Hey all, I’m a currently serving ANG and realizing I am not a good fit with the ANG/Air Force/aviation culture.

I am trying to get a DD368 or any release to return to active duty USMC.

I am over 2 years into my ANG contract and a fully qualified enlisted aircrew. So, my wing has spent some money getting me to this point. I have not routed anything but had a conversation with my leadership about a dd368 and they basically told me not happening.

Any advice on how to approach this?

Or possibly any transfers/cross training in the National Guard that might be a better culture fit?

FFFW!

I am currently in the ANG in TX and I am conflicted. My wife and I have had an unfortunate turn of events over the past few months. To keep from spilling personal info, we have been looking into going active Army (intel) to give job security and such but my unit just brought up sending me down to OLS.

I need someone smarter than thou to help me understand pros/cons of going either direction.

Im just a young dude wanting to make it in life with a good family. Also, Im prior service so Ive been in for a little while. The Army rec Ive been talking to is a good guy too.

TIA ...I'll take a #1 with cheese and no tomato, no fries and a water.

Some background,

So I'm in the middle of a MEB. I already have a rating through 70% VA disability for what I'm getting boarded for , and 80% in total. I was diagnose after my last deployment almost 2 years ago, but my wing basically sat on the paperwork for about a year.

I finally was able to sign the commander's recommendation letter like 2 months ago. The medical wing that we go to is a completely different base and wing than who I'm under plus my unit is a GSU so we have zero contact with our actual wing and we have no like official POC for mental health issues, which is what I'm getting MEB'd for.

My commander is super new. He only recently put on major and is a temporary Commander. So I don't think that he actually knows the process or is really that much help. However, he seems to be the only person who I can talk to about any of this. This seems kind of below his pay grade and he's so busy that it's hard to get information, which I get because he's literally the commander for the entire unit.

Does anybody have recommendations? Or what should I do? I know I'm getting discharged. This meb should not be difficult or complex. It's for bipolar and I have a VA reading for bipolar at 70%. My commander's recommendation is for me not to stay in. I elected in my notes that I agree and I don't want to stay in. Is this just a matter of I have to wait either months or years before I get information? Or is there something I can actually do?

Hi r/airnationalguard, so I made the switch from Army Guard to Air Guard. I've been in the military almost 11 years, I was an infantryman for 7 years and a qualified MP for 3 years. I've been in my current SF unit for about 7 months. My recruiter told me I wouldn't have to go to tech school, but now my unit is telling me I need to. I'm assuming I may need to request a Waiver. Can anyone point me to AFIs cover this or if anyone has experience dealing with this. My Air Force Specialty Codes are:

PADSC: 3P011

DAFSC: 3P071

CAFSC: 3P011

Thank you for the help in advance.

Edit* - I do not have to go to tech school. So the DD214 I originally provided only had my infantry MOS. That was almost a year before I was actually able to get my conditional release. I’m assuming my recruiter built my packet based only on my paperwork. So I provided my newer DD 214 & Basic MP Cert to our BEMT and they said I should be good to go.

So I'm in the middle of a MEB. I already have a rating through 70% VA disability for what I'm getting boarded for, and 80% in total. I was diagnose after my last deployment almost 2 years ago, but my wing basically sat on the paperwork for about a year. I finally was able to sign the commander's recommendation letter like 2 months ago.

The medical wing that we go to is a completely different base and wing than who I'm under plus my unit is a GSU so we have zero contact with our actual wing and we have no like official POC for mental health issues, which is what I'm getting MEB'd for.

My commander is super new. He only recently put on major and is a temporary Commander. So I don't think that he actually knows the process or is really that much help. However, he seems to be the only person who I can talk to about any of this. This seems kind of below his pay grade and he's so busy that it's hard to get information, which I get because he's literally the commander for the entire unit.

Does anybody have recommendations? Or what should I do? I know I'm getting discharged.

This meb should not be difficult or complex. It's for bipolar and I have a VA reading for bipolar at 70%. My commander's recommendation is for me not to stay in. I elected in my notes that I agree and I don't want to stay in. Is this just a matter of I have to wait either months or years before I get information? Or is there something I can actually do?

I was offered an AGR spot as an E4 turning E5 in May. I see the pay scale with bah only puts me at around 60k (Civilian job is already 70k). When I talked to a member in my unit who joined around the same time as me. They indicated they were making around the same as someone would making 80k in the civilian side because of how they were taxed. Is there truth to this? I also hear there was a massive pay increase, so I am wondering if the jump is worth it and how to find out for sure?

Currently a non-DoD Competitive Service GS employee considering a jump to an ANG Title 5 position, which would be Excepted Service. Been off of Probation for a while now. Would now be a bad time to even consider this move? Or is now better than ever?

My understanding is that I’d restart with a 2 year probationary period. With word going around about probationary employee lists, it’s making me question if this would be a smart move.

On the other hand, the military appears to be insulated from some of the reduction efforts and hiring freezes going around.

Curious if anyone has any insight or other perspective on this situation.

Thank you

I got 19 months left on my contract. I'm a 2W171. Tried numerous times to go Officer. Getting bored. I live in the DMV area. What AFSCs should I try to go into? #

I did a year of college out of state, realized how expensive that was, and dropped out to join the guard and go to a college in my home state. I recently joined the Guard and I'm at my first drill. It's going well! I have not returned to college and I would like to. I have not been to basic training yet and I don't have a ship date. They said it will likely be the summer but no guarantees. I don't want to waste time waiting if my ship out is a long ways away but I also don't want to sign up for a semester and not finish or even start it. Should I apply to college and try to squeeze a semester in before I leave for basic, wait until I have a ship out date, or just wait until after basic training?

There are a few officer openings at my base at the moment and I noticed both of them have the “meets the XXX (ie. 38F) requirements IAW AFCOD.” Does this state that it is only open to the career field only? And if so, is that only for current officers?

Does anybody have any insight on which Bases/Units are contributing to the southwest border mission? Or whose AOR in general is in the Southwest region?

I have my DD14 from my last deployment which I assume I'll need when I apply for VA home loans I'll check what else I need from them.

Probably also grab my vaccine records and Career Data Brief. Anything else?

Has anyone heard of guidance update for this program? Thanks

For the requirement to do drills plus 10 days, is that 10 days per calendar year or fiscal year? I can’t find a reg that states one way or the other.

My unit loves to add last minute requirements and I’ve def done >10 days in the last fiscal year

Hi. So I'm currently deployed and for my yellow ribbon they had us join a digital briefing done by the Army Guard, so some of the things they covered were army specific. One of the things was the SRU, where if a solider gets injured on deployment and gets a Line of Duty, they stay on orders for up to 180 days after they get back to the US, and their only duty is to stay at a base with a military treatment facility and go to medical appointments and briefings until they're healed up. I was wondering if the ANG had something similar if you get hurt on deployment. I'm currently fine but people are dropping like flies here when it comes to injuries. No one in my flight can answer this question and medical here is pretty much primarily active duty, so they don't know.

Has anyone used this credit union or served at the Air Force base in Mississippi before? Does this credit union actually exist and is it legitimate? Is it reliable? Thank you.

I’m looking into a possible temp tech position as a DSG. Was told the max to be a temp tech is four years about what would the pay be based off of ? As an AGR it’ll obviously be an O-3 base pay with BAH and Subsistence allowance. Have you seen temp techs be made permanent?

Does anyone know if a temp-indef Title 32 Technician is entitled 12 weeks leave under MPLP?

Seems like yesterday the conversation was ORIs, now it feels like hiring freeze, RTO, and federal worker layoffs will start to have an appreciable effect on units. Wondering what the word on the street is

I’ve been appointed QAE for Ground Transportation at my Guard base and it seems overwhelming and stressful. Any tips or assistance?

I’m currently studying for the first part of my CDC’s for my 5-level. How do you guys find the time to study, while also balancing college (for those that are currently in school), work, and life? I’m a fulltime student with an intense quarter and I’ll be tested at drill this coming week.

Also wish me luck!

I have been attempting to receive a shaving waiver for years. Once I was told DSG aren’t allowed it (which I can see on any drill weekend isn’t true), I shifted to only having a waiver for when I’m on orders for more than 5 days. I have a dermatologist letter stating that I have the necessary skin condition (pseudofolliculitis barbae), and the recommended treatment is not shaving multiple times in a week/month/etc. I bring this to my medial group along with temporary waivers I’ve received in past TDYs, to get one permanently placed on my record. They said I will have to report to each individual medical group on each base I visit to get a temporary waiver for that base installation. I’m just wondering if this is something anyone else has heard of, if I’m SOL or if there’s anything else I can do to get a waiver. Thanks

Im doing my taxes and im just back from basic training and tech school, so last years income was based on the 5 months I was away plus a month of orders when I came back home. So on 15,691 they only took out 304… 🫨🫨🫨 before I left on my w4 I only put 1 for myself .. am I missing something ? Did finance mess up my deductions ? Or em I filing wrong on turbo tax 😭😭😭

Current AGR, completed the last section of distance NCOA today, and registered for the capstone that starts in March. What is the capstone like when doing it via distance, and what can be expected? Roughly how long can I expect to be doing that portion and what is the level of involvement?

I am 1 class away from completing Naval Command Staff College (non-resident). I just thought it would be interesting, throw a little joint flavor, and a little different to stand out from my peers when it came time for promotion. I just happened to stumble across ANG 36-2504 and started reading all of it. I came across paragraph 3.3.5.1. which states:

Nonresident PME courses of another service in which a member enrolled after 1 April 1985 are not acceptable for position vacancy promotion if an equivalent Air Force nonresident course exists. Waivers will not be granted. PME courses (resident or nonresident) from another service, completed by an officer while a member of another service, are acceptable for satisfying position vacancy promotion requirements.

I guess I am just confirming that I completed this for "fun" and now have to do Air Command Staff College too if I want to promote on a PV. Is this correct?

I’m expecting to take the AFOQT in the next month. For the members that have taken the test, do you have any tips or studying practices that you’ve found effective? I should preface that I am already enlisted in the ANG, just looking to go from E to O based on an upcoming opportunity.

As a national guardsman, I know we can get free checked bags and TSA Precheck even if we're not on orders domestically in the US by showing our CAC but if I decide to take a personal trip internationally, say to Japan, can I get TSA Precheck and free checked bags going to and from Japan? Or could I only get TSA Precheck and free checked bags when I'm flying to Japan but not coming back?

Part rant, part question.

Currently my unit is doing quarterly drills, which has now been screwed by the NGBs recent memo banning members from utilizing make-up days before the drill for which they apply. Instead of switching to a monthly schedule, my unit leadership has decided to simply shift back the quarterly schedule, so that we're using make-up days per the new memo. This leads me to a question: is my unit going to have "bad" years (in terms of counting toward retirement) because it's impossible for us to have all of our drill days before the end of the fiscal year? Also, it means that all the plans I made regarding my civilian life have been thrown into limbo, as there's no new drill schedule that's been published for us.

The quarterly schedule has already been tough, as I'm a young(er) member, and have just graduated college. A fair number of companies/jobs I've applied to have viewed the fact that my military service requires me to take a full week off every 3 months as a negative during the hiring process, or told me that they (the company I'm applying to) would require me to use PTO (which I'm fairly sure is illegal). The quarterly schedule was instated for my unit after I'd joined, and it's making me seriously consider not reenlisting. One of the joys of the ANG was that I could serve, but also nurture a civilian career/life. The quarterlies seem to be obstructing that. What makes it especially tough for me is that I love what I do in the ANG.

I've brought my issues to my leadership (both my unit and my squadron), but it hasn't been listened to: both my flight chief and NCOIC have never held a civilian career, only AD and AG positions. My squadron CO grew up in an AD family, and went from AD to AG, and my squadron shirt is the same. When I raise my concerns/complaints, the response from all of them is, "You joined the military, it takes priority." In my opinion, I joined the ANG to avoid almost this exact situation, and so that I could pursue my civilian interests.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as I'm at a loss as to how to proceed.

Thank you for reading my rant.

EDIT (for additional information/clarity): I'm EOD, and worked extremely hard to make it into the career field. It is, in fact, the only job that interested me when joining. Because of this, I'm not interested in cross training. Also, there are only 17 EOD ANG units, all of which are small (8-15 members), and (I believe) nearly all are fully manned.