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| I am currently finishing up my duty as an Army recruiter and heading back to my primary Army job (Infantry).
National Guard units in my area have been very reluctant to release their soldiers for Active Duty. Troop strength in guard units are generally lower than that of Army Reserve units and since the majority of Guard jobs are combat related, they tend to get deployed more often.
In the three years I've been a recruiter I have had 7 Guard and about 12 Army reserve soldiers come to my office requesting transfer to Active Duty. I transfered all of the Army reserve soldiers, with little incident, with an average processing time of three weeks.
Of the Guard soldiers I was able to transfer only one(and that took me almost four months), during the transfer process three soldiers deployed to Iraq, three got screwed over from their units, became discouraged and gave up trying to transfer.
Hope this gets you closer to making your decision. And thanks for your willingness to serve. SFC GONZO | | |

| i was told u have to wait six months after getting your bonus to switch from guard to active without having to pay your bonus back. | | |

| quote: Originally posted by CombsJ:
The MOS I am considering is 96B which is not a combat MOS, but it is currently understrength in the WA Natl Guard (which is why they are offering the 20k bonus.)
It's 35F now, not 96B, and if you take an understrength MOS, you will not be released. Think about it. Why would they give up a trained soldier in a slot that's hard to fill? quote: Is there a time requirement for the Guard, after which I could transfer to active duty without problems? One guy told me that after 3 years I could transfer whenever I wanted to.
He's wrong. It is entirely at the discretion of your chain of command, with final approval resting at state HQ. Any one of those commanders can put the brakes on a request for release.
"What we see from our tower is for us to know and for you to find out."--The S-2
| | Posts: 599 | Location: Minnesota | Registered: 21 September 2004 |  
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| quote: Originally posted by Gonzogfy: three got screwed over from their units, became discouraged and gave up trying to transfer.
How did they get screwed over?
"What we see from our tower is for us to know and for you to find out."--The S-2
| | Posts: 599 | Location: Minnesota | Registered: 21 September 2004 |  
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| OK, I may have the most up-to-date personally story for this but since every situation is different, YMMV (your mileage may vary) Oh, and you may want to grab a canteen real fast as this may get a little long winded. First of all, you can make the effort to talk to as many AD recruiters as you want but most of them will tell you that there is nothing they can do for you until you have a DD Form 368 signed by your chain of command. In essence, that is absolutely correct. They will be able to tell you general things based on past experiences but they won't be able to nail-down ANYTHING. I assure you. Your CoC is ultimately responsible for your release. If your CO isn't on board, it is going to be difficult to get the battalion, brigade, and whoever else commanders to bless of on your wish also. Key ingredient seems to be whether or not you really NEED to transfer. IE: Lost your full-time employment, don't have insurance, etc. etc. The final decision rests on your AG. I was in the recruiting command when I executed my 368 so I was actually able to hand carry my form to get signatures all the way up to AG. If you can do this, please do. It will help immensely. That seems to be the biggest problem with this, if the people you need signatures from haven't even RECEIVED your paperwork, they can't sign it. The other problem with coming from the National Guard is your CoC is very likely not to work full-time wherever you drill so it may take as many months (drill weekends) as you have signatures to make things happen. After you have a complete DD Form 368 you can now start actively working with an AD recruiter. You will do an enlistment packet just like you did the first time you joined, minus the physical (if it is up to date) and the ASVAB. An additional step that will take time is your Grade Determination. Basically, that is the Army's way of saying whether they will let you come to them as whatever rank you are. This is NOT a guarantee. I was 11B infantry, SGT/E-5 and was trying to re-class. Well then they came back with my grade determination, they told me I had to stay infantry and go to Korea if I wanted to stay a Sergeant. Had I choose to sign a Declaration Statement, I could have given up my Sergeant stripes and A. chose a duty station as a Specialist or B. re-classed into an MOS until after I signed the Dec. Statement. Which, oh by the way, is non-reversible. So, if you sign the Dec. Statement, that's that. Done and done. You rank is gone until you earn it back. The packet and MEPs process isn't over night either so please don't be in a rush to get it done otherwise it will only lead to weeks of disappointment. I signed my AD contract 10FEB2009 and didn't even ship until 04MAR2009. There are many more details to this process and this story but I don't want you to have to read a book. This is the meat and potatoes. If you want every detail, I would be glad to give them to you, just e-mail me. P.S. As of right now, AD is taking VERY few, if any, prior service recruits. They are on pace as of right now to double their projected recruiting numbers so they just simply don't NEED to take prior service people. There are many arguments to this matter but fact is fact. Many people are without jobs on the American economy and are looking to the service. Only the best qualified future soldiers are being allowed to enlist. IE: No law violations at all, no medical issues of any kind, etc. etc. My advice to you is if you think you want to go AD, go now, there is aren't a ton of opportunities on the economy right now and you can still get your bonuses, college credits, and whatever else you're after while you're on AD. Oh, and you will be getting PAID twice a month to do so. Just be motivated and willing to do whatever it takes to get to the end-goal and you will. One last thing, by regulation, you can transfer from the National Guard to AD 6 months after you are MOS qualified but as stated earlier, it isn't an overnight process and there is a chance that you won't even be released.
The more you sweat in training, the less blood you spill on the battlefield.
Ask no questions, hear no lies.
| | Posts: 15 | Location: Korea | Registered: 17 May 2009 |  
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| quote: Originally posted by GovIssueJosh: OK, I may have the most up-to-date personally story for this but since every situation is different, YMMV (your mileage may vary)
Oh, and you may want to grab a canteen real fast as this may get a little long winded.
First of all, you can make the effort to talk to as many AD recruiters as you want but most of them will tell you that there is nothing they can do for you until you have a DD Form 368 signed by your chain of command. In essence, that is absolutely correct. They will be able to tell you general things based on past experiences but they won't be able to nail-down ANYTHING. I assure you.
Your CoC is ultimately responsible for your release. If your CO isn't on board, it is going to be difficult to get the battalion, brigade, and whoever else commanders to bless of on your wish also. Key ingredient seems to be whether or not you really NEED to transfer. IE: Lost your full-time employment, don't have insurance, etc. etc. The final decision rests on your AG.
I was in the recruiting command when I executed my 368 so I was actually able to hand carry my form to get signatures all the way up to AG. If you can do this, please do. It will help immensely. That seems to be the biggest problem with this, if the people you need signatures from haven't even RECEIVED your paperwork, they can't sign it. The other problem with coming from the National Guard is your CoC is very likely not to work full-time wherever you drill so it may take as many months (drill weekends) as you have signatures to make things happen.
After you have a complete DD Form 368 you can now start actively working with an AD recruiter. You will do an enlistment packet just like you did the first time you joined, minus the physical (if it is up to date) and the ASVAB. An additional step that will take time is your Grade Determination. Basically, that is the Army's way of saying whether they will let you come to them as whatever rank you are. This is NOT a guarantee. I was 11B infantry, SGT/E-5 and was trying to re-class. Well then they came back with my grade determination, they told me I had to stay infantry and go to Korea if I wanted to stay a Sergeant. Had I choose to sign a Declaration Statement, I could have given up my Sergeant stripes and A. chose a duty station as a Specialist or B. re-classed into an MOS until after I signed the Dec. Statement. Which, oh by the way, is non-reversible. So, if you sign the Dec. Statement, that's that. Done and done. You rank is gone until you earn it back.
The packet and MEPs process isn't over night either so please don't be in a rush to get it done otherwise it will only lead to weeks of disappointment. I signed my AD contract 10FEB2009 and didn't even ship until 04MAR2009.
There are many more details to this process and this story but I don't want you to have to read a book. This is the meat and potatoes. If you want every detail, I would be glad to give them to you, just e-mail me.
P.S. As of right now, AD is taking VERY few, if any, prior service recruits. They are on pace as of right now to double their projected recruiting numbers so they just simply don't NEED to take prior service people. There are many arguments to this matter but fact is fact. Many people are without jobs on the American economy and are looking to the service. Only the best qualified future soldiers are being allowed to enlist. IE: No law violations at all, no medical issues of any kind, etc. etc.
My advice to you is if you think you want to go AD, go now, there is aren't a ton of opportunities on the economy right now and you can still get your bonuses, college credits, and whatever else you're after while you're on AD. Oh, and you will be getting PAID twice a month to do so. Just be motivated and willing to do whatever it takes to get to the end-goal and you will.
One last thing, by regulation, you can transfer from the National Guard to AD 6 months after you are MOS qualified but as stated earlier, it isn't an overnight process and there is a chance that you won't even be released. \ Im a 88Mike Specialest in the Army National Guard in Kansas and Im bout to be deploying in 2months and I want to switch to active duty. Ive been trying to get my foot in the door to get in AD Army after I get back but I keep hearing that I cant switch because Im considered as priorserive. Can you help me out or tell me what you think is going on??? My email is shadesbmp00007@yahoo.com asap please!! | | Posts: 1 | Location: Kansas | Registered: 08 September 2010 |  
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| quote: Originally posted by SGT_Devine: I agree if your goal is to go active either wait the 2 years until your children are older then go straight active or go active now. I was active then got out and transferred to the national guard and now am wanting to go back active and it is not easy going. Go active stay active. If you want to do Guard/Reserve do active first you'll be a much better soldier.
i guess he could join now since it has been almost 3 years since the last post on this thread...and the first post was in 2006...
Lead by Example!!!
| | Posts: 3914 | Location: Somewhere in the US | Registered: 13 September 2007 |  
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