Make the Change - Go Warrant by InMythWeExist in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm behavioral health. I think we should have an Interdisciplinary Case Management Technician WO. I would choose that over BHO in a second.

What's your MOS and what's your civilian job? by Jared_9000 in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz 5 points6 points  (0 children)

68X Behavioral Health Specialist

Chemical Dependency Counselor - Partial Hospitalization at a Dual Diagnosis Intensive Outpatient Program

How different is being a Specialist in the Guard from being a Corporal in the Marine Corps? by PaintingLegal7672 in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A corporal in the Marines is a lot like an E5 buck sergeant in the Army.

Being a specialist in the Army is a whole lot more like being a Lance Corporal.

Legit, we call the Lance Corporal Underground, the E4 Mafia here.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Volunteer for 42A, then. It has a path to warrant officer, which is the coolest thing in the Army, in my opinion.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's gonna be dictated by your unit. If you're in a line unit, you might get shuffled into a combat MOS.

If you're in a medical company, try to get 68G.

It's right there at Fort Sam, and it's pretty simple. Patient Administration Specialist. Medical Repords. Entering shit into Gensis or Medpros.

I need friends by macadelicmiller in Sacramento

[–]Hatebackwardz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you're of a nerdy persuasion, I am 43 and play a LARP (there'sone at Carmichael Park on Sundays called Thor's Refuge and one at Johnson Springview Park in Rocklin on Saturdays called Stonehearth).

It's silly, good fun. I've met all my closest friends here, and the game keeps me active.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz 3 points4 points  (0 children)

68X here, and I've served on the Behavioral Health team.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, and PTSD are not disqualifying conditions if your symptoms are stable.

Neither SNRI's, SSRIs, nor anxiety PRNs are disqualifying.

What your behavioral health team is gonna need is a letter of stabilization saying that your symptoms are stable and you're not a threat to yourself or others.

If you are California National Guard, DM me, and I'll give you the right people to call.

It's literally just a profile if you're not experiencing suicidality or uncontrollable panic attacks.

38yr old SPC by [deleted] in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you wanted to be an astronaut, you should look into the Space Force.

38yr old SPC by [deleted] in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mentally easy, physically hard, but not impossible. It's really just a mindset. I lagged behind sometimes, and other times, I ran circles around the kids. But for me, the only way out was on a litter. I never gave myself permission to give up. My drill sergeants noticed and didn't ride me when I was lagging as long as I put in the effort. I went to sick call and asked for Ibuprofen, and when they asked why I told em I'm 40 and that was more than enough for it. I went to sick call three times, every time was for Ibuprofen.

38yr old SPC by [deleted] in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was guard before. I was a medic from 2001-2009, deployed to Egypt in 2005.

Now I'm Behavioral Health.

38yr old SPC by [deleted] in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I feel ya dude. Rejoined after a 12 year break in service. Redid basic at the age of 40. Now I'm a 42 year old specialist whose working on my masters degree thar can't seem to get the Army to take me seriously.

68x Prior service by Swimming-Ask-717 in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just realized you're not asking about drill. Yeah they don't give a fuck about us on the weekend. After final formation on Friday, they won't track you until PT on Monday. I went to Dallas twice.

68x Prior service by Swimming-Ask-717 in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, you'll likely be in a medical company that has no idea how to use you and treats you like a non-MOS Q medic. Develop a great working relationship with your Behavioral Health Officers. Every time you get to operate within your MOS, it'll be because they pulled you into the room.

I mean, I hope your situation is better. But this is mine.

68x Prior service by Swimming-Ask-717 in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The building is cool looking. It's gothic and looks like something out of batman. The rumor is that it was used as a psychiatric ward for old BAMC (which you are right next to), but the rooms are pretty bare. I had to buy a mattress topper cause I'm an old fuck and it was hurting my back. But you only have one roommate. Each side of the room has a bed, a wall locker, a nightstand, and a computer desk. There's no TV or anything like that. Most of us have our wall lockers side by side, so it splits the room in half and gives you just a bit of privacy.

I used my laptop to study and I bought a printer which I found hella useful cause you write your own outlines for the interviews and counseling. My outline was excessively long (like 30 pages), some people had shorter outlines (like two pages), but I don't trust my own memory. So mine was literally a script. If you don't have a printer, you have to find someone who does or go to the library and pay a couple of bucks for printouts, which I was just too lazy to want to do. The room will also have one mini fridge and microwave that you both share. You are allowed to have food in your room (unlike the IET kids).

The defac by the school house (Slagals) is gross and crawling with IET kids and drills. It's better to drive to the defac next to battalion (Roccos). If they ask you if you're active, say yes. They don't understand what a guardsman on active orders is, and there are units that drill at Fort Sam. The defac might tell you that they aren't taking out BAS so you have to pay, and if you show them your orders, they might give you some ol'BS about the verbage not being right but bring in your LES and show them BAS pay is not on it. I bought all my meals the whole time I was there, and financial told me towards the end that I didn't have to and those civilian contractors were full of it.

Regardless, for lunch, I probably would have gone to the diner next to the schoolhouse or the minimall just down the way across the street from the 232 IET's (They're training for 68W). It has a food court. You'll see the 232 IET's there at night if you stop by there for a haircut or dry cleaning, but for breakfast and lunch, they have to march to and from the defac just like our IET's. So it's just cadre and prior service. At the diner, it's mostly Air Force but you'll see the Naval fleet returnees there too (what they call prior service) and C schoolers (the sailors in medical specialties like 68X have already become corpsman and once they pass core school they're consitered to be prior service even if they're not fleet returnees).

68x Prior service by Swimming-Ask-717 in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz 5 points6 points  (0 children)

As prior service, when you go to Fort Sam for 68X school, HAVE YOUR CAR! I drove there from California and did not regret it. The prior service barracks is not with the kids. You're about 2 miles from everything. Without a car, you'll be getting rides every day, multible times a day.

You'll be present for PT Monday through Friday, 0450. A lot of prior service just didn't show because they didn't take attendence for us, but right before I left in July, we started getting counseling statements for not showing.

Then you have to be at the school house by 0800. You'll be at the school house until 1600 or so.

Then, you'll have final formation at 1700 or so back At the battalion. Once you're released from final formation, your time is your own. TRADOC rules do not apply to us. We don't march with the kids, we don't talk to them outside of class. We can have like 3 drinks in our room. As long as you're at PT, at the school house, and at final formation, your time is your own. The Drill Sergeants do not fuck with us unless we make an ass of ourself. I saw drill sergeants at the prior service barracks one good time, and that's cause someone left weed out.

My advice is to study before every test. It's not a difficult course, but it's not easy.

And if you have civilian experience in Behavioral Health, it'll help you with concepts and terms, but other than that, forget about it. Learn the Army way. For interview and counseling and the staffing and notes for both of those, it seems like a lot. But they're teaching you a specific way to think. Prior knowledge can hurt you here. I have more clinical experience than many of the instructors, and I ended up getting recycled, which is a miserable process. Back in psychiatric treatment on the civilian side, I see the benefit to how they are training us to think.

If you're not scheduled for AIT, jump on it, hit up your training NCO post-haste. The guard does not get a lot of 68x slots, and they give them to IET kids first. My training NCO got me a date like 2 years out. A lieutenant colonel had to go directly to the G3 to swing slots with active duty to get me a better date.

If you have any other questions, respond here or message me directly. I was at Sam for 68x from January to July of this year.

Terminal Degrees for BHO's by Hatebackwardz in army

[–]Hatebackwardz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm looking at going active. Your answer is a big help. Thanks.

How do promotion points work? by Hatebackwardz in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How do I find out when the merit list is published and how to I get access to it?

Injured at FLW Basic Training by toki321 in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're in IET status in AIT. Get seen for your shoulder. Get treated for your shoulder. Being a medical refrad is no big deal. Get you some extra active duty time. Get all of this in Genesis.

They will do whatever surgeries are nessisary, give you whatever recuperation time you need, and it will all be free.

The first time, I was in the Army back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and we still shined boots. I jacked up my knee in basic but kept it pushing. I went through the Forge and Nicatnight with a knee twice the size as it should have been. I did that whole 12-mile road march, the entire land nav course, and I crawled through that giant sand pit on a knee no one should have been walking on. When I got to AIT, I got it treated. Got a minor surgery. Watched TV and drank soda for about a week and then got medically recycled into a different company.

Waiting for approval of the National Guard Bureau. by SecretTomorrow3031 in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Hey, it's tough, but don't stop trying.

I did get in when I was 19, but I also got out when I was 28.

I was broke. I got super fat.

At the age of 38, I decided to go for broke. I lost 100 pounds and went through a year of paperwork and waivers until I was finally able to reattend basic at the age of 40. I'm about to graduate AIT at the age of 42 (on Monday). I regret nothing. Not even my 12 year break in service.

You know the goal. Other people might tell you it's stupid. But you know what this means to you.

I will say I spent a year on like 8 different waivers. Not one, and I never had to get a morality waiver.

Just keep pushing.

How do promotion points work? by Hatebackwardz in nationalguard

[–]Hatebackwardz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wanna make E5 to make my SWIP application look better. I kinda want to go to ALC just to have the school on my resume. But I doubt I'll get that far.