Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Conditional Realease pending mmrb

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Expert: - 8/14/2009


Question
Dear Sir, I'm in the NC army national guard and I am trying to go active duty army (with a deployment). I am pending a medical review board, I have been cleared by a doctor but it could take up to 2 years for the state to finalize the paperwork.  My financial concerns are more immediate. I want to go active duty now in order to provide for my wife and daughter. I talked to an active duty recruiter and he told me to write my congressman to help speed up the process. Is this the right coarse of action? Do you have an example of someone who wrote their congressman for a similar situation?

Answer
Medical review boards do not take two years to finalize paperwork, but being released to go active duty can, due to there is nothing that says that they have to relaese you at all.  If you feel anything is taking too long, you should contact the IG's office first before your congressman's office.  The trend is to deny requests for transfer to active duty because the guard already spent time and money on you.  If you want to deploy, you can volunteer to go with a NC unit that is deploying.  

Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard

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John L

Expertise

I am a National Guard recruiter , been doing it for seven years and am a subject matter expert on qualifications for National Guard and I keep up to date on Regular Army regs and programs. I was in the Navy for 4 years and have 13 years in the Guard. I will not sugar coat my answers to you. They are usually short and to the point. If you need more in depth, ask me. Because each situation is different, alot of times you need to actually talk to a recruiter and let them evaluate your situation in person, by looking at your documents, issues etc. If I suggest this, it would be in your best interest to do so. Finally...thank you for your interest in serving this great nation of ours. Very few people can actually make the cut to serve let alone choose to do so. So thank you for wanting to and hopefully you will get a chance. Whatever branch you choose, thank you and good luck.

Experience

13 years Guard experince, combat missions and homeland missions. 7 years recruiting. I have been a platoon sergeant and squad leader. Mentor to new recruiters and recruits.

Education/Credentials
Recruiters course and advanced courses in recruiting

Awards and Honors
Top recruiter in district for FY 2008. Nominated for recruiter of the year for 2010.

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