National Guard

[patmcd]

Anyone have experience with the National Guard (army or air)?

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[nmontana]

My sister-in-law is in the Air National Guard and I and many of my family have been in the active duty side. I can't tell you much about pharmacy specifically, but I can tell you that the National guard is a very difficult life style. You have many of the disadvantages of being in the military and not nearly as many advantages that come with being in active duty.
For instance, you have to maintain the physical standards of being in the military, but you don't get access to the gyms or paid for your time you have to work out to maintain those standards (my biggest problem, but not every ones issue). You also have to hold down a full time job that is flexible enough to allow you to leave for a year (4 months - 1 year is average deployment) and still allow you to come back to work when you are back from deployment. I know a lot of people who have to share their hours with another employee after returning because the company had to hire someone while they were gone. They are not supposed to be able to fire you (still happens though), but they can replace you and alter your work schedule as they need it.
I think the hardest part of the guard is that they have very little in the way of continuing education programs, but they are still going to use you as a soldier for very long deployments. All this adds up to less training and more interference with your life outside of the military.
As with any military service, make sure you know why you are signing up on a contract before you put your name down. There is a reason it is known as selfless service, your giving up many of your rights to protect the rights of others.

 

[patmcd]

Some of what you mentioned would seem to apply at least not to the Colorado units. They do offer gym access and at least for health professionals the deployments are supposed to be short. My brother is an MD in the army national guard and they only do 90 day deployments to help retain people. And at least for pharmacists its very easy to find hours with the shortage and all.

Hopefully someone on here has some direct pharmacy experience in the guard and can shed some light on it.

 

[Caverject]

have you tried google?

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/452560

 

[patmcd]

have you tried google?

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/452560

I had already read that article, but interesting none the less.

 

[Caverject]

theres another article that I read in some trade journal...there's like 10 or 15 active reserve pharmacists in the country...id post the link if I could find it

 

[WVUPharm2007]

My dad was in the Army National Guard. Was sent to Desert Storm back in the early 90s in a medical company that got into choppers and retrieved people.....almost got shot to death by various bullets/SKUD missiles numerous times.

Ain't no way in hell I join the military. I'll stay here where I specifically am not being shot at.

 

[pharmpilot]

My sister-in-law is in the Air National Guard and I and many of my family have been in the active duty side. I can't tell you much about pharmacy specifically, but I can tell you that the National guard is a very difficult life style. You have many of the disadvantages of being in the military and not nearly as many advantages that come with being in active duty.
For instance, you have to maintain the physical standards of being in the military, but you don't get access to the gyms or paid for your time you have to work out to maintain those standards (my biggest problem, but not every ones issue). You also have to hold down a full time job that is flexible enough to allow you to leave for a year (4 months - 1 year is average deployment) and still allow you to come back to work when you are back from deployment. I know a lot of people who have to share their hours with another employee after returning because the company had to hire someone while they were gone. They are not supposed to be able to fire you (still happens though), but they can replace you and alter your work schedule as they need it.
I think the hardest part of the guard is that they have very little in the way of continuing education programs, but they are still going to use you as a soldier for very long deployments. All this adds up to less training and more interference with your life outside of the military.
As with any military service, make sure you know why you are signing up on a contract before you put your name down. There is a reason it is known as selfless service, your giving up many of your rights to protect the rights of others.

I spent several years in the Air National Guard (CO, then MA, and finally TX). I wasn't in the medical field, so I can't say about that. But what you say here is true. In many cases, the reserves now treat their people like they are active duty, but they do not get the benefits of being full-time. And for whatever career field you are in, you have to maintain the same standards and requirements as active duty (at least in my unit).

For instance, if you are active duty, you fall under the active duty GI bill. It's somewhere around $1000/month for attending school full-time. Reservists have the Montgomery Reserve GI Bill - about $350/month. If reservists are activated for a year they are supposed to receive 60% of the active duty amount; activated for two years is supposed to get you 80%. However, there is a real catch to this... If you get out of the reserves (i.e., your enlistment is up or you retire), you currently no longer qualify for the 60% or 80%; you are back to the Reserve GI Bill. Congress is supposedly working on changing this, but I don't expect it to change very soon.

As for retirement, when an active duty person retires, they start drawing retired pay immediately. A reservist waits until the magical age of 60. Theoretically, the reservist has put in less time and they know the rules going in, so that's understandable.

If you live close to a base, you do have access to just about everything an active duty person does. I can't think of a single thing active duty has access to on a base that the reservists doesn't. The ID cards now look identical, although I'm sure the bar codes tell a different story.

As far as returning to work after being activated, there is what the law says and then what happens in reality. Supposedly there are people to help you deal with it if there are problems, but who wants to work in a hostile environment. I fortunately had an employer who was OUTSTANDING about my return to work.

How you are treated, how long you are deployed, what your job responsibilities are, etc, have a lot to do with which service you join. IMO, the Air Force treats its people better, but I will admit to a bias there. The Navy also seems to treat its people well, although they do have additional duties that are unheard of in the Air Force. There is no doubt the Army and the Marines have it the hardest. And yet, where would we be without them?

In any case, once you sign on the dotted line, they own you and will use you when they want to.