What advice do you have for someone who had a break in service for 8 years to go to school and spend time with family?

Get a Departmebt of the Army Civilian Job.

I had a 10 year break in service and then went into the Guard (was previously AD Army). Wish I would have just gone back to AD!! It has changed a lot but it also come back pretty quickly! Have an open mind and realize that things changed a lot while you were gone but at the core it’s like riding a bike and it will all come back! Good luck SSG!

As an 89b, you won’t come back as a Ssg with more then 4 years break in service. Maybe E4, don’t know for sure. Get a DA job or go active.