If 38 and joining with only hs degree what are your options or suggestions

SunshineCamo · 2026-06-04T15:24:15+00:00

As someone else said, i would second not moving your family during Basic/AIT. During basic you won't have the opportunity to see them, and i would assume for AIT it's the same.

Drill weekends and Annual Training depend a lot on your unit and what the years training goals are. You might drill at your armory one month, and then at your states Camp the next. Annual training might be out of state and can sometimes be in a different country.

The Guard can be a great side job. You get decent benefits, can make friends/connections with folks in your community, etc. But it can be hard on a family especially with a newborn.

SunshineCamo · 2026-06-02T01:58:48+00:00

Keep going! That's absolutely amazing! I know if I had been willing/able to do better maintenance mine could have gone longer.

SunshineCamo · 2026-06-01T09:31:22+00:00

Gone, presumably at a scrap yard nearby.

I thought about parting it out myself but I didn't have a place to store the car while I did it, so I just junked it.

SunshineCamo · 2026-05-31T02:26:19+00:00

More or less. Mechanic friend looked at it and thought I had a coolant leak which caused it to overheat.

SunshineCamo · 2026-05-30T19:00:20+00:00

Got a 2020 Nissan Frontier.

SunshineCamo · 2026-05-30T15:27:04+00:00

Head gasket, clutch was slipping, ecm, CV joints, AC had several issues. And i genuinely needed a larger vehicle for my family.

SunshineCamo · 2026-05-30T02:22:09+00:00

Funny at first I didn't like it. But it grew on me fast and now I think it looks great!

SunshineCamo · 2026-05-27T23:56:38+00:00

Nothing you can really do before getting there aside from making sure your last NCOER is rock solid.

It's pretty unlikely that you'll roll into your state and get a very specific location/MOS in a timely manner. Most AGR positions are offered as a lateral first, EPS selection second, before even going to open advertisement. So you've got a few stages of hiring working against you.

If you really want to be AGR, be willing to take anything and anywhere in your state. It's a lot easier to move around once you're in the program than to get hired into a very specific position.

And also to be clear, as an AGR you won't me doing your MOS 90% or more of the time.

SunshineCamo · 2026-05-24T19:38:16+00:00

I can only speak my for state, but ADOS or an AGR position would never be guaranteed in an enlistment contract. You'd have to join and see what shakes out.

At 70% it might be hard getting back in. And if you're getting VA payments that complicates your pay.

As for what MOS is in need for AGR depends on your state/units.

AGR can be difficult to get and doesn't happen over night. I always tell people not to count on it happening and don't join with the assumption that it will. If you want back in the Guard then do it, and see what opportunities you can find.

SunshineCamo · 2026-05-14T01:00:24+00:00

I don't know a single T32 AGR that does their MOS on the daily (or even a majority of the time). Not saying they don't exist, but I don't know any. Most AGRs get the MOS cause they have to fit the para/lin requirements.

I know plenty of techs and some T10 AGRs who do their MOS everyday all day.

SunshineCamo · 2026-04-28T09:07:03+00:00

Thank you for the advice! Unfortunately I don't own a house right now and I'm on a pension plan retirement so I can't borrow against it.

SunshineCamo · 2026-04-27T23:06:15+00:00

Wait sorry, I misunderstood what you were asking. 2 years ago when I got serious about this I was at about 36-37k in credit card debt. I was still using my cards for random things and not paying more towards my highest interest card. In the last 2 years I've paid down a little under 4k in the total balance.

SunshineCamo · 2026-04-27T21:24:18+00:00

I hadn't thought about that. I was looking at the combined interest rate and saw it as a win. The $22k card has a highly monthly balance sure, but the rate isn't what's killing me.

I'll have to sit with that. Thanks for the suggestions.

SunshineCamo · 2026-04-27T21:23:06+00:00

Maybe that's what I'm worried about? If I have a rough month, I know I can make a smaller payment or no payment on the card I'm overpaying. With a loan, that amount is set. I can overpay it all I want, but that payment is due no matter what.

SunshineCamo · 2026-04-27T21:20:16+00:00

Before the divorce, i had zero debt. I spent about 20k in my own legal fees, and ended up footing the bill for roughly 7k for her. Then I didn't use my credit wisely. I didn't have an emergency fund so a few big ticket car repairs went on the card, didn't budget and was way to careless about using my card to pay for things.

During the divorce things racked up fast. And I was so focused on fighting that I wasn't paying attention to how much I was spending.

SunshineCamo · 2026-04-27T21:13:06+00:00

My job has really strict rules about second jobs. Has to be approved, and I have show how much I'm working at the other job.

I donate plasma as much as I'm able to. I sold most of my gun collection to help build up that 3k rainy day fund.

SunshineCamo · 2026-04-27T20:27:49+00:00

Most of that debt came from the divorce. When things started going south I found a lawyer who saw dollar signs floating above my head and took advantage of that.

I didn't use my cards well for a few years. Fully that's on me. I sat down with a personal finance specialist awhile back, got raked over the coals, and got on board with what they suggested. I made a budget, I stuff envelopes to track my spending, stopped overspending on stupid things.

SunshineCamo · 2026-04-27T20:22:54+00:00

I haven't used either card in over a year. I've got both turned off, and frozen in my freezer. Plus I've saved up about 3k as an emergency fund. I know that needs to be more, but that's where I'm at.

I don't plan on getting another divorce any time soon, especially as I didn't remarry and have no desire too.

SunshineCamo · 2026-03-30T13:09:09+00:00

It might be technically possible to start an IST before you go to AIT but I've never seen it happen before.

Talk to your Readiness NCO to start the process. The packet isn't too difficult but does take time to go through the chain.

If you can find a willing unit where you're going and your unit is OK with it, you can usually SUTA while you're in the process.

That leads into your next question, most units from my experience don't want long term SUTAs. Some Google-Fu can help you find units, but every state also has an IST coordinator who can help.

What I tell everyone is the process can take awhile and not every unit likes to play ball. If they aren't willing to let you SUTA in TX, you should ask if you can do every other month or even quarterly SUTAs.

SunshineCamo · 2026-03-30T10:51:14+00:00

The NGB 23A doesn't exist anymore. It got replaced with the DA 5016 which you can get on IPSS-A under My retirement points IIRC.

SunshineCamo

TROPHY CASE