National Guard

[MJD23]

Goodafternoon readers and Rangers,
I recently joined the Army National Guard in order to continue my BS degree in psychology. Im going in as 11B. I have some questions concerning the options my future may have. I was going to go active duty as an 11x and eventually get my oppotunity to prove myself to be an Army Ranger or SF. But because of my education i decided to continue getting my degree and get a deployment in before i choose to go active duty. Is the transition from the National Guard to Active Duty easy in terms of trying to obtain a RASP slot or a chance to go to SFAS? I havent really heard of anyone doing this. Is it common and if your a respond to this topic do you know anyone with this experience? Im just trying to get an idea of how it is an the difficulty to obtain these prestigous oppotuinites. Thank you for your answers and all your help!

[Jim]

What unit are you in?

[MJD23]

Ranger Jim,
CO A 1/111th INF.

[goon175]

SF - yes, if you are an E-4 or below, RASP- No. You will be considered Prior Service, and the only thing that would be open to an 11b prior service guy would be 18x (at this time, things can obviously change in the future) that is an E-4 or below. Also, if you are in the national guard, you might look into NG SF, they have units around the country.

[Jim]

The 111th Infantry has a long and honorable history. Returned a couple years ago from Iraq. Streiker equipped, as I recall. I have a couple friends who commanded in 56th Brigade. One had the Cav Squadron; the other, 1-112th Inf. 111th is Mr. Franklin's Regiment.

[MJD23]

Ranger goon175 thanks for the info. But damn i didnt know prior service guys cannot get a shot at RASP. But as for SF thats positive. I understand that there are NG SF units and the cloest one to philadelphia is in maryland. Definetly going to be something ill look more into. Thanks for the reply. Ranger Jim, i just joined so there is alot i need to learn but from what i read Ben Franklin did start the unit. That and he started the associators i think? I dont really know what they are. And yes we are Striker equipped which i cant wait to check them out. But again thanks for the help.

[Jim]

As you might recall, before the American Revolution, Pennsylvania was governed by Quakers. They are passive, and will not serve in the military. Therefore, PA did not have the militia the other colonies had for self-=protection. Franklin and a number of other civic-minded men organized themselves into "Associations for mutual defence." They organized themselves into units, by county, and elected their leaders. One of the oldest still serving is "Philidelphia City Troop."

[goon175]

Its not that they cannot get a shot at RASP, it's that they can't get into the Army. Therein lies the problem...