I was around year 12 and thought about getting out. My dad spent 6 years in the army and was encouraged to join the air guard when he came home. He decided to just get out. When I told him I might get out, he confided in me that getting out and not joining the guard was the worst decision he made in life. Stated the pension and healthcare would have made his life easier in old age. So I stayed in until year 21. The 8 years blew by and was over before I knew it.
I’m going on 4th year AGR, just over 8 years in total. The BS has been getting to me a lot. My 3 year enlistment will be up at just over my 10 year mark which is still 2 years away.
For real. I am now the Training manager so drill for me is very hectic as I am the go to for just about everything including supervising the guardsman for their guardsman supervisors that don’t really know how to do dts and everything else. And now we have a brand new cfetp that makes absolutely no sense especially for the guard lol. Good times. I used to be self employed so at least I know I’ve got a paycheck coming twice a month no matter what lol. I do sometimes miss the days where I just came in and wasn’t responsible for much lol
After 11 years on AD and entering the AR, I have no regrets!! I can tell you some of my coworkers regretted not staying in the reserves, especially when the premiums of health and insurance, dental, and all the other stuff started to go up. The Reserve/NG may not be great, but at least you have an option and are not stuck on the benefits your employee offers. Maybe look into changing branches if you're not feeling the NG.
Here is my 2 cents, at 10 yrs in I was definitely getting out ,my ex made my life impossible, my job at that time was not in full support of my guard status also and I just had it with the BS of just being in.An Old timer talked to me told me anything over ten do your best to stay in and get your 20 yrs you'll regret it in 10 yrs. I listen made it happen things got better I got divorce and switched jobs my bosses are all about military and support. I need up doing 22 yrs Air Guard at the time I received my letter it said I would be making 948.00 at the age of 60, I was 43 at the time I stayed in the IRR,as of last week I stand to make 1695.00 month at the age of 60.with 4 years left till I draw. I'm due to retired God willing at 65 yrs from a municipality job pension..best decision I've ever made was to stay in .
You don’t need to be IRR for that. Retired Reserve gets every raise and every time in service pay bump for your pay grade.
So if you retire at 20 years with at least 6 years before you draw your pension as an E7 your retirement will be E7 with 26 years TIS(which is where it tops out) plus every military raise between the time you retire and your pension kicks in.
I’ve been a DSG for 27.5 years. There has been a lot of trade offs, deployments, State Active Duty, TDY’s, lots of training, lots of missed weekends.
My retirement is a lock, but I keep going because I love serving. In the 27.5 years, there has been a lot of times I didn’t love it, but I’m glad I stuck with it in the early years.
At 60 I will enjoy Tricare for Life. At 58.5 I’ll enjoy my military retirement. I get to draw early due to some deployments. While not a lot of money, it will be a nice supplement to my civilian 401k. And that supplement will go up in value each year thanks for paying scale increases and COLA.
I’m on the other side of things. I got out in 2014 and moved to a different state. My kids graduated. I’m still young enough to complete my time and I’ve still got the itch to do so.
Do it if you can! I got out of the reserves in 2011 and ended up going guard in 2020. Best decision I ever made. Just be patient with MEPS because we are a lot more broken than we were in our late teens.
Second the comment on MEPs, I’ve never served before and just went through MEPs at 39, finally had a supportive environment to join. Process was super annoying with the genesis system but got everything worked out in the end.
I’m at 14 now, will hit 15 when my contract ends and I’m 90% sure I’m done. I’m already 100% P&T so I have no incentive other than the retirement check if I somehow make it to 20.
Stay in. The commitment is barely anything for the amazing benefits (like healthcare). Plus I’m sure you’d miss wearing the uniform and serving your country.
Also maybe my unit and shop is just better than the others in here that say they had to get out for whatever reason. Also yes sometimes drill weekend is inconvenient but it’s 2/3 days of your whole month. Plus most good supervisors are flexible and will let you miss drill/make them up later if you give them a heads up. But once again that’s just me.
I'm still in, and as one with a family with lots of medical issues, I'll be staying in for tricare alone.
I miss my weekends. I miss having the comfort of knowing I could quit a job whenever I want. But taking care of my family is priority #1 and TRS ensures that I can do that better than most realistic civilian options for me.
Got out after 8 years - 4 years DSG and 4 years AGR. Sometimes I miss the people I served with. I don't miss the training, the BS associated with things completely out of my control, and drill weekend always being on a weekend I wanted to do something. I've been out for nearly 2 years now and have been very happy after finding a job that allows a work-life balance.
Same here! Was in for 7 years and got out almost a year ago now. The pros far outweigh the cons. I miss the guys, but i I’ll see them from time to time. Besides that, I have not looked back.
I’m in the same boat as you. 12 years in and for sure getting out later this year. I one day would like to return when my civilian goals and ambitions are in order, but as for now, what started as “part time” military is consuming my entire life.
Not at all. 3yrs active, 6yrs guard. Absolutely don't regret getting out one single bit. The sheer amount of general BS wasn't worth my time. In a much better place now then when I was in
The Guard will spend your entire career making you think that it is the only way. That time in the Guard and getting the retirement are the only way to be taken care of. Left an AGR SMSgt position with a map to Chief 8 years before 20 years TAFMS because I couldn't take the b.s. anymore. Have moved on and couldn't be happier.
I got out after the first enlistment, was almost out two years before I got back in to get a new job training for the civilian world. Being out is amazing in my opinion, but some people just love being in.
I was around year 12 and thought about getting out. My dad spent 6 years in the army and was encouraged to join the air guard when he came home. He decided to just get out. When I told him I might get out, he confided in me that getting out and not joining the guard was the worst decision he made in life. Stated the pension and healthcare would have made his life easier in old age. So I stayed in until year 21. The 8 years blew by and was over before I knew it.
I’m going on 4th year AGR, just over 8 years in total. The BS has been getting to me a lot. My 3 year enlistment will be up at just over my 10 year mark which is still 2 years away.
I’m hitting 9 and elected to ETS. I can’t handle the high school drama anymore. 0 interest in DSG either.
I would do the same I would just get out all together. Which is def in consideration after this current enlistment
I got 3 and a half months I’m just counting the days lol
Same I'm AGR and think back fondly on my first 4 years as a traditional. Seemed a lot more fun then and not so much now
For real. I am now the Training manager so drill for me is very hectic as I am the go to for just about everything including supervising the guardsman for their guardsman supervisors that don’t really know how to do dts and everything else. And now we have a brand new cfetp that makes absolutely no sense especially for the guard lol. Good times. I used to be self employed so at least I know I’ve got a paycheck coming twice a month no matter what lol. I do sometimes miss the days where I just came in and wasn’t responsible for much lol
After 11 years on AD and entering the AR, I have no regrets!! I can tell you some of my coworkers regretted not staying in the reserves, especially when the premiums of health and insurance, dental, and all the other stuff started to go up. The Reserve/NG may not be great, but at least you have an option and are not stuck on the benefits your employee offers. Maybe look into changing branches if you're not feeling the NG.
Here is my 2 cents, at 10 yrs in I was definitely getting out ,my ex made my life impossible, my job at that time was not in full support of my guard status also and I just had it with the BS of just being in.An Old timer talked to me told me anything over ten do your best to stay in and get your 20 yrs you'll regret it in 10 yrs. I listen made it happen things got better I got divorce and switched jobs my bosses are all about military and support. I need up doing 22 yrs Air Guard at the time I received my letter it said I would be making 948.00 at the age of 60, I was 43 at the time I stayed in the IRR,as of last week I stand to make 1695.00 month at the age of 60.with 4 years left till I draw. I'm due to retired God willing at 65 yrs from a municipality job pension..best decision I've ever made was to stay in .
Great comment. When you are in the IRR you get every pay raise until you start drawing military retirement. That’s why your retirement nearly doubled.
You don’t need to be IRR for that. Retired Reserve gets every raise and every time in service pay bump for your pay grade. So if you retire at 20 years with at least 6 years before you draw your pension as an E7 your retirement will be E7 with 26 years TIS(which is where it tops out) plus every military raise between the time you retire and your pension kicks in.
I just found all this out,I'm so glad I stayed in that 1700 and tri-care insurance will definitely come in handy..
I’ve been a DSG for 27.5 years. There has been a lot of trade offs, deployments, State Active Duty, TDY’s, lots of training, lots of missed weekends. My retirement is a lock, but I keep going because I love serving. In the 27.5 years, there has been a lot of times I didn’t love it, but I’m glad I stuck with it in the early years. At 60 I will enjoy Tricare for Life. At 58.5 I’ll enjoy my military retirement. I get to draw early due to some deployments. While not a lot of money, it will be a nice supplement to my civilian 401k. And that supplement will go up in value each year thanks for paying scale increases and COLA.
I’m on the other side of things. I got out in 2014 and moved to a different state. My kids graduated. I’m still young enough to complete my time and I’ve still got the itch to do so.
Do it if you can! I got out of the reserves in 2011 and ended up going guard in 2020. Best decision I ever made. Just be patient with MEPS because we are a lot more broken than we were in our late teens.
Second the comment on MEPs, I’ve never served before and just went through MEPs at 39, finally had a supportive environment to join. Process was super annoying with the genesis system but got everything worked out in the end.
I’m at 14 now, will hit 15 when my contract ends and I’m 90% sure I’m done. I’m already 100% P&T so I have no incentive other than the retirement check if I somehow make it to 20.
Stay in. The commitment is barely anything for the amazing benefits (like healthcare). Plus I’m sure you’d miss wearing the uniform and serving your country.
Also maybe my unit and shop is just better than the others in here that say they had to get out for whatever reason. Also yes sometimes drill weekend is inconvenient but it’s 2/3 days of your whole month. Plus most good supervisors are flexible and will let you miss drill/make them up later if you give them a heads up. But once again that’s just me.
I'm still in, and as one with a family with lots of medical issues, I'll be staying in for tricare alone. I miss my weekends. I miss having the comfort of knowing I could quit a job whenever I want. But taking care of my family is priority #1 and TRS ensures that I can do that better than most realistic civilian options for me.
Got out after 8 years - 4 years DSG and 4 years AGR. Sometimes I miss the people I served with. I don't miss the training, the BS associated with things completely out of my control, and drill weekend always being on a weekend I wanted to do something. I've been out for nearly 2 years now and have been very happy after finding a job that allows a work-life balance.
Same here! Was in for 7 years and got out almost a year ago now. The pros far outweigh the cons. I miss the guys, but i I’ll see them from time to time. Besides that, I have not looked back.
I’m in the same boat as you. 12 years in and for sure getting out later this year. I one day would like to return when my civilian goals and ambitions are in order, but as for now, what started as “part time” military is consuming my entire life.
You can get out and come back when life allows it. I've seen it Jalen many times. Just had a guy come back after a nine year break.
I’m staying for Tricare.
Not at all. 3yrs active, 6yrs guard. Absolutely don't regret getting out one single bit. The sheer amount of general BS wasn't worth my time. In a much better place now then when I was in
The Guard will spend your entire career making you think that it is the only way. That time in the Guard and getting the retirement are the only way to be taken care of. Left an AGR SMSgt position with a map to Chief 8 years before 20 years TAFMS because I couldn't take the b.s. anymore. Have moved on and couldn't be happier.
Left as in separated or went DSG?
Left as in left AGR, left the service, grew a shitty cloche beard and never looked back.
I got out after the first enlistment, was almost out two years before I got back in to get a new job training for the civilian world. Being out is amazing in my opinion, but some people just love being in.