National Guard Mission

[pdguy]

Let me begin by saying that I have the utmost respect for Guardsmen and that i'm not intending to be offensive with anything I say. I'm only trying to relieve my own fears.

Basically, my background is with the Marine Corps. So during my entire experience with the military I have heard only one thing about the guard...that they are nasty. Now I'm sure that most of that is Marine Corps machismo, however, now that i'm considering the guard I'd really appreciate some honest opinions on this. Specifically, I mean the type of missions the guard is assigned too.

Now I'm not really refering to domestic missions, I think I understand them pretty well and the guard is the only one that performs them anyway. What I would like to know about is federal deployments, to Iraq etc. Getting back into the military for me means being away from a wife, kid, and job that I didn't have back in the Corps. So after all the training I would be going through and then assuming that at some point I would be required to deploy I would want my experience to be worth while. What I'm saying is that if I make the sacrafice to be away from my family for a year plus that I don't want to be on permanent fire watch! I'm not saying that I have some juvenile desire to get myself killed (I consider my adrenaline addiction to be much more complex :p ) but I certainly would want a job as a tooth, not a tail, if you know what I mean.

If you haven't guessed i'm looking at branching infantry (officer corps). So what I would like to know from some of you more experienced sodiers is, to be frank, are deployed guardsman the red-headed step children of our military forces? Is the guard given the respect they deserve and the missions they are capable of? Or, are they left sitting on supply dumps while the "real soldiers" go to war? Anyway, like I said earlier I mean no disrespect by this line of questioning i'm simply trying to make an informed decision.

Thanks for the advice and opinions in advance.

[PV1Ford]

Hey pdguy, from the experience within my unit, 1 guy from HQ platoon and 4 from 1st platoon volunteered for a term in Iraq. The first guy from HQ platoon became an attachment of the 196th airborne air assault and did PSD missions (convoys) and was a gunner in a humvee. After eight months, he was reassigned to Abu Ghraid prison to become an MP for the rest of his 14 month deployment. The others I haven't a clue, but from SPC Tackett's experience over there, he seen plenty of action as a gunner.

[groundup]

pdguy - the National Guard participates in all facets of the Army. As in Infantry officer, chances are a deployment will be fairly action packed. If you really want action packed, check out Special Forces.

[VTguard]

PDGUY-

As a former active duty infantry soldier myself, I completely understand where you're coming from with the National Guard stigma. I saw some units that were composed mainly of overweight old men that didn't look like they could fight their way out of a paper bag. I almost didn't join the Guard because of this perception. However, what I discovered was that although there are (how can I put this politely) substandard soldiers in the Guard, the vast majority are highly motivated, well trained, and many are prior active duty. If you're looking at officer corps, I would suggest visiting an infantry unit in your state. The National Guard Infantry unit I was assigned to in Vermont (A Co 3/172 IN (MTN)) is the most high-speed units I've ever had the pleasure to be a part of. (Active or Guard). That unit is in Ramadi right now doing Quick Reactionary Force (QRF) patrols in one of the most dangerous areas in Iraq. They work hand in hand with Active Duty units, Special Ops, Marines. I guarantee that if you ask any one of them if they feel like they are doing some B.S. mission that doesn't matter, or if the National Guard is just a bunch of "red-headed step children", they will most certainly be offended.

[AbnMtn]

PDGUY,

Like SSG Fletcher, I'm a former member of the Det 2 3/172nd Infantry (Mountain) out of RI and I would second that, same as any other service, you will find some substandard soldiers in the Guard. On the flip side of the coin you will find certain units that stand above the rest which is something (as you may know) that has to do more with the "sprit de corps", unit pride and the standards enforced by the chain of command than with the mettle of the individual soldier in the unit.

From personal experience, I can tell you that I was deployed to Afghanistan and conducted several combat missions with the 22nd MEU (one Air Assault into a real hot spot with Force Recon), our own Special Forces and other regular Army units. Although initially it was somewhat difficult to work with the 22nd MEU and Special Forces (you know their physical requirements), personal pride allowed me to keep up and we conducted some missions that I can assure you I will probably never conduct again in my military career. You want to talk about being the "tooth not the tail", we were nothing but sharp fangs. There's no better satisfaction than knowing that you are bringing the fight to them not the other way around. The National Guard is still supporting similar missions both in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I can see that you won't be satisfied with less than the best. Research around your state for the units with the best re****tion (definately consider Special Operations as one of your primary options). I believe that you won't be disappointed if you hook up with the right unit. As guardsmen, we still have to deal with some of the stigma about being the lesser of the service components, but that is quickly eroding by our presence in the fight.

[VTguard]

SFC Marrero-

It's nice to see another MTN soldier out there.

"Ascend to Victory!"

[pdguy]

Thanks for the input everyone. I belive I am going to go ahead and join. While I think SF would be really great, unfortunately, there are not any SF units in Arkansas so I won't be able to do that. But the reason I got out of the Marine Corps was a foot injury anway, so just getting back into infantry is a big enough goal for now.

Again thanks for the help.