Posted on Jul 15, 2017
What advice do you have for a switch from Active Duty to National Guard?
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I'm have been in Active Duty for 6 months. I read that you are able to switch from Active to Guard 1 or 2 years early from your ETS date. Ive thought about doing this for quite some time now and I would like to switch when I am able to. Can someone give me some more insight about starting the process to switch? I deploy to Europe next year and when I come back it'll be the start of my 3rd year.
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 4
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You can contract with the Guard 6 months out from your ETS date. The active component does not generally release you from your active duty commitment, especially now that they are in a growth mode.
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SPC (Join to see)
So does that also mean I can go to a Guard unit 6 months prior to ETS? Or do i have to finish out the 6 active months left.
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SGM (Join to see)
You can sign up with the Guard 6 months from your ETS date. You are assigned to the Guard the day after you ETS from the active component, so you dont get to leave the Army early. If you are going to college or a technical school you can usually get a "school drop" for a few months depending on the school start date. They generally get approved, but of course its up to the COC to support the request or not.......
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Yeah you are talking about getting out of your contract which is something you would need to talk with a recruiter and/or retention NCO about. The only thing I know for sure similar to this was that you used to be able to *switch* with someone of similar grade and same MOS between Guard and AD, but this was usually done right after enlisting (like while at Basic/AIT). Unless the Army is downsizing your MOS and offering this through a specific program, I am unfamiliar with how you would do it at the moment. Try reaching out to a National Guard recruiter in the state you are looking to go to. You can find them through the National Guard website.
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I am now looking at this question 3 years after you posted it. Have you begun your transition from Active Duty to Guard yet?
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