Military Hotrod Club - Reserves opinion

Well im serious thinking of either joining the Air National Guard or the Army reserves. Im already employed by the State of CA (Caltrans) as a Heavy Equipment Mechanic which will pay me offset pay lets say my salary is lower in the military if i got deployed Caltrans will send me a check to keep my current salary. I looked and both branches are offering a position as a Heavy Equipment Mechanic with says up to $20,000 bonus and education unless im reading wrong or not the fine print.
My thought was im 34 do i really wanna turn wrenches my whole life maybe get some different education that will help me move around in my current Caltrans job as military credits are weighted to a favor to move to a supervisor position that will take some time for guys to retire. I do have 50% custody of my kids and thier mom is not all that great with it that i have the potential of being away from them for awhile but not really giving me hard time about it. Im not in that bad of shape and would like to serve my country and think it would be a all round good thing. Any input from you guys would be great i want to do all my research before i sign at the X from real people and not from a recruiter no offense but im a hands on guy and like real life expierences.



sorry for the long post Chris

Don't join the Army.

/advice

Why is the Army a bad choice? Im just curious as far as the differences?

The Army isn't a bad choice for some people, but I could never put up with that shit. Just having to work with them drives me insane. For something like maintenance or construction like you are looking for, the Air Force offers a much higher quality of life. I know you are looking at Guard, but you should fully accept, right now, that you will get deployed, and when you do, you will be much happier doing 4-6 months on an Air Force base versus a year to 15 months on an Army fob.

If you wanted to be something like a Ranger or SF dude, then I would say hooah get to it, but anybody that talks about a support role, I'm always going to steer towards the Air Force. They take care of their people like no other branch. A little gay at times, but it beats being treated like a 6 year old like the Joes I was with were.

Ok thats understandable makes sense thanks for your input. When you said support is involved do you mea to the person serving or his family???

I mean a support job, people who don't pull triggers

Jperran is right. Generally I would say that the Air National Guard would be a better choice for you. I have served in the AF on active duty, the Air National Guard, and the Army National Guard. The quality of life and treatment of personnel is better with AF services.

There are benefits to the Army however. Generally the Air National Guard has limited areas for full-time employment compared to the Army guard, and the Guard (AF or AR) is funded by the state, so you'll never have to move out of state as you progress (which I've heard of reservists doing). Since you have a state job you may never be interested in an AGR (active guard reservist) or Excepted service technician job, but its something to think about.

Often there are also many more options in jobs (MOSs or AFSCs) in the Army guard than in the air guard.

If you want a little military with your military service, go with the Army and not the Air Force. I tried to join the Air National Guard and was jerked around by two recruiters for months. The Army has been nothing but good to me and now I would never consider serving with any other branch. I would never recommend the Army Reserve over the Army National Guard, however. No offense to any Reserve soldiers out there, but the National Guard has the advantage of a dual mission and dual funding. My advice is to talk to recruiters from both branches of the Guard. See what positions are available in your state (just because the military offers a certain job doesn't mean your state needs any of those). And see which jobs/units offer a bonus.