Hello, I was a cadet at the Coast Guard Academy - after a year and a half I decided that the Coast Guard wasn't for me, and I wish to become an officer in the Army on active duty. I have several questions about joining the National Guard, as far as furthering this goal. As of now, I have three semesters of credits (about 55 credits) and plan on completing six semesters at NC State.

1) Many of the educational benefits, bonuses, etc., that I saw were only obtainable if I enlisted in the National Guard for six years. However, I want to get commissioned via ROTC and go active duty - would I be able to go active duty upon recieving a commission, or would I be required to remain in the National Guard? If so, is this something that is approved of - I don't want to feel like I'm simply using the Guard to finance me until I go active duty.

2) I have a similar question about OCS - after getting 60 credits, if I wished to do OCS, would I be required to remain in the National Guard, or could I go active duty?

3) While at the academy, I was considered to be active duty - does this disqualify me for an enlistment bonus for a critical MOS?

Thank you for your time.