National Go On A Field Trip Month on October, 2024: Air National Guard TAC-P?

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TACP's work with the Army, but not necessarily deploying for the same amount of time. 120-180 day deployments are the norm for ANG TACP's and this happens once every 2 years on average. Keep in mind, TACP's also are on the road a lot for other trips and exercises so plan on him to be gone 30-60 days a year just for things like this(training, Army Field exercises, Airborne/Air Assault school, CAS trips, etc). The main thing your husband needs to come to grasp with is the tech school for this career-field is not for the weak. Is your husband in great(not good) shape....meaning can he run 1.5 miles in under 10 minutes then do 10 pull-ups, 60 sit-ups/push-ups right afterwards(in one minute each)? Then after the PT test can he do another 2 hours of hard PT? Can he haul 95 lbs of gear on a 12 mile ruck march in under 4 hours? Can he spend 5 days in the field with one MRE a day while soaking wet and 3 hours of sleep a night and a 70# ruck on the whole time all while having land navigation tasks to perform and be evaluated on? Can he take mental stress and mind games from instructors while performing the above tasks? This is all stuff he will have to do at the tech school which has a 40% wash-out rate and is by no means your ordinary tech school for the Air Force. I am just being completely honest with you as many people have no clue what it is like and get sent home packing. What state are you guys in? There is a lot of opportunity being an ANG TACP as there are new squadrons poppng up all over the U.S. If he is in good shape and motivated, he will have a great run as a TACP. If he wants a cool job but is out of shape, he will get a reality check.

Email me and have your husband list out questions and I will answer them from a ANG TACP member standpoint.

Reserves or National Guard?

Either Army National Guard or Air National Guard (both have same pay and benefits) The NG gets all of the benefits the reserves get plus state benefits which can be really good (in my state 100% free tuition for how many credits as you like for as long as you are in the NG, you can get 4 degrees without paying a cent, plus you get 340 dollars a month for supplies and books and associated costs). Plus the Army NG (not sure about Air) has many more job and career opportunities than the Reserves (including combat MOSs, the Army reserves have no combat MOSs).

As far as benefits go the answer is NG no doubt. Some states offer much more than others, but in every state they get more than Reserves simply because they get everything the Reserves get from the federal government and then they get their state benefits from their state. However, if you wanted to join something other than the Army or Air force you would have to go Reserves.

Of course the downside to NG is they are more likely to deploy than reserves. Because they can be deployed oversees by the Federal Government or they can be activated by the state government to deal with instate emergencies (mass riots, floods, blizzards, hurricanes, etc...). And when they need you, you gotta go, it does not matter what grade/classes you are in or what your girlfriend thinks, or what your parents want or what special trip you had planned. If they need to send you somewhere you gotta go. So keep that in mind when joining any NG or Reserves. You never know what can happen.