Hi!! Im usually over in the army wives and girlfriends area but im helping a new national Guard wife and who else to ask then other Guard wives??? well im trying to find out if her DH has to be active duty for her to get her benefits like tri care and schooling assistance. right now hes in AIT so is he active duty right now? and is he only a 'weekend warrior' or is that just the reserve? well hope somone call help me out.. thanks

You can have Tri care in the guard. They have to pay for it every month. You get Tri care select reserve. You have to pay for your dental as well. You lose your education benefits. Unless he has a GI bill. If he has that he can transfer it to her as she can use that for school. You are active duty during AIT. The active duty calls the National Guard the Nasty Guard. He is a weekend warrior. He will have drill once a month and 2 weeks of training during the summer just like the Reserves. The guard is looked down upon. There are a lot of politics there. The AD do not like them. They don't think they have done their fair share. Hopefully this helps. My dh is a former guardsmen. He is now in the reserves, but doing an active duty tour in Georgia.

ooh okay.. thats helps alot thank you. so once hes done with AIT is he allowed to live on a military base? or do him and his wife live off base since hes only doing the once a month thing? yeah ive been told that the guard is looked down upon.. even my husband laughed when i told him her husband was in the guard.. i dont see a diffrence tho.. i think if your serving your country then your just as much a hero and deserve as much respect as regular army and marines ect.

From what I know and understand, (remember DH is not reserve by any means) they aren't neccisarrily at a base. DH was going to join the Gaurd/Reserve something right after HS in his hometown, you know the little Armory's and such. When I worked in his town we did lots of work with those guys and they were telling us that most of them were not from this area, they were "put" there. They told us they went about 40 minutes away once a month for their training/PT where the area guys would meet up (there was one in basically every city) So there IS a chance she could be near home, there IS a chance she's randomly somewhere in the middle of nowhere and there is a chance she'll be on/near a base.

My friend who's in the AF is debating on going reserve or however that works and moving back to NC, given the option. He has a great job waiting for him and he wants to take it. It's now up to if he's able to go to that area.


The difference is the amount of time they give up. AD MM give up every second of the day. They are on call 24/7 365. Yes, the gaurd/reserves are too but (from past knowledge which isn't always true) normally they have a litle bit more warning. They don't have crazy swing shifts, weekend duty that can be four, five weeks in a row ect. These men normally work normal jobs and do their time during the afternoon, weekend or special events. Sorry, if some of this is wrong it's just the knowledge I've personally experienced with a handful of friends in the gaurd. JMO.

oh and disclaimer- I have no problem with the gaurd or reserves. I know a lot of college students that are in it and two who just came back from a 15 month tour, but it helps pay for their 4 year and then they will go commisioned, or whatever it's called. I also know a lot of 'older' gentlemen and ladies who want to enlist and this is the more practical option for them. To each their own!

DF was a reservist and worked/went to school full time, he was attached to a reserve unit about two hours away. He used that time to finish his schooling (and get it paid for btw through the GI Bill) so that he could commission. DF plans to go back to the reserves after his contract. His brother is in the guard and just got back from a year deployment. Personally I think both are a great option for those who want to have a civilian job or go to school and still serve their country, and certainly not anything to look down on.

Personally I think both are a great option for those who want to have a civilian job or go to school and still serve their country, and certainly not anything to look down on.

Agreed. I also think how it's neat how my friends situation is, where he signed for 6 years and he's halfway done, he has a time frame to switch to reserves for an additional 6 years or something like that. I don't know the details but pretty neat. I know DH has mentioned it, either taking that option or just doing it after his 6 years are up and if he has a nice job back home.

Make sure if your dh goes into the reserves he has a civilian job lined up. We ran into a problem that way. My dh is an officer. He was in the guard during college. He did deploy witht hem and got stuck in stop loss so ended up being deployed for 2 1/2 yrs. I met dh after college and he was trying to get out of the guard. He did not have a job. The guard dod nothing to help him. They still wanted thim to drive 4 hrs away for duty. He ended up not going several times because we had noe money for gas. I was working but I brought in enough to pay the rent and bills and nothing else. It took dh over a yr to get out of the guard and into the reserves. The guard didn't want to let him go due to a shortage of officers. Once he got into the reserves and explained his situation they did a lot to help him. He did go on a volunteer deployment so we had money. When he got home from that I was unemployed. He went back to his unit and they got him the current job he has Ft. Benning. It is a yr assignment, but he can extend and cetainly will with our miracle on the way.

DH has put his application in for AD. We are waiting for that. The reserves does not want to let go officers. Just like the Actiev Army there is a HUGE shortage of officers and a large overflow of enlisted. Until then the reserves will keep DH working. Even if he has to take another deployment.

Just because there is an armory in your town doesn't mean that is where his unit will be. Each armory is a different MOS. My dh was a chemical officer and his unit wasd 4 hrs away. There wasn't any closer. He went into a MP reserve unit because that is where most of his experience is. It was only and hr from our house.

thaks all of you!!! i now have a better understanding of what the guard and reserve is..

in the reserves or gaurd the solider will drill at his home unit, he should know what unit he will be going to when he signed his paperwork at meps. He will drill 1 weekend a month and 2-3 weeks in the summer. the solider is not aurthorized to live on post/base. He can use the commisary. If you want heath insurance its called tricare reserve select and you pay a monthly premuim. He can and will deploy overseas, or be assigned a school on the states if the unit needs it.

I am a reserve soldier and can answer any questions you have just feel free to pm. I might be off and on for a while due to moving to Korea.

oh, alright. thank you!!

Not sure if everyone answered all your questions, but here is what I have learned in the past few weeks with a ARNG husband going "active" for BOLC:

1. Dependents get active duty TRICARE benefits, at active duty rates for the time he is activated (assuming 30+ days activation)

2. Dependents get changed to active duty status in DEERS, so more bennies from your local post/base.

3. Soldier will get BAH. Not sure if dependents have option to get housing, but I doubt it and it is probably easier to just stay where you are for something like AIT/BOLC, rather than move. They didn't even give me the option to go to Fort Benning, just giving him BAH automatically.

4. Once he is off his active orders, you have other TRICARE options, which are expensive, but offer excellent coverage. I would compare the prices to your civilian job's benefits. My husband has unusually excellent health care benefits from his job and the TRICARE is still slightly better.

5. Don't forget dental. TRICARE dental and medical are separate enrollments. Cost changes are same as medical--cheap when active, goes up to something comparable with civilian when no longer active.

6. A lot of NG wives forget they can get a dependent ID even when NOT activated. This gives them PX/BX, commissary, and MWR privileges. That's a GREAT deal! USE IT!




Edited by Mrs.Hanson for TOS violation.