Any advice for dual military Active Duty Air Force and Army National Guard?

2019-01-30T21:46:06-05:00

Hi! My boyfriend and I are both commissioning in May and plan to get married before he recieves his duty assignment at school. He’s branching Active Duty AF Intelligence and I am branching TC assigned to a guard unit up in Vermont. We just wanted to field out our options post-BOLC based on any similar experiences or situations regarding dual military. If anyone has any advice or insight they could give it would be much appreciated!

Response by LTC Kevin B. made Jan 30 at 2019 9:53 PM

2019-01-30T21:53:16-05:00

Could you narrow down what type of advice you're seeking? Your question is rather broad. Questions that are more specific lead to answers that are more useful.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 30 at 2019 10:21 PM

2019-01-30T22:21:59-05:00

Yes, if he moves out of Vermont, you then want to switch to the Army Reserve. that way, your ta-50 or your basic issue can stay with you instead of having to turn it in to each and every state you leave. I noticed that from the Army National Guard that every unit I left or every Battalion I left, I had to turn in all my gear even if I stayed in the same state. In the Army Reserve, you get all your gear and it goes with you no matter what state you go to. I just transferred from an Army Reserve training command in California to a logistical Regional support group in Tacoma Washington and I didn't have to turn anything in when I left. Also, if you also join the Army Reserve, if you happen to like a particular unit that's far away from your husband's current assignment, you can get reimbursed up to $500 in airline and Rental Car travel expenses. I know the Army reserve unit will cover you for lodging and kind when you fly in from long distances . You can buy your own ticket from Priceline or Expedia and( not pay overpriced prices that you see on DTS with Carlson wagonlit travel) and then get reimbursed with a local voucher. I don't think the National Guard does this. I hope this little bit of knowledge helps you.

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made Jan 30 at 2019 10:47 PM

2019-01-30T22:47:51-05:00

Purely as a suggestion, whenever I've seen questions on here about career/educ stuff, typically, lack of adequate info tends to be the major thing hampering giving suggestions about various possibilities. So, indulge me, if you will, and do as detailed as possible biosketches, so far as possible. You'd given so e idea of his AFSC, and tour MOS, however, if you could possibly be at all more exact, that'd certainly help, if at all something you and he think you could both go into here, obviously, that'd be for not of you to decide. Next, I'm assuming he's either been AFROTC, or is going USAF OTS (I was Army ROTC 3 yrs, ten went USAF OTS when it was at Lackland, before it was moved to Maxwell). Your specific assocs, bach, also, any masters or higher grad coursework, exact course titles, grades, GPAs, your specifc ambitions, esp grad school, would certainly help us help both of you, so far as might be possible. Ten, too, specific hobbies, interests, esp various reading topics, sports also, esp martial arts, if any, would be useful to know, to illustrate your breadth, depth, and range of interests. I can tell you now, and please trust that I've been there, done that (BTDT), that all svcs, all, will, I assure you, pretty much insist, I'd found, that you both get, minimum, at least a masters, pretty much from day one, esp on the active duty (AD) side. Then, too there's the prof mil educ (PME) stuff, him being USAF AD, he's gonna need to do Squadron Ofcrs School (SOS) nonresident, ASAP, trust me again, BTDT. Whatever branch school for you for ARNG in VT, if there's PME for it, the same for you. Next, if you're going ARNG, are you going straight Guard? Guard Tech? AGR? Further, for him, he should try submitting to both AFIT and Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) as soon as possible, if you're both looking at masters yet, although not started, have you done any of the grad level school exams, GRE, GMAT, LSAT, if GRE, bty the genl and subject tests, most definitely. If you do PME, you should look at nonresident programs in other svcs, not just your own, after I did USAF SOS nonresident, I did USMC command and staff (C&S) nonresident, there's also Naval War College (NWC) CPC&S nonresident, which is actually a very difficult, demanding program. Do you both want full careers in both? Those are the kinds of specific topics that tend to really let us suggest stuff for both of you, honest...please realize, I have an interest in such topics, I've been told I can often tend to rater overwhelm with multiple possibilities, however, I only suggest such things for both of you, to be as absolutely concrete as possible...he's going to very definitely have addl duties, aside from hose of his AFSC...I had to spend a day with my installation CO, join the company grade officers council (CGOC), I even got takes by the air base group (ABGp) where I was to look into an accident damaging a pickup truck by a junior airman, my name was just at the top of a duty roster for such assignments, I had to travel with civil servants at least twice, plus, I can assure you both that you're not going to realize that you'll both, esp him, likely be working under civil servants, not just AD, trust me on that. You're going to have to be involved in his installation, he in yours, certainly socially, at minimum. Plus, if you're working full time aside from your ARNG assignment, you're going to obv have to juggle that also, I found, in all seriousness, that organizing one's time was one of he hardest things I needed to learn to do. Further, when I had my semiannual evals (OERs hen, OPRs now) I was explicitly asked to lost all I'd done in a given period, so trust mez I fully expect both of you will likely need to also, and believe me, that includes charity drives, community service stuff, I donated time to CGOC organized charity fund raising and recreation site repairs, as well as he installation winter carnival, I'm enteely serious, it was all taken very, very seriously. If there are seminars on his installation, as was the case for new Lts, he'll likely have to go to those...further, believe me when I tell you this, you're not done working tilp you're done, and even then you're not done...many, many times, I had to stay in the office I was in till 3 AM, only to be lambasted as an idiot by a senior civil servant I was under...I asked to be allowed to go for specific technical training I thought might help me, and was told to learn it OJT...if he does coursework, or you, it'll help both of you, esp for masters stuff, or PhD, to do it in what you're expected to do for work, not something unrelated...most importantly, your personal ambitions are your own, both of you, your sole functions are to enthusiastic a lot help your units at all times, I needed to have that quite literally pounded into my skull, more often than I can count, for the simple reason I wound up where I hadn't expected, doing work which, while I'd been trained for it, had been nothing what I'd hoped for...in the world you're both going to be part of, things rarely, if ever, turn out entirely as one hopes, I'm afraid tats just simply reality, honest...my next younger brother was USMMA Kings Point, I commissioned him when he finished, our Dad was Navy, an uncle was Army (one of Gen Eisenhower's radio operators there for the surrender of Germany) one of my Mom's cousins had been Army, my Moms Dad had been briefly USMC, my wife's Dad had been Army (Bronze Star with valor), her stepdad had been Navy destroyer combat, her Dad had been in WW2, the stepdad in WW2 and Korea, her brother had been USAF noncombat during Vietnam assigned to SAC, so, I'm not telling you both I've seen everything, however, I've been around a good many bureaucratic blocks, I'm total perm disabled, I also trained clinically before my disability at multiple VA hospitals, I can only tell you both all I observed, and all I saw, so far as possible, I hope all that helps, it's not my object to dissuade or discourage, my object is to try to give you both concrete specifics, not vague generalities, which is why as much further detail as you both can send in of the type I'd suggested, would clearly be useful to try to suggest various possibilities for both of you, honest, I hope that was all at least of some help, I'd be genuinely interested to hear more, whenever convenient, no rush, certainly, by all means.

Response by SPC Michael Dillon made Jan 31 at 2019 4:56 AM

2019-01-31T04:56:57-05:00

Don't get married