on your military training.

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