What cultural differences exist between Army National Guard and Army Reserve?

2021-12-23T08:09:18-05:00

How is the experience of a Guardsman different from that of a Reservist, in terms of organizatonal climate, expectations, opportunities, competition, and any other factors?

Response by CPT Lawrence Cable made Dec 23 at 2021 8:27 AM

2021-12-23T08:27:57-05:00

I'll take a shot at this one.
The Guard is Combat Arms oriented, in my somewhat dated opinion, the operational and training tempo tends to be higher than in most Reserve units. Organizational climate varies from state to state. Since the 90's, most Guard units now deploy on a rotation schedule, although I anticipate that tempo with drop off (but it may not). If you are Combat Arms, Enlisted or Officer, the opportunity for promotion up through E-7 for NCO's and to Major for Officers is decent. After that you bump into the fact that your pool of positions are only within your state.
My Reserve experience is limited, but the two I saw were the fact that slots to promote to are nationwide and more are available and generally more opportunities for Support MOS's and Branches.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 23 at 2021 9:54 AM

2021-12-23T09:54:28-05:00

From a Reserve perspective. It has been very structured - not many training schedule changes, just the standard once a month and two weeks a year (some units do quarterly or biannual drills{IMA}). Mobilization rotations are based on a 4-5 year cycle, if they are even used in their deployment year. It is much easier to transfer bewteen units and accross state lines (sometimes even out of country-Germany). I've seen a lot of NG officers move to the Reserves after CPT for promotion options. The reserves is larger and therefore has more positions avalaible for promotion. Similar to Guard, there are always opportunities to volunteer to deploy if you are interested. They are both part time jobs. Same insurance option and VA benifits.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 23 at 2021 12:32 PM

2021-12-23T12:32:05-05:00

Having been Active, Guard and now Reserve I'm actually surprised how different they are.
Make your choice to move based on your next position. You can always change again in the future.

Response by CW5 Mark Smith made Apr 18 at 2022 9:57 PM

2022-04-18T21:57:21-04:00

The Guard serves two masters, CINC and the governor. That's not a criticism but something to keep in mind due to mob requirements for state related reasons like floods, etc.