Has anyone had success balancing a career as a defense contractor along with being a member of the Army National Guard?

As one who is presently a TPU in the USAR and a defense contractor, it all depends on what you're doing and where you're working.

If you're looking at defense contracting overseas, balance may be difficult to achieve balance. When I began a contract overseas, I moved to the Inactive Guard and was slotted in a TDA unit as my location made it nearly impossible to drill regularly. If you have adequate leave off from your contract to make up drill dates and annual training, in a given year, there may be an opportunity to arrange block training with your command (provided policies and regulations support it).

If you're working domestically, your contractor work is really no different than a typical job that requires the usual give and take; however, military contract companies are usually more flexible with time off for military duty than the average civilian employer.

I have found that my present contract work and my USAR assignment enhance each other. My unit, my company, and I all benefit from the cross pollination.

The only caveat is to beware potential conflicts of interest.

Hmm, that could be a real bear-- How do you handle drills, musters, deployments, etc. I can see a bunch of problems there. IRR or USAR would probably be a better way.

I've only been doing it for a few months but my contract company is very supportive.