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Any Guardsmen for a Question?

ChrisVarick

HR Heisman
Dec 30, 2012
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My son is a senior in high school. Last summer he completed the first part of training. He is set to deploy back to complete training in June.

It looks like he tore his rotator cuff today lifting weights. We need to go to sports medicine next Friday to get more information but the family doctor believes it to be the case.

We notified his recruiter and he said to keep him posted. If he needs surgery and is not able to deploy what is he likely looking at. Of course we need to meet with his commander to get all the info but I'm wondering what to expect.
 
Just a nitpick, but he doesn't deploy to go to training, he goes from Title 32 IDT (Inactive duty for training) status to Title 10 ADT (Active Duty for Training).

My guess is they'll just push his report date back a few months, then solidify a date once he's cleared. It's not uncommon to have HS kids get hurt between BCT and AIT when they're doing Split Option.

The two big questions you need to get answers on... Will he have to repeat BCT if the recovery time exceeds the limit (not sure what that limit is, but there is one)? Will he be able to continue with his selected MOS when he gets cleared (that determination may have to wait until the Dr's at MEPS can check him out once he's cleared). Different MOS' have different physical requirements. For example, Armored crewmen (19K) or Cannon Crewmember (13B, IIRC) may not allow reconstructed shoulders since they have to be able to load large projectiles into breeches.
 
Just a nitpick, but he doesn't deploy to go to training, he goes from Title 32 IDT (Inactive duty for training) status to Title 10 ADT (Active Duty for Training).

My guess is they'll just push his report date back a few months, then solidify a date once he's cleared. It's not uncommon to have HS kids get hurt between BCT and AIT when they're doing Split Option.

The two big questions you need to get answers on... Will he have to repeat BCT if the recovery time exceeds the limit (not sure what that limit is, but there is one)? Will he be able to continue with his selected MOS when he gets cleared (that determination may have to wait until the Dr's at MEPS can check him out once he's cleared). Different MOS' have different physical requirements. For example, Armored crewmen (19K) or Cannon Crewmember (13B, IIRC) may not allow reconstructed shoulders since they have to be able to load large projectiles into breeches.

Geez, wonder if anyone knowledgeable has anything to share.
 
Geez, wonder if anyone knowledgeable has anything to share.

To be fair, I'm not a recruiter, don't know the answers to most things they deal with and honestly, don't like many of them. They are the used car salesmen of the military.

However, I did have to deal with having troops doing the split option, both before and after they came up the the ARNG training battalion. I got monthly and quarterly reports on the status of my troops and always asked questions if someone was delayed, hurt or had some other issue that caused them to not get to or complete their training.

And, FTR, I lost a couple of new Privates due to injury at BCT/AIT. One had to leave the Army, one had to switch MOS.
 
Just a nitpick, but he doesn't deploy to go to training, he goes from Title 32 IDT (Inactive duty for training) status to Title 10 ADT (Active Duty for Training).

My guess is they'll just push his report date back a few months, then solidify a date once he's cleared. It's not uncommon to have HS kids get hurt between BCT and AIT when they're doing Split Option.

The two big questions you need to get answers on... Will he have to repeat BCT if the recovery time exceeds the limit (not sure what that limit is, but there is one)? Will he be able to continue with his selected MOS when he gets cleared (that determination may have to wait until the Dr's at MEPS can check him out once he's cleared). Different MOS' have different physical requirements. For example, Armored crewmen (19K) or Cannon Crewmember (13B, IIRC) may not allow reconstructed shoulders since they have to be able to load large projectiles into breeches.
Agree should just be a delay assuming no long term health impacts not allowing him to perform his duties and meet physical training requirements etc. Best wishes to your soon on a speedy recovery.
 
Just a nitpick, but he doesn't deploy to go to training, he goes from Title 32 IDT (Inactive duty for training) status to Title 10 ADT (Active Duty for Training).

My guess is they'll just push his report date back a few months, then solidify a date once he's cleared. It's not uncommon to have HS kids get hurt between BCT and AIT when they're doing Split Option.

The two big questions you need to get answers on... Will he have to repeat BCT if the recovery time exceeds the limit (not sure what that limit is, but there is one)? Will he be able to continue with his selected MOS when he gets cleared (that determination may have to wait until the Dr's at MEPS can check him out once he's cleared). Different MOS' have different physical requirements. For example, Armored crewmen (19K) or Cannon Crewmember (13B, IIRC) may not allow reconstructed shoulders since they have to be able to load large projectiles into breeches.
Thank you for the response. I'll get further clarification, since he started last summer I am hoping he can get everything completed without having to start over or get discharged. He was already set to delay his start at ISU until the spring semester because he would not complete his next step entering in June and finishing in mid September.
 
Yeah at this point he’s just showing off.
shrug-welp.gif
 
As SSG T said... gonna come down the docs at MEPS. They will want to see any/all records of the procedure and PT. He could get window pushed, or entry-level discharge could happen as well.
 
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I have a son who is about two months away from completing his 8-year Guard stint. The National Guard was probably the biggest mistake of his life. He got very little of the promised college assistance, the "one weekend a month and two weeks each summer" was actually four to five days each month (missing a lot college classes) and four to eight weeks each summer. They also didn't mention during recruiting that Guardsmen till have to do the full ten-week Basic Training (goodbye one entire summer) as well as deploy for a year at some point (and his was timed so that he missed two years of college.) And while there were several MOS options that could have been valuable to him, when his recruiter got him alone to sign the contract he convinced him to go with Infantry - the one MOS that offers zero benefits to you.

I could go on and on, but the National Guard was a terrible experience. And he was a good soldier - he got top PT scores, was recommended for (and for reasons I still don't understand went to) and passed Air Assault School, and was well-regarded by his superiors and peers. It's just a shit organization.
 
I have a son who is about two months away from completing his 8-year Guard stint. The National Guard was probably the biggest mistake of his life. He got very little of the promised college assistance, the "one weekend a month and two weeks each summer" was actually four to five days each month (missing a lot college classes) and four to eight weeks each summer. They also didn't mention during recruiting that Guardsmen till have to do the full ten-week Basic Training (goodbye one entire summer) as well as deploy for a year at some point (and his was timed so that he missed two years of college.) And while there were several MOS options that could have been valuable to him, when his recruiter got him alone to sign the contract he convinced him to go with Infantry - the one MOS that offers zero benefits to you.

I could go on and on, but the National Guard was a terrible experience. And he was a good soldier - he got top PT scores, was recommended for (and for reasons I still don't understand went to) and passed Air Assault School, and was well-regarded by his superiors and peers. It's just a shit organization.

While I agree with a lot of this (I got into massive arguments regarding 2days/2 weeks and why things needed fixed regarding where we progressed to)...

2 things that kind of stand out. And one is an example why I don't like recruiters.

1. They seriously didn't tell him he had to go to Basic? Or did they not tell him the length? Either way, I think I've mentioned I don't like recruiters, and not giving all info is part of it.

2. The deployment isn't intentionally timed to miss certain things. It's not even NGB that plans deployments, it's DA (Big Army) that does that. They tell the Guard what organizations they need, when and for how long. And the requirements change almost constantly, and the states have little controll.
 
There are 2 big rules to remember, in my mind.

Never trust a recruiter, and stick to your guns with them. Don't let them coerce you into something you don't want. Don't sign on the dotted line until you have everything the way you want it, because once you sign, you're just property.

Second, this isn't your 1980's Guard that many of us remember, where you show up one weekend and 2 weeks a summer and get your free education and you're out in 6 years. Last I heard, in Iowa, only 1 guard unit hasn't seen a foreign deployment in the recent past. You WILL end up overseas, and it WILL screw up life plans if your goal is to get your education paid for and get out.
 
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While I agree with a lot of this (I got into massive arguments regarding 2days/2 weeks and why things needed fixed regarding where we progressed to)...

2 things that kind of stand out. And one is an example why I don't like recruiters.

1. They seriously didn't tell him he had to go to Basic? Or did they not tell him the length? Either way, I think I've mentioned I don't like recruiters, and not giving all info is part of it.

2. The deployment isn't intentionally timed to miss certain things. It's not even NGB that plans deployments, it's DA (Big Army) that does that. They tell the Guard what organizations they need, when and for how long. And the requirements change almost constantly, and the states have little controll.

I know deployment wasn't deliberately timed badly - it's just that they suggested the chances of being deployed were a longshot, when in fact deployments were planned well in advance and once he was serving it was common knowledge that everyone will get deployed at some point in their six years. Now, he did come home with a big chunk of change in the bank. But he could have taken two years off and worked at Amazon, and had just as much; without missing two years of life.

The problem was that every single thing about it was not what they told him. And what little college assistance he did get came only after dozens of phone calls and literally screaming at people. He had no advocate to help him with anything. For example, while he was deployed he got hit in the head and an eardrum was broken badly enough to require surgery. Nobody he talked to said there was any assistance available. He was told he was on his own. It was only after we talked to a family friend who is career army that we got it resolved. He made some phone calls and got Stephen an appointment with a guy who took care of it. It was absurd.

So I will tell everyone who mentions they are considering it to think again - because everything about it was awful. Which is bad on its own, but the constant lying and refusal to help caused even more frustration.

As I said, these are the highlights. I could go on and on.
 
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I am not all that clear on those entering while in HS or college, but thought if a student you were non-deployable. And, I know some spend more than 1 weekend a month, but that's usually a Friday a few times per year. And, never heard of people not getting the bonus or educational money they were entitled to.
 
I am not all that clear on those entering while in HS or college, but thought if a student you were non-deployable. And, I know some spend more than 1 weekend a month, but that's usually a Friday a few times per year. And, never heard of people not getting the bonus or educational money they were entitled to.

Let me tell you about the financial assistance (FA) that should have been $4,000 a year. This is a very abbreviated version, outlining just one of the many issues faced. He was given no information about how to apply for FA, so we had to make ten or twelve phone calls, along with tons of internet searches, to find how to apply; which can only be done online. He was filling in the form, but when he tried to select his college it didn't come up. Calls to the college confirmed they should be on the list. Lots more searching and I found the school somewhere on the DOD list, but misfiled as a sub-unit to another university - which is why it didn't show up. Many calls later we found someone with the military who said the school would have to resolve it themselves by doing some work on another DOD web site. The school tried but the web site didn't work. Many calls later someone from the DOD said "Oh, yeah, that system is down. Try again next month." NEXT MONTH! Well, the school tried again the next month. And the next month. And the next month. They finally get it resolved. Hurray!

Then my son went to fill-out his application, and now he had missed the deadline. Many calls later, no resolution. $4,000 of aid gone, because the DOD web site was down for several months.

You cannot make up all the ways they found to screw him over.
 
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I am not all that clear on those entering while in HS or college, but thought if a student you were non-deployable. And, I know some spend more than 1 weekend a month, but that's usually a Friday a few times per year. And, never heard of people not getting the bonus or educational money they were entitled to.

As for just Fridays - not even close. Most "weekends" were a full three or four days. Basically, Wednesday was the only day that was never considered a weekend. And often a three day became a four day when there was some kind of foul-up, so nobody was allowed to leave.

And, as I mentioned, the "two weeks" during the summer was never less than four weeks, and a couple of times started before the school year ended. Predictably, he missed his graduation because his "two weeks of summer training" was four weeks, starting in mid-May.
 
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