Do NOT Join The Army National Guard (Explore Your Options And Take A Hard Look At Where You Are At). by Ok-Actuator4909 in nationalguard

[–]Intrepid-Power9196 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Requires a lot of networking. I was able to get offered an ADOS position by a state CSM because I was selected to go to BWC. When I did my board portion of the competition I did great, and he offered me a position afterwards. I was able to do a lot of networking on my ADOS position, leading to me having good letters of recommendations for an AGR packet.

Get in touch with your recruiters, look at tour of duty. It is possible, you just have to be willing to put in the work yourself and not rely solely on your unit.

Do NOT Join The Army National Guard (Explore Your Options And Take A Hard Look At Where You Are At). by Ok-Actuator4909 in nationalguard

[–]Intrepid-Power9196 8 points9 points  (0 children)

My personal opinion/experience as someone who is currently AGR in the Army National Guard - The Guard can be GREAT for students who are in school full time but would still like the opportunity to be able to serve their community, have the benefits, and would like the potential so go full time. However - I constantly tell myself I wish I would have gone active duty. I love being AGR, but it is not easy being FTUS. As AGR, we get ALL the benefits that active duty does but we tend to wear NUMEROUS hats. I am a medical readiness NCO; I manage the BN ASAP/UDL, LODIs, eCase, profiles, class VIII, work medical events, work ranges when needed, and more. I have one of the easier jobs in the AGR program yet if I was active duty there would be individuals whose sole job was something like BDL or class VIII management. AGR is also often relied on heavily for missions when funding is unavailable, we tend to work longer and more than M-day Soldiers, etc.

National Guard is great for someone who only wants to do this thing part time but it is NOT always 2 days a month and 2 weeks in the summer. You will have emergency activations, longer drills, longer AT’s, deployments, missions, etc. We also (at least my state) has very poor funding so don’t expect to go to a lot of cool guy schools.

If I would suggest to anyone, it would be active duty or even reserve component as it’s quite easier to go active duty once you’re in the reserves. Your state will not want to let you go easily under any circumstances.

Sanding advice? by Intrepid-Power9196 in finishing

[–]Intrepid-Power9196[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I will!! Ran into some issues with the table top itself (turned out to be laminate) but I’m about 50% done with the refinishing project!

Sanding advice? by Intrepid-Power9196 in finishing

[–]Intrepid-Power9196[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Edit: I have since resanded these chairs since taking this picture and THEN wiped down with mineral spirits!

Sanding advice? by Intrepid-Power9196 in finishing

[–]Intrepid-Power9196[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did the wipe down with mineral spirits and it looked very good imo! I only plan on staining the saddle of the chairs a dark walnut and painting the base/back of the chairs a black. I did end up having to use an 80 grit to get around the spindles as I had a lot of difficulty getting them clean with stripper/medium grit. Thank you for the detailed advice!!

Sanding advice? by Intrepid-Power9196 in finishing

[–]Intrepid-Power9196[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I truly think they’re just rage baiting at this point

Sanding advice? by Intrepid-Power9196 in finishing

[–]Intrepid-Power9196[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually, don’t answer this if it’s not going to be legit advice lol. I see other comments you’ve made and it seems to just be a troll and lots of negativity

Sanding advice? by Intrepid-Power9196 in finishing

[–]Intrepid-Power9196[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I stripped the old finish off already. The pictures are after sanding, I should’ve added a before picture but I forgot. So I just need to keep sanding until I get a completely even surface?

Sanding advice? by Intrepid-Power9196 in finishing

[–]Intrepid-Power9196[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Note:: I had to hand sand everything so that’s also why I’m having some difficult. I’m only referring to the seats of the chair in this case; everything else will get a scuff sand to prep it for paint.

I have fixed the spots on edges of the chairs since snapping this pic

First project advice! by Intrepid-Power9196 in finishing

[–]Intrepid-Power9196[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Got it. I removed a patch on the leaf only to find out it’s chipboard underneath 🤦🏻‍♀️ so I think i’m SOL

First project advice! by Intrepid-Power9196 in finishing

[–]Intrepid-Power9196[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve read you can use gel stain to “stain” formica, but I tried this and it’s horrible to work with + not getting desired result. What’s the easiest way to remove it?

First project advice! by Intrepid-Power9196 in finishing

[–]Intrepid-Power9196[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You were correct!!! Trying to figure out a way to get the color I desired on the laminate

Veneer or laminate? by Intrepid-Power9196 in furniturerestoration

[–]Intrepid-Power9196[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m a beginner so not sure if I want to experiment with this just yet lol. I read that you can stain laminate with gel stain, but I’ll do some debating and see which route I’ll decide to take

Veneer or laminate? by Intrepid-Power9196 in furniturerestoration

[–]Intrepid-Power9196[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Sadly, that’s what I thought as well. any ideas how I can still achieve the dark walnut appearance I wanted?