Are any of you guys former Marines that have moved to the GaANG? How was the transition and do you like it? Right now I'm looking into 12B, 13F, and 19D. Is there anyone in those MOSs that can tell me how drill weekends go? Particularly the 19D unit in Canton since I live close by. Thanks gents!

I can put you in touch with my brother. He jumped from active duty Marine to Ohio NG then to GaNG. He's a 1stSgt in Cumming now.

I have insights into GAARNG - never been a Marine but extensive time in GAARNG. I can connect you to any of the units and specifically 12 and 13 series.

I live in Canton also and can get you in contact with the 19 series too. The northwest corner of state has multiple 1-108th Cav units plus one Engineer Sapper unit.

Sent you both IMs.

Yeah, what this cat said

 

I can arrange a visit to any GAARNG unit you wish to see.

X3. You will see some high speed units, and some good ol boy "Meal Team 6" types. Go to their drill and get a feel for them. You also should see if they have a slot for you at your pay grade/rank. If slots at your pay grade is an issue you should consider Army Reserve. Civil Affair(CA), Phyop, and MP units are usually pretty high speed.  CA units usually have the funding for training, and military schools.

Thanks for the input! I'm definitely looking into observing a drill or two. Keeping my rank (Sgt/E5) is a big thing for me too. Do the problems/trouble you guys mention go beyond funding, cramming as much training as possible into 2 days, general sense of chaos, etc. type stuff? Those were issues in the Marine reserves and I more or less expected them in the Guard.

Those problems exist everywhere in the Guard and Reserves. At least it sounds like you know what you are getting into. YMMV, but I left the GA Guard and was much happier in the Reserves. Like joker said, it will be heavily dependent on the individual unit.

Some good points made here.

It really depends on each unit and to some extent at battalion level. I'm old and got out of the GA guard in '97. When I first got in, we trained like crazy. After a couple of years with Clinton it slowed down dramatically and became boring as training funds dried up.

That being said, the Company Commander makes the major impact on training. For a while, we had a CO that was a Ranger. We did more training with him than the four others I can remember combined.

One of my employees is an E5 / Fire Team Leader in Canton. If you want first hand knowledge, IM me and I will put you in touch with him.

Will you share with me what unit you were unhappy with and roughly when you were in that unit?

AVN guy here with Georgia Guard, have you thought about reclass to 15T and be a Blackhawk Mechanic? I'm the section Cheif for the Maint Co. now after 16 years in the Flight Co. We  need Crewchiefs badly. You will get to work on planes at drill. A LOT. You will get to fly at drill, a lot and a lot more outside of drill. School is at Ft Eustis, 4 months or so. There are only a few issues though. If your a badge finder, there is no going to airborne or Air Asaault school, two guys went to pathfinder years ago, that's it. If your 6 or above, you'll probably have to drop to 5 to get a slot. The MOS stagnates on rank at the 6 level. The same guy I'm waiting for to die for a 7 slot was a 7 when I got there.
ALC is 3 phases, takes awhile, slots are limited.
Get some experience and become a technician and work 4 days a week with a lowest level starting pay of over $25 an hour. Takes 6 months experience to be at that level. Check jobsusa website for aircraft mechanic and one is posted right now. I am the mechanic supervisor at the hanger, so if you need info let me know. We have a ton of marines from when the Cobras and Hornets went away.

Also there are units in winder Ga and Savahna Ga with UH60's and Savahna also has new F model CH47's. CNGC in Marietta has LUH72's as well. We have medevac, counter drug, assault, GSAB, pretty much everything.

If your a  turbo hardcore ground guy, you might want to look into the Counter Drug Ground Team. They do some real ninja stuff, and seem to love it. I can probably get you in touch with them as well.

Or you might be interested in the HRF, or even WMD. Pretty sure you would not be bored with them.

Panzer, it's interesting you mention that. My Marine MOS is 6174/huey crew chief and I was mainly interested in staying aircrew when I contacted a recruiter. I  was told it would be difficult/unlikely to get into avn on a blackhawk. I was also warned about the promotion issue and that did turn me off to it some. But flying is fun... HMLA-773, the unit that left Dobbins, is leaving Warner Robins next year so you may see more reservists looking to cross over.  

Interesting - 2/121 IN is an outstanding unit with a rich history. Mobilized for Desert Storm and spent months at NTC in the biggest National Guard train up since WW2 - 2-121 IN was in the thick of it. 2-121IN  was chosen for Bosnia mission where they were attached to 3ID pre-9/11 and the train up they did (specifically force of force training with 3ID at FT Stewart) was epic. 2-121 IN returned from Bosnia and began preparations for deployment to Iraq. The 48th IBCT - including 2-121 IN - did a very demanding train up ( including a full spectrum plus COIN NTC rotation) 2002 through 2004. In late 2004, the 48th IBCT began mobilizing for Iraq and was in Iraq mid 2005 through mid 2006. During the first half of the Iraq rotation, the majority of the 48th BCT operated in a rough AO south of Baghdad and 2-121IN was in the thick of the fight. Unfortunately, a number of our casualties were from A CO, 2-121 IN and C CO, 2-121 IN in a series of engagements south of Baghdad near the "Lion's Den".

So, the 48th IBCT and 2-121IN specifically may be forgiven for taking a knee during 2006 after returning from Iraq before they began preparing for Afghanistan.

I spent most of my career in the GAARNG, 48th IBCT, and 2-121 IN. I commanded C CO, 2-121IN during Desert Storm, was the S3 of 2-121 IN during the 1996 NTC rotation, was the BDE S3 and XO while 2-121 IN (and most of 48th IBCT) was in Bosnia, I commanded 2-121 IN after they returned from Bosnia and until I went on the 48th BCT staff for the Iraq trip. I am still in the GAARNG. I know a little about the GAARNG. Lightning8 was my call sign in Iraq and I use it here on the forum.

I am calling BS on your comments about being bored in the GAARNG. That is like saying that there was not much football played in half time - sounds like you just missed all the good parts.

That stinks.  Do you know where they are relocating to?

I was with D 1-121IN during the NTC rotation during Desert Storm. Not a fun rotation. My father commanded 1-108AR during that rotation as well. That unit still holds a record out there for killing every OPFOR vehicle during a force on force engagement while suffering zero casualties.

Thanks for your service by the way.

I had heard that, we were looking at the buildings and trying to see what we thought would fit in them.... They are just going to be gone, not moving. Their facilities are probably 1-2 years old too.

Nismo, come by the hanger sometime and talk to the units, the recruiters don't know what we have and don't have. Had a few kids get fooked out of stuff from them. Slots are opening. The AGR QRB was harsh this go around. Extremely harsh.

You mean the ASMB? I heard it went deep.

It's about time. There are too many NG and reservist AGR folks that need to go home. If you have 20+ yrs  of service, and you are E7 or below it's time to move on. Too many soldiers just hanging out blocking promotion for those that truly want to lead. Heck half of them cant pass a PT test, can't pass height/weight, and/or have medical issues.

Yes ASMB, didn't think there would be too many AGR here to know. Every Mday knows what QRB is though... Lol. Yes it was deep. Word on the street.... Every 8 that went was cut, out of 20 7's, only 7 were retained. Some SGM 's were cut too.

It's  been blocking promotion for 10 years or more. It's been stagnant. Can't get promoted when there is no slot to go to. If your a technician, you are very much stuck because of compatability reasons, and the requirement to be hard slotted. It's been shitty at best for promotion past 6 the last ten years.  Nobody is going to leave a $35 plus an hour tech job for a stripe in an incompatible slot... Nobody.

I don't know how other units in the state are manned, but it's TIGHT in the AVN units. Very limited past 5 even. And the slots get held for YEARS....

Wars over... Time to cut heads....

The main thing to look at is the unit itself.  I've been in the Guard since 2006 after an 11 year hiatus from 5 years of active duty(Army) from 1990-1995.  There are major differences in unit readiness and morale levels.  It all depends on what kind of senior leadership the battalion has and the quality of the full time staff that the units have. Also, it goes down to Battery(Company) level (I'm 13B).  Having a good Commander, 1SG, and platoon sergeants will make or break your experience.  It all changes with time.  I've seen my unit go from top notch to abysmal and then back. Our recent deployment to Afghanistan(2013) was one of our shining moments for sure. We were well trained and had weeded out all the shit-bags during our train-up.  We were bolstered by many from other units as well.  I've stayed in touch with many of them as they became good friends of mine and they tell me that their units are pretty much going the the same issues as I'm seeing with a few exceptions.

All AGR's know what the QRB is as well, since they are also seen on that board. Hopefully it clears up some slots for you guys in Aviation to continue to progress. It's thirty years for tech's to retire, right? That really makes for some guys staying in slots forever especially since your pyramid is so tight.

Completely agree that once a dude has 20 years AFS and have been stagnant in a position for 5 plus years, its time to go. Give another guy a chance to progress. We dont have anyone with twenty in my Battalion. Lots of new guys in positions, even some prior service Marines.

They are moving up to New Jersey and joining the 773 det located at Fort McGuire.

Can you avn guys explain these tech positions to me? Are they the "active duty" positions that the army or Marines would have that maintain the aircraft between drills?
What is ASMB?

Thanks for the input all of you guys have given!

Mil techs are a little different between reserve and Guard. There are also straight up civilian Technicians as well. Our mechanic positions are dual status non competitive. You wear the uniform to work, but your not on "Army time" you are a federal employee, have federal employee benefits, health care, tsp, leave etc... Also there is no rank inversion allowed. You cannot work for someone tech side that's lower rank than you Guard side, even though your mil rank means nothing in tech time. . The reserves had competitive civil service techs when they were here with the 130's. They did not have to wear the uniform. They have rank inversion, a O-6 can work for an E-4 on the tech side, it's much more separated.

Technicians are in a pretty unique world. Pay is awesome though.

ASMB is the retention board for AGR that are over twenty years active credible service.

QRB is for everyone else that has 20 credible years military service. Even techs... You might have 30 calender years of service but not 20 credible years of service. But if you go to every drill and AT, you pretty much will have a "good year" and that year counts. You get points base on what you did, and at the end of a guard career, the points are what determines your retirement that you don't get until you turn 60 anyway. Sounds pretty simple, right?
Active duty guys have a completely different benchmark and sometimes don't get the guard side of things. Join when your 18 retire at 38... That would be great and I should have stayed AD looking back on it..don't know if I would if I started today though, the military has changed into something I didn't join.... ( a whole different topic) If you have ten years active or more, stay in, or get an AGR job, get 20 and get the full retirement immediately. That the best advice I can give you. I have 18 more years until I can get a tech retirement... Think they are going to let me stay in the guard for 40 years???? Ummm no. Not these days. Being 40 years old in the army after 22 years is hard enough. Your body can't ride 2000 hours hunched over in the giant vibration machine and not be effected. It's destroyed 3 of my disks. Finally quit flying last september. Chronic pain, welcome home!

Thanks for explaining that Panzer. The army jargon and such can be a little confusing

221 MI BN down at Gillem is pretty fun

I dont know what the MI guys do, but I'm a 25 series so my Lt. usually gets us sat time and we mess around with our CPN stack/STT. Very rarely is the S6 section bored.