How likely are you to deploy as dual military in the National Guard?

2LT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 14:19:17 -0400

My fiance and I are both in the Guard and commissioning soon. I'm trying to branch Aviation with a backup of Armor, and he's in Armor. We both want to deploy quickly after BOLC and are wondering what the chances are of deploying together. How does your dual military status help you in that regard? Is there anything we could do (besides being in the same unit) that can increase the chances?

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Nov 3 at 2018 4:09 PM

LTC Jason Mackay — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 16:09:32 -0400

2LT Private RallyPoint Member If you are in the same BCT, very likely. Same Battalion, extremely likely(like 99%). Same Company, definitely. If you are both Lieutenants on your first assignment and not in the same branch, it's likely you won't as he'll be in a Combined Arms Battalion or a RSTA Squadron, and you won't unless you are Armor too.

Edit: is your state's ARNG on the patch chart to deploy? That's the long pole.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 3 at 2018 5:25 PM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 17:25:31 -0400

LTC Jason Mackay summed it up pretty well. I'm an armor officer in the guard. If you end up branching armor, shoot me a message!

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 3 at 2018 5:36 PM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 17:36:18 -0400

If you are in the same unit, you could possibly deploy together, but there is another way (especially if you are in separate units)… look for a Tour of Duty at the same deployed location. That way you won't have to wait for a unit deployment. The only risk is that one of you gets selected and the other doesn't.

By the way, I don't know the specific rules of being married and in the same unit, but it could be bad for a couple of reasons:
- If you have kids, one of you will likely have to stay home in the event of a Mobilization. That would cause both a loss to the unit and resentment over who gets to go and who doesn't.
- If you are both in the same field, you would be competing against each other for promotions, top-block ratings from your superior officer, etc. May cause some unneeded stress.
- As much as you love each other right now, seeing each other 24/7 can wear any relationship down.

If you were active duty, it would help you to PCS together, but that is about it. Best of luck and congratulations!

Response by SSG(P) David Micheau made Nov 11 at 2018 9:14 PM

SSG(P) David Micheau — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 21:14:16 -0500

As a former MNARNG Aviation NCO, I will tell you it is very unlikely if you are aviation and your husband is anything else. 2/147, 2-211 and 834 act as their own air combat brigades and rarely deploy with ground units from Minnesota. Not that it hasn’t happened, but because of the wide difference in airframe and capability, MN aviation is often farmed out to support other organizations rather than organic MN units, since their deployment cycles are usually very different.