Tension between National Guard and Active Duty Army?

There once may have been a time that the NG was not as well trained then the AD counterparts. But let's look at the last 20+ years. The NG has been called upon more and more, they balance full time jobs , civilian and required military training . The old saying one weekend a month and two weeks a summer is for very few in the NG. Many of the officers, NCO's are doing at least several more weekends and several additional weeks each year. And this does not even include any operational deployments. One thing that the NG and even RC servicemembers bring to table is many dynamics to make the force well rounded. Just think of how many of these members are mechanics, electricans, IT and other skilled trades that often are overlooked. But when you are down range and you need something fixed in a pinch. These are the folks that you want in your unit so you are not waiting for support to get you going again. Just my view point from what I have witnessed on several deployments.

In 1985 my squadron was supposed to be relieved of duty for the two weeks the ANG was there. I was a new supervisor at the time and was quite shocked when in less than 24 hours all active duty were called back on duty. It seems the training was somewhat lacking where the guard was concerned.

Fast forward to Desert Shield / Desert Storm. My operation has a squadron of ANG assigned and once again the training was lacking. These people were supposedly trained to handle all aspects of my duties yet I spent the next five months having to train them to do my job safely. The average active duty airman learned that job in a few weeks.

I'm told training is better today but being old school and burned more than once I'm not likely to trust any Guard unit to tie their shoes without supervision.

All good points here to read but the only thing that matters to me is a guardsman or reservist is there to stand up when needed, active duty was and is a calling. We all bleed red white n blue. God Bless!

While I served with 25th ID(L), we worked often with the Hawaii Army National Guard. They were great soldiers and many of them had more combat experience than their active duty counterparts. And as noted by COL Roach, they had a wealth of professional knowledge in many professions that proved VERY useful when we worked together.

This is a Army discussion but the Air Guard is similar to the ArNG or Reserves.....Air Guard were constantly rotating in and out of Afghanistan and flying the same missions as their Regular counterparts. No complaints.....just do it......BTW many Guard units did not have any problems filling the manning document...there was no shortage of volunteers!

An interesting topic.
In 1983 I was attending PLDC at FRKS. My military career began in 1965 in the WAC. When enlisted women were being accepted in the USAR, 1975, I raised my right hand for, at that time, a 6-year hitch as an SP4/E4, where I made E5. After several years, in response to family needs, I requested transfer to the IRR where I served for 2 years.
In 1981, I took an AGR assignment with the ARNG during which time I attended PLDC at FRKS in 1983. While at FR, as I recall, I was the only reservist in the class. Frequently instructors attributed reserve status to one or two of my classmates. In one instance it was recommended to a young E4, seated beside me at the time, take note of what a 'real' soldier looks like and look for guidance from me.
As it turned out, he WAS an AD soldier. Appearances can be deceiving so THINK first before you assume and do what the word implies.
BTB, after my ARNG hitch I was back on AD, RA and because of my WAC/USAR/ARNG service had some great assignments - one of which was a plum I likely would not have had otherwise.

Captain, before joining the CG I was a member of the Army Reserve and AD. While in Basic (60) we were divided up as follows: RA, US, FR, & NG. As an RA one had it made and was appointed the "Acting Jack", FR was considered second string, US were the folks they had to hunt down and drag to basic, and then there were the NGs whom no one cared for and seemed to draw Guard and KP on a more than regular basis and could never make the DIs happy. So the negative feeling went on down to the AD units where the NGs had to do their 6 months. I went to Basic from HHC, 100BN, 442RCT.
Talk about fitting into some tight boots, that fame stuck to me and carried into basic where I was expected to live up to the legends and unit history. So, regardless of all the scuttlebutt that drifts about the deck; here is what I know for a fact. I have never known a GI who had someone complete an occupancy application to share a fox hole or a firing position. All I cared about during Desert Storm was that they were one of the "good guys" and had their s--- squared away. So, the next time someone's firing position is about to be overrun be thankful some NG jumped in the hole and made the enemy's life just a bit more difficult, or when your shot up be thankful some NG Corpsman was there to patch your leaking holes. We all serve however and in the manner that we are able to do. Next time one takes a stroll through a National Cemetery, don't be surprised at the number of NGs who reside there. Just a passing thought. When the war is over the NG go back to serving their communities turning out after floods, tornadoes, fires, and NG Engineers are doing community building projects while waiting for the next war.

I think there are going to be very different perspectives here because of our different experiences as well as time frames. I served 11 active, 78-89 and then 2 short stints in USAR (93 and 98), and in my era and my limited local experience there was no question they were substandard. It's nothing personal, just a fact. I had to help them set up basic things when I arrived that should have already been in place. I'm not judging, either. They were part time.. And that was before 9/11, which in my opinion led to a renaissance of reserve/guard components raising their performance because they were forced to. Same thing in the WWII era. So yes, there was tension.. in the 80s anyway. Us young full timers could not understand how others could wear a uniform but not meet standards. Nothing personal was meant though, it was all about professionalism.

I was active duty . The ribbing between active and reserve and guard will always be there, but a lot of reservist bring a lot to the table. Most guard/reserve soldiers do their military jobs in" civilian world" and bring experience that you only get by doing.In Iraq I was a Combat Heavy Engineer, in my platoon were 3 licensed contractors and most of them worked in construction, I myself am a licensed contractor . We ALL have experience that the active duty troops don't have. I was a section sergeant (E-6) in the grading platoon and yet with my civilian experience worked on electrical systems and plumbing systems and building construction and occasionally I got to do some grading work, and when we had problems it was nothing for an experienced E4 to be tasked with an E-6's responsibility to complete the project . As one of the old men 42 I was in shape. And yet it didn't stop an IED from paralyzing me ( temporarily thank God) I'm very proud of the men and women I served with and the job we did in Iraq , I wouldn't trade my experiences both Active Duty and National Guard.

I have been a Reservist and on Active Duty. Back in the day, Reservists were NOT permitted to report a gym membership to IRS as a tax deductible "business expense," which I felt was both ridiculous and dangerous to Reservist safety.