Virginia National Guard AT in November; what can somebody full time in college do?

Contrary to the slogan, you are not an "Army of One". Seriously, If you cannot be excused because you are so valuable, I want you in my unit. A little understanding and compromise by your command goes a long way toward recruiting and retention. I would not have been able to complete my education on time if had not been for a couple excusals/ alternate schedules from AT. I appreciated that my leadership was able to accommodate my needs. Now, I spend everyday thanking them by taking care of my airmen. Run this up your chain of command.

In my unit, College was one of the things that would get you excused from an AT during the "college year". We would put the member on the Unit Recruiting team to do recruiting over the summer for their 2 weeks.

The first thing tht

I have known plenty of soldiers who were able to get home station AT due to a conflict in their college courses. First and foremost your chain of command for permission. Make sure to put it in writing what the conflict is and how it would be detrimental to your education goals. Another thing to look into is see if the instructors for your classes have a program setup for this type of scenario. Nine times out of ten they do and will set it up for you to be able to do the work after you get back with delayed timelines for turning in any work needed.

That was how I did it way back in the late '80's and in the mid '90's working on my graduate degree. My unit CO would have several exercises that the unit was committed to, and let me pick the one that fit my educational schedule. When it didn't, the professors usually helped me out. I would "Hope" that it is a similar situation now.....

I commanded a reserve unit and we often faced this problem. We would help Marines find an alternate AT, with a different unit in the Summer. We did have obligations longer than a 4 driller in the school months. In the end, we worked with the Marines to find solutions.

The more options you bring to the table, and the sooner you do it, the more likely something workable is going to happen.

1) Let your command know the complete details of the requirement of your college to graduate on time.
2) Get with your professors and advise them of your military commitment and see if they will work with you. (My professors gave me the assignments and readings early, so I could keep up.)
3) See if there are alternative ATs available. For example, going to a military school (perhaps BNCOC) would be something that would benefit both you and the unit.

There were two kinds of people in your situation who showed up at my desk. Type 1 dropped the entire problem in my lap and expected me to fix it. Type 2 had some alternatives prepared and were clearly willing to see that the unit got something out of the deal as well. Is it obvious which one I was willing to go to bat for?

When you commit to serving in the National Guard or Reserve, that commitment come before all other obligations and commitments. It's wonderful that you are able to attend college and are close to graduating, but your military commitment come first.

If you have advised your command that your scheduled AT will interfere with you education, but your command determines that your participation at AT is still required, then suck it up and go to AT. It cold be worse, you could be deployed somewhere where people are actually trying to kill you.

You might have to take another semester of college, but sometimes there is a price to be paid my the individual service member for the (educational) benifits they receive as well as the commitment they have made to their country.

The unit I was in didn't like me being off for drills and AT to attend college. Fortunately, for me at least, I had surgery that forced me to retire, so I could finish my schooling

Sgt Foy I would also inform, and discuss with, your Professors/instructors your drill/AT schedule once classes resume in the fall. If your not excused from your AT then you may be able to arrange makeup or bring some work with you to AT. At worst you can drop a class and take another one that aligns with your degree plan that would be more accommodating. Having taught at the university level I have seen various ways in which faculty have handled extended absences from class, from advising the student to drop to bending over backwards to allow the student to complete the course material. Tenured Professors are given wide latitude in how they conduct their classes and in some cases regardless of university policy.