***The ‘Tales of a Post High School Parent’ series is a look at the unique experiences of parents with older kids, topics typically underrepresented in traditional parenting arenas. Note: all opinions are mine, no content in this series is sponsored.***
A week into my first year at the University of Iowa, I remember simultaneously thinking two things:
(1) ‘Holy crap – this is awesome!’, and
(2) ‘I wonder how I am paying for this?’
The feeling associated with those two thoughts hasn’t left me to this day – both the amazing and the not so great. Ah, those fond memories of the whimsy freedom of my college years, but alas, coupled with my monthly student loan payments that I will continue to make into my fifties.
Based on this good and bad and as my eldest son nears the end of his senior year in high school and starts to think about his next steps into adulthood, I am determined to arm him with information that will have him focused on my first thought (having fun) and less on the second (going broke forever while doing it).
The reality for us is that we’ll support our kids’ as much as possible, but they will each be shouldering much of the post-high school financial burdens of college. With five kids, our teenagers seem to be keenly aware of that fact. All that said, I refuse to sign them up for the mountains of well-intentioned debt that have crippled so many.
So, when my wife had introduced the idea of talking to a recruiter for the Army National Guard to my son awhile ago, I was simultaneously eager to listen and skeptical.
What kind of commitment would they be asking my son to make?
Could he go to war?
What if he doesn’t really know what he wants to do?
Would his commitment derail his college progress?
As you may have picked up, I don’t know ANYTHING about enlisting in any military service so we met with two local (Tampa area) recruiters.
I walked away (unexpectedly) so impressed.
The Commitment
I learned all about the commitment expected of our young people entering the Army National Guard.
After signing up, a soldier is required to:
(1) Attend a 10-week Basic Training in one of four locations (these are in South Carolina, Missouri, Georgia, and Oklahoma)
(2) Complete “AIT” (Advanced Individual Training) for a range of 6-52 weeks based on your selected job and dictated by a score on a standardized test (called the ASVAB or the “Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery” test).
(3) Serve one weekend per month for the remainder of a six-year commitment (the six years begin at the time of sign up and can be start at age 17)
(4) Serve a two-week long training each year (typically during college breaks)
Ringing in my ears are the recruiters telling my son, “After Basic and AIT, you owe us 45 days per year.”
Sure, the first six months to one year will be heavy, but, all of a sudden, my skepticism for a crazy commitment waned.
The Benefits for College
“The Guard pays 100% of tuition, fees, and books through a Master’s Degree.”
Wow!
My son would face $0 in tuition, books, or fees through his entire collegiate life through his commitment?
I was dumbfounded.
This program is called “EDD” (Educational Dollars for Duty). Soldier must maintain a “C” average in class to have their costs covered at a state school.
The recruiters went on to further explain that if a soldier is awarded other incentive (scholarships, Florida “Bright Futures”, or anything else), those monies will be cash in their pocket of the soldier to defray other expense like room and board, rent, transportation, and, of course, the partying.
During college to help a college kid make ends meet, a National Guard soldier is eligible for monthly cash payments from the VA System under the Montgomery GI Bill. The standard amount a college kid will receive is in the ~$460/month range with an additional “GI Kicker” of ~$350/month if they score over 50 on the ASVAB test (standardized test that determines your military job).
With the one-weekend-per-month drill pay ($300/month based on rank) and the GI Bill cash and kicker, a college kid could go to school for free and pocket over ~$1,100 per month as they serve.
Both employers and the universities must, by law, allow for service time related leaves without recourse for the soldier (ie: if the National Guard is called up, their job cannot fire them and/or their teachers can’t discipline them as a result).
The Benefits after College
Because the commitment to serve in the Army National Guard spans six years, there are non-school related spiffs the recruiters pitched my son.
These include (at least in our area): free car registration, free tickets at Busch Gardens and/or Universal Studios, discounted hunting and fishing licenses, and access to a VA Home Loans with subsidized interest rates and down payment arrangements. We were provided with health insurance options as well as told that travel through a captive agency was discounted, too.
The BIG Downside
There is one, massive perceived downside: my (not-so) little boy could be sent to a combat zone. That fear is a real thing that any soldier needs to face. And, while the recruiters are quick to say that your job can dictate the level of danger you’ll face, the possibility of my son serving in war is sobering. Google quickly tells me that 482 Army National Guard soldiers were killed in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Rest in piece to those that made the ultimate sacrifice…and GULP. Both recruiters had served multiple tours in the Middle East – one in combat, the other “behind a desk” – so there is that.
The Other (not so serious) Downsides
“You’ll have to cut your hair.”
With that comment, my son’s face turned from “all-in” to “man, I don’t know.”
Yep, my son’s four-year growth of dreadlocks are, I gather, his biggest turn-off for potentially enlisting. Not only will they cut your hair upon enlistment for your military ID, they do so at Basic Training. They require no more than a three-inch growth up top. Female soldiers can have long hair if tightly pulled into a bun (I believe). The only exceptions mentioned were religious or health-related deviations which are seldom enacted.
The other glaring downside is the (virtually) full-time commitment to the National Guard for the first six months beginning with leaving for Basic Training (10 weeks for Basic, at least 6 weeks job training upon your return home). To a 17-year-old young man that has been accepted into several colleges and was set to start in the fall, this delay may feel like a lot. I think that would be a valid drawback for some.
Despite the fact that a soldier will not be starting school until the following Spring semester (assuming they attend Basic Training during the previous summer), the recruiters were quick to acknowledge two features of National Guard service: (1) your job may qualify for college elective credits, and, (2) any college where a soldier has been accepted prior to signing must honor that acceptance for two years.
It seemed to me that the soldier will not be behind and they won’t lose their spot in the admissions fray.
For More Information
From our hour-long meeting, I gathered that there are state-to-state differences with how the National Guard operates. No matter where you are, though, there should be branch office somewhere nearby. I learned that all service branches sent soldiers into high schools for lunch-and-learn sessions armed with all sorts of recruiting information (my son never mentioned this nor took advantage of these opportunities, of course).
Check it out for yourself: the National Guard’s website is located here.
On the way home from our meeting, my wife and I had an interesting conversation with our son – maybe the first real, serious discussion about where he thinks he’ll be in a decade. And, while I’m unsure whether the Army National Guard will be in his future, I know that this is his life. He is free to make the best decision that helps him achieve his goals.
As a parent, I’m scared and excited to be a witness to what happens. I do, though, feel good for having helped him be far less ignorant than I was way back when.
Anything I miss? Send me a comment below!
