Has anyone switched from Medical Service to 38A/38G? How were your experiences?

2022-05-16T21:34:29-04:00

I am a 72D. After 6 years in a NG Med Det I decided to move on and I will be transferring to a CA unit. It is something I have wanted to do for a while. What can I expect as far as differences from Medical to CA. I have also been debating trying to transition to 38A/G. If anyone else has done so I would be interested to hear about your experiences. Thanks

Response by SSG Carlos Madden made May 17 at 2022 9:57 AM

2022-05-17T09:57:31-04:00

I can't personally help but it may be worth reaching out to BG Private RallyPoint Member or BG Edward Burley. They've always been willing to help people with similar questions about CA in the past.

Response by BG Edward Burley made May 17 at 2022 10:44 AM

2022-05-17T10:44:03-04:00

CPT Kupina, I expect you will find the transition to Civil Affairs an exciting one. At drills (or "Battle Assemblies") you will generally find initially that you are sought out as a subject matter expert rather than the emphasis on managing a detachment. On a CA Tactical Team as an Environmental Science & Engineering team member, your drill weekend may involve doing assessments of local town facilities to learn how they operate and manage water supplies or other environmental services. At the Brigade and Command levels, you may prepare staff planning for those efforts at a larger level, or conduct facility reconnaissance and discussion with city leaders about how to help stand up governmental services at a macro level. Of course, you will also have weekends filled with weapons qualification, ACFT, tactical vehicle & dismounted movement, and the various unit required training. It often takes months to schedule the 38A or 38G courses, so you'll have plenty of time to "test the waters" and see if CA is for you.

My recommendation for a Captain is to go 38A if you like CA. 38G is designed for subject matter experts, often senior Majors or LTCs who have topped out in their original career field due to geography - not everyone can afford the time or money to travel several states for a new senior assignment, and not every State Guard has units in all specialties. As a 38A, you'll have opportunities for command assignments that the 38G program is not designed to accommodate.

Although the operational tempo has reduced as the twin wars have wound down, there are still more opportunities for overseas training in CA than in most Reserve or Guard units. 351st Civil Affairs Command ("CACOM" in CA parlance) is based in Mountain View, CA, just south of San Francisco in Silicon Valley, but conducts a variety of Pacific operations in Hawaii and especially South Korea. BG(Ret.) Glenn Goddard is a great resource on this, since he served for many years in 351. Best of luck! BG(Ret.) Ed Burley

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made May 17 at 2022 12:28 PM

2022-05-17T12:28:15-04:00

I'm interested in this as well, and have been keeping an eye out for the MilPer's. I can literally ride a bicycled to the 351's which has 4 vacancies (but they are LTC slots) in what I think is a good civilian career match for me (Commerce and Economics).

Command time of a QM company and CCC is done. But I suspect now that I've gone from 92A to 90A that LG will hang onto me for a few years.

So my question is do I make such a move now, or wait to knock out ILE when I pick up MAJ?