Hello Everyone! My name is Maribel and my husband is in the process of testing to join the National Guard in Texas. He's gone to speak with the recruiter but I'm still doing a lot of research. Here is some background information on our family. We have a 4 month old who was born with Down Syndrome and we live in Laredo, Texas. If he passes the ASVAB in July, he wants to leave for Boot Camp in September. We are currently renting from his parents and I have no income. After Boot Camp, he plans to be active for a year and then finish his contract non-active.
Well here I go:
1) Does Family Separation Pay apply to him? Is it $250? If so, when would he start recieving it?
2) Would he be receiving BAS? Is that the same as Subsistence? And how much?
3) Can being an Eagle Scout really increase his chances of entering Boot Camp as an E2?
I know some of these questions may seem (well they actually are) redundant but I continue reading conflicting information, so if anyone could help me out, I'd really appreciate it!
Thank You very much & God Bless all of you!email addresses are not permitted
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mrsjvb,
first he has to actually qualify to get in and he will not really have much choice as to WHEN he ships out to basic training, nor will he have much say at all over how long the training is and how longhe will be active duty. for the Guard and reserves you enlsit for a specific unit..and you may only choose a jobn that unit has/needs.
currently the average wait time to ship out is between 6-9 months. the contract will be for EIGHT YEARS and at least 4 of themn he will be required to serve by drilling monthly and minimum 2 weeks Annual training. and of course the possibility of a deployment for an extended length of time. he cannot just serve a year then go IRR.
1: Family Sep is authorized beginning day 31 of him being gone.. it is $250/month and ENDS as soon as he returns toth eunit after all his schooling is complete.
2: dont even bother about BAS: it is to feed him and and him alone and it will not be authorized while in Basic or AIT as they are providing all his meals.
3: Yes. advanced paygrade is possible with Eagle scout. as high as E3 depending on Branch and component.
I think the original poster is talking about the program where you go Active Army for 1 year and then the remainder of your contract is drilling with the National Guard. If this is the case he will go to Boot Camp and AIT with the Active Army then serve at a base for one year. For that one year he is active Army with all the regular benifits. He'll get BAH and Family separation pay for any school thats more then 31 days. Once he gets to his active duty base Family Separation will stop. BAS is the sustience allowance for him only its around $256 or so a month. But when he's in training it isn't paid or sometimes you'll see it paid and then taken back out on the same paystub as a debt. Time to ship to Boot Camp will depend on is MOS and you don't usually get a choice.
forgot about Active first . what threw me off whas the 'serve for a year then go inactive' part. that is NOT an option.. because even at the end of the year AD you still have to finish out the contract drilling at the unit.
youy cannot go diretcly into IRR after the year of Active Duty.
I think the confusion arrose from the OPs use of non-active to describe here husbands reserve time-i did not take that to mean she meant IRR-just that he he would not longer be an Active Duty but rather an M day soldier-i.e drilling resrvist-made perfect sense to me. The family Sep and BAH issues are more complicated than Tissa made it seem. If his active duty period is on accompanied orders and you choose to remain at your home in Lorado rather than move to what ever installation he is assigned to you will not recieve Family Seperation pay -just BAS when he is not being fed by the army-and BAH for his duty station. If his order are unaccompainied-then you will recieve BAH for your home of record and Family Seperation for the duration-but not BAS as he will be living in barracks and being fed by the army. Also be aware that that one year could easily become two or more because if the Active Duty unit he is assigned to is sloted for deployment with in 90 days of his release date he will be fenced in-not able to be released under the stop loss stop movement policy-deploy with that unit-return-be fenced for an additonal 90 days and then released to the reserves-just something to think about.
He could also get a deployment right after starting his National Guard time. There's lots of NG units are deploying these days and I don't see that changing a year or two from now.
Maribel, I would suggest talking to your husband's recruiter with your questions. Also, if your husband does pass ASVAB and joins the Army, he will be given an AKO account and you can have one as a family member with him as your sponsor. There are forums and other resources on AKO that can help you in Army life.
Maribel, my answer is more focused on the last part. My good friend from High School was an Eagle Scout and went into the military right after he graduated and got E3 pay which was pretty cool. They definitely give precedent to that. Also, to try and subsidize expenses, I would consider applying for a loan while your husband is away at boot camp. I know sites like militaryloans.com and the like are pretty generous with loan giving, and it would take some serious stress off your situation.
Maribel, my reply is more directed at your last question. They definitely do give precedent to Eagle Scouts. My old friend was an Eagle Scout and went right into the military after high school. They started him off with E3 pay, which was really good for him. Also, in order to help curb expenses and take some stress off of you, maybe you should think about applying for some sort of loan. I know sites like militaryloans.com and the sort are pretty generous, so that may be something to look into.
