Joining the Guard at 31?

[Longdan]

Tina Turner had a song about private dancer.  Anyway.
What Toonces said above.  When you are young and the other
guys are young it can be "fun".  When you are older and have
seen some of the real world you have to want to serve or it can
be onerous indeed.  My hat is off to you for considering.
It can be hell on your family like any important service job.

[JudgeDredd]

Tina Turner made a song about Gus? WOW...claim to fame much!  ;)

[Keunert]

i was serving in our army as an artillery gunner private for some years (service time only a full year though).
we have annual or biennal repetition courses until i reached 34y's.

i can only second Toonces: my morale was going down fast with every year that i grew older. to take commands
from fresh 22y old officers was really hard but luckily seldom. it was a lot better to be commanded
by people around the same age or older. you're a family father and are easily fed up with some insecure 'tough' guy.

but if you can enlist at a higher rank or can bring in your civil expertise this sure will be a lot different.
but i cannot imagine to start at the bottom as an artillery recruit again.

[Bison]

That's Private Dancer to you, sir. 

Might as well start learning to do it the right way, Private.

Gus has a college degree.  He'll most likely be Specialist Gus.

[bayonetbrant]

Tina Turner made a song about Gus? WOW...claim to fame much!  ;)

The disturbing part is that he was about 8 years old when she wrote it.  Or Gus is a whole lot older than he's been telling us.

[bayonetbrant]

@ Republic, my take is this:  if you're going in at 31 with a degree and work experience, you should be going in as an officer, or expect at least to go in at a mid-grade enlisted rank.  I don't know how the Guard works and if that can be negotiated.

Those aren't things that can be negotiated.  The enlistment standards for the National Guard are the same as for the federal armed forces.  There are OCS options that he can (and should) look into, but it's not a negotiation: you meet the standard or you don't.

[Gusington]

The New York Guard is a volunteer organization, until activated and deployed by the governor, so my obligation is different than republic's will be. With my age and work experience I will be looking for something higher up the chain than Private Dancer, though.

And yes I was about 8 when the song was released. About the same time I started going bald.

[bayonetbrant]

^^ the hair just migrated to your palms, eh?

[Centurion40]

I just sent in my application for the New York Guard at 38. You're not old, republic.

Yeah, Gus is!!  ;)

[Centurion40]

On a serious note, I'm proud of Gus for following through on his dream.

Republic, I want to tell you that attitude has a lot to do with it.  I'll get to what I mean after I give you a little background on me. I joined the Canadian Forces Reserves, an infantry regiment- as a Private, when I was 16.  Did 2 years, and then left.  You can imagine what life was like as a teenager in an infantry regiment; full of grab-ass and bullshit along with the marching, saluting and blowing shit up.

I returned to the Canadian Forces Reserves (Air) at 34, as an Officer Cadet- this time in the Cadet Instructor Cadre (kind of like a pack of glorified Boy Scout leaders with Commissions).  I went through the Basic Officer Course with a bunch of young adults whose average age was probably 19 years old.  I wasn't the oldest guy on the course, but I was close; there were 2 guys (including me) and a gal in their 30s, and one guy in his early 40s- all of us (except the gal) had previous military experience.  The course instructors were all in their early-mid 20s.  I was taking orders from people who were, at least 10 years younger than me.  But I didn't let it bother me, I knew that it was all part of the game.  Fortunately there were not too many assholes calling me "pops" or "gramps" and other shit like that; probably because we were not training to join combat units- the Cadet Instructor Cadre is not "Primary" (combat-ready) Reserves. 

I enjoyed the challenge because I was much more mentally prepared for it than I was at 16 (go figure).  The physical issue was a different story, but I did it and even managed to graduate "Top Candidate", my attitude and maturity (such as it is) worked in my favour.

If you go in understanding that you'll face some chickenshit bullshit, but you have the right attitude, and you enjoy rising to the occasion of a challenge- you'll be fine.  Take-up JH's & Brant's offer, talk to as many people as you can.  Take your time to learn about the military jobs that would be available to you.  Pick the one that best suits you.  I hated the infantry and when you consider that my idea of 'roughing it' is a 2 star hotel, my dislike of life in the infantry will come as no surprise.  On the other hand I LOVED my time in the Air Force.  I was an Officer, so after Basic I got my own room (mostly, sometimes as a 2Lt & Lt I had to share a double, when on a course, but otherwise it was always a private room with 'maid' service), and there was a lot less bullshit to take... but the bullshit was still there & it got bizarrely more complicated and political as I rose in rank.

Life is short and funny.  People can give all kinds of advice (warn you off), but the truth is that you'll never get it out of your system unless you do it.

[LongBlade]

That's Private Dancer to you, sir. 

Might as well start learning to do it the right way, Private.

Gus has a college degree.  He'll most likely be Specialist Gus.

At best.

A buddy of mine is in the military and has been since college.

With my MBA and work experience he told me I'd probably be brought in as a corporal. I decided to pass :/

[Centurion40]

A Cpl with a MBA??!!  Who needs a Cpl with a MBA?!  You'd be crazy to try anything other than some version of a DEO (Direct Entry Officer) program.

[Gusington]

See the thing with me is that I want get it out of my system...its always been a dream an dnow I finally get to do it. So rank won't be much of an issue and neither will taking orders from kids. I want to be there. And after all, I've been taking orders from LB for over 10 years and everything is hunky dory.

And thanks for the words of support 40 :)

[Centurion40]

See the thing with me is that I want get it out of my system...its always been a dream an dnow I finally get to do it. So rank won't be much of an issue and neither will taking orders from kids. I want to be there. And after all, I've been taking orders from LB for over 10 years and everything is hunky dory.

And thanks for the words of support 40 :)

With that attitude, you'll be fine.  Wise superiors, if they can, will put you ahead of others in the promotion queue because of your maturity and attitude.  I hope that you enjoy your time "in".

[LongBlade]

I've been taking orders from LB for over 10 years and everything is hunky dory.

I'm not sure any venture I am involved with remains "hunky dory" for long. But who am I to argue?