I've just recently started thinking about the National Guard, I'm 18yrs old and I'm about to be a senior in highschool, So heres the question. Traveling has always been something I wanted to do but I still want to be able to achieve my cilvilan goals which is why I thought about the national guard in the first place so I just wanted to know do you get to travel as much as someone on active duty or does it depend on your MOS? I'm going for a MOS in the Combat Arms.

-thanks in advance

It really depends more on what type of unit you are in. As a member of the Army National Guard I have been to Spain, Italy, Germany, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia.

The unit I traveled overseas the most was the 20th Special Forces Group Alabama Army National Guard. I have been an 11B in a Infantry Guard unit we never went overseas.

For 3 years I was in a Material Management Center that was a detachment of the 200th MMC which is a Regular Army unit stationed in Germany. While assigned to the 200th MMC we would go to Germany for our 2 week annual training in small groups of 10 to 15 soldiers and for the most part I got to choose the dates I went to AT since we sent small cells of soldiers to Germany all year long.

So basically, if I went with Special Forces I would have more oppurtunity to travel than I would beening an 11b or does it just depends on the situation?

quote:

Originally posted by Melo16:
So basically, if I went with Special Forces I would have more oppurtunity to travel than I would beening an 11b or does it just depends on the situation?

There is no question that as a soldier in an SF unit you will get to travel more than you would in an Infantry unit. Having said that if you want to stay in a combat arms career field in the Guard I would advise you to go ahead and go 11B and serve a 3 to 4 year tour in an Infantry unit then try to transfer to an SF Guard unit and go to the "Q" course.

If travel is more important than what you do then I would advise trying to get a slot in an SF unit in a non 18 series MOS. SF units have truck drivers, supply, maintainance, admin, and even cooks all are required to be airborne qualified so you will get to go to Airborne School. Being on jump status pays more too. It is possible to serve in an SF unit in a support roll and after a couple of years apply for a slot to go to the "Q" course and if you finnish you will get to be on a Team.

What state do you live in?

I live in wisconsin but I'm going to be moving to Florida after highschool.

The 20th SFG has the Group HQ, Support Company, Signal Company and the 1st BN in Alabama. The 2nd BN is located in Mississippi. and 3rd BN is in Florida.

When I went through my phase II BNOC for 11B we had a couple of guys from Infantry units located in Florida and I forget what unit but they seemed to be pretty squared away. The Guys I worked with in the past from the 2nd BN of the 20th SFG were great to work with. We rarely worked with the folks in Mississippi in the 3rd BN 20th SFG.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RavenWarrior,

I really want to thank you for taking the time to answer my questions but I just have one more question, I'm aware that Special Forces is one of the most demanding jobs in the Military so I just wanted to know would I be able to balance a civilian career and be in Special Forces within the guard? I also want to know how many times in a month do SF Soldiers trian?

-thanks in advance

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Melo16,

Not including your training to become MOS qualified for an 18 series MOS if that is the direction you wish to take they drill one weekend a month and 2 weeks a year like any other Guard unit. The exceptions are if you have a jump that weekend you may be required to do an extra 4 hour training period that weekend starting on Friday at 6 pm. That means extra pay and retirement points though. Take in mind I have not been in the 20th SFG since before Desert Storm so thing may have changed. Also when we did our annual training overseas it was for 3 weeks not 2.

The amount of extra time you will have to put in the Guard increases with rank regardless what unit you are assigned. For Officers and Senior NCOs there may be lots of stuff you will have to do on your own time.

I was in college while I was in the 20th SFG. It was great because there was lots of ADSW short tours of 179 days so anytime I needed money I would volunteer for one of these tours. Keep in mind this was during the Cold War and before Desert Storm so things may have changes a lot since then. I would advise that you contact a recruiter assigned to the 20th SFG. They would be able to answer your questions better than I can since its been so long since I was in that unit.

I served in the Regular Army prior to joining the Guard. I will say that some of the best times I have ever had in the military was when I was in the 20th SFG, its a great unit.

alright thanks, but I'm going to do like you said and spend 3 to 4 years in the infantry first than tranfer to SF. thanks a lot.

Thats really the best way to get some basic tactical skills prior to going to the Special Forces Qualification Course.

If you stay in the Guard as a career you will have many trips overseas. I would not trade my time in the Guard for anything its been a great time in my life. I wish you the best of luck in your Guard career m,y friend.

alright thanks, is there a Special Forces Guard unit in california because I may just end up moving there.

There are 2 Army National Guard Special Forces Groups. They are the 19th SFG and 20th SFG.

There used to be 2 Reserve Special Forces Groups. The 11th SFG and 12th SFG but were de-activated in 1992.

The 19th SFG is geographically spread across eight States (UT, WA, WV, OH, RI, CO, CA, TX). The Group Headquarters Company, the Group Support Company, and 1st Battalion (-) are located in Utah.

The 20th SFG is geographically spread across eight States (Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Virginia). The Group Headquarters Company, the Group Support Company, and 1st Battalion (-) are located in Alabama.

Calf SF Unit