Is a 31B a good career choice in the Army Natl Guard?

I spent a couple years as a local police officer, interviewed and began the process with a few federal places and there are few finer points to federal recruiting. One, you need to be ready for a long process. It is going to take a while so be patient. Two, having a degree is pretty much needed unless you can bring 10+ years of detective experience to the table and even then a degree does not hurt. As mentioned, accounting along with computer science or other related fields are also big areas the feds are looking for. Three, and while this is word of mouth from the feds they have a shortage of people who have real-world policing experience and the (FBI) if you look is specifically recruiting prior military/law enforcement personnel (check out usajobs.gov and search under 1811 series). Four, having military service will give you points but that is only if you meet certain criteria. Also, law enforcement experience, in general, will give you a leg up on many college grads who have just stayed in school and are applying to the FBI or Feds in general with college and maybe some internships under their belt.

Are you joining the guard because you want the experience and use it as a stepping stone to bigger things? Or because you need it to help fund college?

My recommendation is this: If you need help with college and want to get some experience join the guard and if you are able to get 31B then even better. Now, I will also recommend this; I worked with many guys in the reserves and guard who were local LEO's, so you could get hired by a local department, as well as being in the guard. That department will honor your commitment to the guard or at least they should. This will give you the opportunity to gain money for college, military, and local policing experience. Once you get your degree and have a few years on the department it will definitely make you a very competitive candidate.

Of course, that is just my opinion and it solely rests on you as to whether you want to work and do school or just primarily focus on school and worry about a career later. I can say that I was able to do work full time as a police officer and do school but it is challenging. I wish you the best. If you have any questions feel free to message me. Also, I would look to SSG Berg for National Guard advice and 1SG Niles makes a good point about getting some college and look into CID as an option.

Go to college, Get an accounting degree and you are a shoe-in for the Feds. They Follow the money and do little in actual crime fighting.

I've been in both L&O and Combat MP units in the National Guard. One thing I can attest to is that it IS a good place to get your feet wet. Law Enforcement isn't a field for everyone. I've seen many cases where people think they want to get in the LE field and then realize it's not actually for them. Another thing to note is that a LOT of National Guard MPs are in Law Enforcement on the civilian side. It's a great place to make connections and rub elbows.

If you want to take it a step further, there are many opportunities to work as a L&O MP on full time orders for a year or two to get a better understanding of Law Enforcement as a whole. Just like everyone else on this thread, work on that degree! The National Guard has amazing college benefits!