Differences between National Guard and Army Reserves?

John Kwon — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 23:45:24 -0500

What are the differences between National Guard and Army Reserves (deployments, BAH, opportunities etc)?

Response by SFC Howard Holmes made Nov 8 at 2019 2:20 AM

SFC Howard Holmes — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 02:20:53 -0500

The main difference is the National Guard is a state organization, and not falls only under the command of the POTUS, but also under the direction of the governor. You can be federally activated, and activated by the state. Examples of state activation include flood relief, hurricane relief, support and rescue responses, or civil disturbances if there turned out to be major rioting or civil unrest. If you are state activated, you do NOT get paid at the same level as a Federal Activation, which is paid by rank and time in service pay grid. I am NOT certain if states have different levels of pay, but for state activation you make less money. You and your unit fall under the control of the state's adjutant general also referred to as the TAG. The reserves are Federal ONLY. You can be activated only under the direction of the Dept. of Defense with the authority of the POTUS. They do NOT respond to local disaster response under the direction of the governor or the TAG. There are generally better benefits given by the state for serving in the National Guard, but each state has it's own benefits, and you'd have to look that up. The Reserves are broken and have been for a long time. Their budget and organization is flawed, and it's just horrible, and you get fewer benefits with the reserves, and none of them from the state. If you're inquiring for joining, I highly recommend the GUARD over the reserves, and would venture to say - DO NOT JOIN THE RESERVES. The only exception is, the Guard has only Army and Air Force, but all five branches have reserves, so if you're thinking Coast Guard, Marine, or Navy, you have no choice.

Response by CW4 Craig Urban made Nov 8 at 2019 7:51 AM

CW4 Craig Urban — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 07:51:45 -0500

Guard is for us. Reserves can go anywhere

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 8 at 2019 9:48 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 09:48:13 -0500

Funding, chain of command, and area of responsibility.
For funding, NG gets State funds where Reserves does not. For Chain of Command, the NG has the State Governor in their Chain and the Reserves does not. NG is called up for State emergencies while the Reserves does not.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 9 at 2019 12:25 AM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 09 Nov 2019 00:25:27 -0500

Can say would defintely go Army Reserves rather than National Guard, speaking from experience and my battles' experiences. I'm not 100% on the exact differences in every way, however, I personally believe Army Reserves is going to bring you a lot more oppurtunies than National Guard, depending on what you're trying to do (out of country deployments vs in state, etc). Though, I will say, I'm in a really good unit with a better-than-normal command, lots of oppurtunities, lots of vehicles, and money to spend, and I've seen, again, from experience, many units aren't like that. The NG has a lot of funding, whereas the reserves doesn't. Or maybe they just don't spend it right, who knows.

Response by SFC Howard Holmes made Oct 13 at 2020 2:04 PM

SFC Howard Holmes — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 14:04:26 -0400

The Reserves are BROKE. In fact, there was a time when Colin Powell wanted to do completely away with the reserves and switch it all to the National Guard. The Guard is "state funded" and your initial commander in chief is your governor. You are under the possibility of being activated for state service. For example, some states have activated the Guard for riot control, to assist law enforcement, flooding, hazardous weather, such as the hurricanes down in Mississippi etc. You are also subject to federal activation for conflict, to assist active duty units and missions, the same as reserves.

Depending on your state, National Guard Members generally have much better benefits. The reserves have always struggled with providing educational opportunities. The National Guard is better funded, and overall better organized. My last experiences with the reserves showed how broke they were. Many of the units that were reserve units in my state transformed to National Guard Units. I am speaking from 21 years active duty, and 15 years of Reserve/Guard experience.

I could ramble on about personal experiences, but that's individual units, and locations, but overall, I have not heard any good news about the reserves since Desert Storm in the early 90's. My last reserve experience I went in for 8 months and it was so fouled up, I got out and went Guard, then after 9-11 finished up Active Duty. The ONLY way I would recommend the reserves is if an applicant wanted a specific MOS and that person's state did NOT offer that MOS but the Reserves did.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 13 at 2020 2:30 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 14:30:36 -0400

I have been Guard, Active and Reserve. They are all very different but all Army. Individual experiences will very greatly. Depending on what unwanted to do and during a career you will likely change components.

If the Job you want is common in the Guard I recommend the to start. Best of luck.

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Oct 19 at 2020 8:17 AM

LTC Jason Mackay — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 08:17:14 -0400

State = ARNG
Federal = Reserve
Neither get BAH on a regular basis
Reserve units are enablers and do not have combat Arms units.
ARNG has similar units to Active Duty units (BCTs and Sustainment Units)
They all deploy, just less frequently.
In certain instances you may transfer between them if there is a slot.