WA Army National Guard

The National Guard is State and Federal.  Meaning the Governor can activate Guard soldiers to respond to State emergencies such as floods, fires, riots, etc…  President can call us up to support other states or deploy oversees on combat and non-combat missions.

The Guard is part-time, one weekend a month and two weeks a year, minimum.  While on contract.  This allows members to have full-time careers, attend college full-time and stay close to friends and family without the worry of being stationed anywhere in the world for multiple years.  Like with active duty branches.

Incentives of the Guard include paid training, up to 100% college tuition can paid for and up to $50k of preexisting student loans can be paid off.  Full-time medical, dental, life insurance and 401k -style retirement options are available as well.

Other possible incentives is the ability to transfer some of your paid college tuition to dependents and after 6 years of service, the VA Home Loan ($0 down) becomes available.