Posted on Feb 23, 2014
SSG Detention Officer
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<p>Ladies and Gentlemen,</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I have been serving in the Army National Guard for 9 years, and currently on my second deployment in Afghanistan.&nbsp;&nbsp;I have about 13 months left in the Guard.&nbsp; I am in serious debate with myself on staying in or not.&nbsp; I have a daughter with my ex wife and continuing to leave on deployments and training is interfering with a lot of my time with her.&nbsp; I grew up without a father around and I dont want that for my daughter.&nbsp; I want to be able to be there for soccer games or whatever else she wants to do.&nbsp; Also, people may not believe it but it is really hard to get a good job being in the Guard.&nbsp; Employers know that you will be leaving a lot and use other "reasons" not to hire you.&nbsp; On the flip side of things, I want to stay in for Tri-Care, you just cant beat that insurance. Having an extra pay check during retirement is not a bad thing either.&nbsp; Also I have moved up pretty quick, and I believe I could continue to do so.&nbsp; If any of you have any advise, it would be greatly appreciated.&nbsp; Thank you in advance</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
Posted in these groups: Military discharge 300x201 ETS/EAS
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SFC Senior Instructor/Writer
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SSG White,<br><br>Your emotions might be getting the best of you right now because you're currently deployed.&nbsp; I would wait until you get back to make a decision.&nbsp; By the time your time is up you will be over half-way to retirement.&nbsp; I do understand the need to be with family though.&nbsp; There are many pros to staying in the Army but ultimately you have to do what's best for you and your family.&nbsp; In my opinion family outweighs everything.&nbsp; Good luck and get home safe.<br>
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SSG Detention Officer
SSG (Join to see)
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Roger SFC, I have been debating this long before I came on this deployment
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GySgt (Other / Not listed)
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Not sure if this will help you out because every unit is different and plus we are of different breed and situation. &nbsp;I just ended my active service in the Corps after 9 years, over 4 of those years were spent in Iraq, Afghanistan, and many other southwest asian countries. &nbsp;The operational tempo for me was not going to stop despite requests for doing special duty assignments like drill instructor or recruiting to place me in garrison for 3 years +. &nbsp;I always found myself in units where I couldn't be released due to MOS shortage and importance in command billet. &nbsp;In order for me to catch that break from conducting deployments and short missions overseas, I decided to transfer to the Select Marine Corps Reserve. &nbsp;The SMCR has given me more than a break but allowed me to stay plugged into the Corps that I love so much and the time to raise my daughter and time with my wife. &nbsp;A weekend a month, two weeks a year, to continue what I do best and love, while being able to pursue other interests full time, spend more time with family, and still have great health, dental, and retirement benefits was a selling point for me to go into the reserves. &nbsp;Another point for staying in partly and not fully separating was staying plugged into the Corps for when that time comes again when our nation engages in another major conflict, I would feel great obligations to serve and wouldn't be able to do so again in the Corps unless I stayed in it in some form. &nbsp;
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SFC Recruiter
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Don't know your MOS or anything, but have you considered the United States. army Reserve and changing career paths. We have a lot of different options that might benefit you. Send me a message if interested and I can give you some tips that might benefit you.
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SSG Detention Officer
SSG (Join to see)
11 y
Im an Infantry guy right now SFC. I'm willing to look at all options. 
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