National Guard After School

Started by russel345
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russel345

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I just graduated and am thinking about doing the national guard. I know the basics from their website of 3year bonus of 75k and 40k per year for 6 six years loan repayment, but what is the experience like? I am in NC and wondered what things we do during the two days a month and just how everything works....like do we get a gun? dumb I know but I am curious.
 
I'm currently in the Hawaii National Guard. Because of the size of our state, we may be structured differently from you. The bonuses you quoted are accurate. What you do on a drill weekend depends on what type of unit you're in.

If you're in a Medical Detachment or Medical Command, you're part of a hospital unit and may be doing dental exams that support the Guard.

If you're in a line (deployable) unit, you'd be doing more soldierly stuff, like rifle shooting, vehicle training, etc and will learn how to use field dental equipment.

No you don't get a gun. 🙂

PM me your email if you want more info on the Guard.
 
russel345 said:
I just graduated and am thinking about doing the national guard. I know the basics from their website of 3year bonus of 75k and 40k per year for 6 six years loan repayment, but what is the experience like? I am in NC and wondered what things we do during the two days a month and just how everything works....like do we get a gun? dumb I know but I am curious.
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with the National Guard, but the Reserve also offers some different options that the Guard doesn't have - they also have the loan repayment at 40k/yr x 6 yrs.

In the Reserve you can be in 1) Regular unit that does the 1 weekend a month/2 weeks a year as was described above.

2) A unit (DIMA) where you only do 2 weeks a year (it is up to you to do other activities like CE to get a "good year" and you are not tied to a specific geographic unit - this gives you a lot of flexibility and minimal impact on your personal life.
 
krmower said:
Nothing wrong with the National Guard, but the Reserve also offers some different options that the Guard doesn't have - they also have the loan repayment at 40k/yr x 6 yrs.

In the Reserve you can be in 1) Regular unit that does the 1 weekend a month/2 weeks a year as was described above.

2) A unit (DIMA) where you only do 2 weeks a year (it is up to you to do other activities like CE to get a "good year" and you are not tied to a specific geographic unit - this gives you a lot of flexibility and minimal impact on your personal life.
Click to expand...

In the regular reserves (TPU), you can *only* sign a three year contract. In the DIMA reserves or the Natioanl Guard, you can sign a one, two or three year contract. The regular reserves are subject to a somewhat predictable deployment schedule. In the DIMA reserves, you can do as much or as little work as you want. You can do the bare 2 week minimum, or you can drill the "one weekend a month/two weeks a year" way like the regular reserves. The DIMA reservists still do a 3-4 months "deployment" every 2-3 years or so. Usually deployment consists of going to a base in the continental US or a base in Germany to do dental work.

I have experience in active, DIMA, and NG. Read my "One Army Dentist's Story" thread for all the info, and hope it helps.
 
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