Posted on Apr 17, 2018
Should I join the Guard in one state and then request an IST right after basic and AIT?
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So I have an interesting situation. I am in the process of filling out my application for the Guard, and have been meeting with my recruiter. The situation is that my wife and I are planning to move to a different state at the end of the year (November-December 2018), but i want to go ahead and join the Guard now. My main reason for that is that the state we will be moving to is 20+ hours away by car, and we will not know anyone there. I would rather my wife have her family and friends while I am gone to Basic and AIT. Here is where I am wary... My recruiter wants me to join in the state where I currently live, go through training, then come back to start drilling for a month or two and immediately request an IST to the state we are moving to. I'm not sure how I feel about this. What are yall's thought on joining in one state while I already know that I will be moving at the end of the year? Thanks.
11X: Infantry Recruit
Potential Recruit
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 5
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Join in the state you're moving to. It will be much, much easier and you'll avoid a lot of heartache down the road.
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SSG (Join to see)
If you know exactly where you're moving to in NY, I'd call a recruiter there and see what your options are. You might be able to work it out so your timeframes for things work together,
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2LT (Join to see)
SSG (Join to see) - We know exactly where we are moving, and a 2 month window of when we will be moving there. I'll try to find a recruiter there and give them a call. I would have to travel and go to MEPS in New York, correct?
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SSG (Join to see)
I'm not sure how that would work out so I can't offer anything in regards to that. That's a question for the recruiter.
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As others said, an interstate transfer is a long process, and one that is not guaranteed to work. I would definitely look at enlisting in the state that you're moving to. Alternatively, you may want to look at the Reserves; transferring units across states is easier on the Reserve side.
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I understand your concerns about leaving your wife where she doesn't know anyone. The likelihood of getting an IST approved by your losing state right after they spent all that money to train you is unlikely though. Personally, I'd wait until you get to where you're going. I've done an IST before and it can be a mess. It took the better part of a year for everything to get done and I had to get my gaining 1SG and CSM involved.
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2LT (Join to see)
I basically said the same thing to the recruiter about them spending the money to train me, and then me turning around and leaving. So basically he's just lying about all the IST stuff saying that it would be fine and easy? He even called a couple guys who were supposedly really familiar with it, and they said Texas and New York were the best to work with because they were really easy to transfer into. I also asked him about the service commitment to the state and how that played out, but he said that the commitment was to the Guard as a whole, and then to the state. It sounds like I need to find a new recruiter.
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SSG (Join to see)
I'm offering advice based off of my experiences. I don't want to flat out call your recruiter a liar because I don't know your recruiter. It just makes more sense to be to work with the state that you're going to be in as opposed to one that you're never going to see after AIT.
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