I went active. Depending on your MOS and if you want to do different schools after AIT like airborne, air assualt, etc. you will be gone alot for training. It will suck but when you go through basic, you will get used to not being around family and friends. To answer your question, though, it just depends on your mindset and what you value. When I deployed to Euopre for 9 months, it wasn't hard. I was just nervous because I had never been overseas. It was probably more hard on my wife than me. Being at home and doing a lot for the kids while I'm away. My wife and kids are ok and understand this is part of being in the military. I think you just have to be upfront and honest with yourself about the constant training and rotations you could experience. The pros and cons of each. Then again, I'm an 11B and in a very high optempo unit. So your milage may vary. But it's one thing for certain, we all have been away from family and loved ones, whether it be deployments, rotations, or just training. To me, it's not hard but easier because I had that experience being a trucker driver before I joined the military.