Has anyone transitioned from the USMC Reserve to the Army National Guard?

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 12:12:08 -0500

I'm currently in the process of transitioning from the USMC Reserve to the NJ Army Guard. For reference, I was a GySgt 0231 looking for more opportunities. With the amount of travel required and the WO/Commissioning opportunities limited in the USMC Reserve Intel fields, I turned to the guard for such chances.

Has anyone made the transition from 0231->35F->350F?

Response by Maj Jd Will made Dec 1 at 2015 7:33 AM

Maj Jd Will — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 07:33:21 -0500

Email SFC Leal, he was a Marine and made the transition, not directly though. I think he had a small broken time [login to see]

Response by Cpl Don "GUNNY" Miller made Dec 1 at 2015 3:04 PM

Cpl Don "GUNNY" Miller — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 15:04:47 -0500

Don't expect the same discipline in the Guard. I joined the guard after being out of the Corp for five years, and became a squad leader. The first UTA/ Drill weekend we were assigned a task of continuing work on a repelling tower, my squad was just standing around Bull Shitting, so I told my squad to get some hammers, nails and misc. other equipment and supplies, and their response was F**K You. Needless to say I was ##**#@ and went directly to the First Sargent and told him I wanted to write them up, his response was you are not in the Corp anymore and you just have to understand.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 1 at 2015 3:27 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 15:27:04 -0500

I went from USMCR enlisted to USMC Active Duty Officer and after broken time, took a federal technician position with CA Army National Guard as a Major, Field Artillery. It is an entirely different culture, even different from Regular Army or Army Reserves. Politics are different as well. As a Gunny you will be coming in with a lot of experience, and certain expectations. You will soon realize that some of those expectations are unrealistic. Therefore you need to ultimately set a goal for yourself and achieve it, regardless of what's happening around you. I went in and popped smoke once I received my 20 year letter.

Response by Sgt Kevin Thompson made Dec 1 at 2015 8:32 PM

Sgt Kevin Thompson — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 20:32:58 -0500

Don't do it! Don't be a traitor to your family. I promise you will regret it. Just the culture alone is gonna piss you off. It' not a family lie the Corps is, remember semper fi. At the same time they don't hold their self to high standards in the least bit so that's gonna piss you off.

Response by SSgt Greg Bennett made Dec 3 at 2015 6:21 AM

SSgt Greg Bennett — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 06:21:48 -0500

I went from the Marines to the air guard and to Air Force reserve It was vary easy and all rank ect transfer the Guard recruiter should be able to answer all your questions

Response by Cpl Richard Powell made Dec 3 at 2015 7:16 AM

Cpl Richard Powell — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 07:16:46 -0500

I went to the army national guard after the Corp and was the only one in the armored Scout unit that was TOW qualified and that had gone to demolition school. It was Top NCO good old boys that were more worried about what grade they would retire at than the troops under them. But instead of using me in the field I was trained in which everybody in the unit was suppose to be proficient in heavy and medium antitank weapons they made me the NBC NCO that was locked at E 5 with no chance of promotion so I got out after a 4 year stint

Response by LCpl Eddie Cruz made Dec 3 at 2015 12:34 PM

LCpl Eddie Cruz — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 12:34:20 -0500

You can do a one year contract to see if you like it someone I know did it along with a few others but it is a total different world they hated it due to the fact that marines do things wat different and our character is high speed.

Response by Sgt Ron Wolf made Dec 8 at 2015 10:03 AM

Sgt Ron Wolf — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 10:03:24 -0500

I was active duty and went into the guard...my advice would be to make the trip where ever you have to go. Based solely on my experiance. Was not good.

Response by Sgt Matthew Hunter made Mar 2 at 2018 6:30 AM

Sgt Matthew Hunter — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 06:30:56 -0500

Hey how was that transition? I'm a Marine Vet looking to going to Counter Intelligence. Any tips or advice?