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National Guard drill problem...?

Ok...I vented on here earlier today...I was a little pissed and ranted a bit and was kind of crazy and irrational...got it all out and now I'm much calmer and I can discuss the situation in a much more rational manner. Alright. Here's the deal. I've been in the Army for 11 years...the National Guard for 8. I've been on 2 deployments..I volunteered for both. The last one was to Iraq and I came home with a TBI and some mental issues. I had reenlisted specifically so I could go on that deployment and I'm still in that enlistment until 1012. I'm an EMT on the civilian side and this year I was attending Paramedic school. I'm in the Minnesota Guard...I drill in the Twin Cities...and my Paramedic school was also in Minnesota, so no problem there. Then I got injured during a clinical. They found that I have a degenerative spinal disease stemming from a service injury I got early in my career. This set off a whole chain of events. With the Guard, I got put on a permanent do-nothing profile and I'm now completely non-deployable. With school I got dropped from the paramedic program due to medical..now here is where it gets crappy. The paramedic program is based in Minnesota, but it was a satalite program from a college in western North Dakota. Because of the requirements of the program, all my financial aid was approved and paid ahead of time. I had only completed 3/4 of one semester instead of the 4 semesters that got paid for, so they gave me two options. I could either withdrawl from school completely and have to pay back the difference between the used and cancelled portions of my financial aid, or I could transfer it all to their main campus and attend regular classes there. I opted, for obvious reasons, to take the latter option. So now I'm stuck in western ND for the rest of the year..my NG unit is in eastern MN...school has suddenly become not just important, but vital, because in one instant I just lost my civilian career and put my military career in Hospice, so to speak. (Every doctor and physical therapist I've been to has basically said that I will never work in Emergency Medicine or as an infantryman again). So I'm stuck in North Dakota...and I can't do an interstate transfer because of my profile...and the Minnesota Guard still has me...but I simply can't afford to show up for drill financially or academically. I don't have enough money to pay for the fuel and wear on my vehicle to drive there and back. I also can't afford to skip classes. My entire future livelyhood is depending on my success in these courses and when I get a MUTA 6, like this weekend, in the middle of the school year, I just can't do it. So, I can't show up for drill and my unit either can't or won't discharge me or put me in the ING. I'm at a loss as to what to do. I mean, at this very moment I'm AWOL from drill because I have no way of attending. The first time in my career that I've been AWOL for anything.
I hear ya man...I really do, but I'm in a bind. I got money and 600 some odd miles between me and the armory. My car gets good milege...but not that good.
I mean no money...I have no money.
Illusion...I am. That's actually why I'm in classes right now. It's just with the whole financial aid thing and not being able to pay it back, I needed to attend the actual main campus for the remainder of the year in order to make use of it. Biology...I'm finishing my biology degree.
Unfortunately, I understand the need to call the unit, but I actually can't at the moment. This drill isn't at the actual armory...it's being spent in the field and I don't have the number for the company CP in the training area. I will be calling as soon as the drill is over and our full time staff is back at the armory...or if they call me this morning wondering where I'm at. Right now I'm just kind of twiddling my thumbs and stressing over it.
Sorry HDH, but that is also a no-go. Unfortunately for myself, schooll is not only my future career, but temporarily, it's also a place to live. My first 2 weeks when I got to North Dakota were as a homeless transient...and believe me..it's f-in cold in North Dakota in the winter..particularly when you are sleeping on the streets. Taking the semester off means I'd not only be giving up future career, but also the bed I sleep in and the food that I eat...neither of which the National Guard provides.

Public Comments

1. I'm sorry to hear about your situation.

You really should get a hold of your immediate chain of command and calmly explain the situation. If you're to be on permanent non-deploy status for the remainder of your enlistment I don't see why the Guard wouldn't discharge you. Sounds to me like someone not wanting to do the paperwork.

Simply not showing up, as I'm sure you know, is not the way to solve this problem. Somehow you need to get back to drill at least once and talk to your chain and see what options they can give you.

2. First, you should be calling your unit right now instead of posting on Y!A.

Since your civilian job is semi-toast for now, why not focus on getting over to MN and salvaging your military retirement and benefits? Maybe if you work with your chain you could to do lots of RUTAs to make attendance more practical.

Were you using TA and/or GI Bill for education? If you still have most of your GI Bill, you could always transfer to the new post-911 and start education in a more sedentary discipline like accounting, computer programming, etc.

3. First off, sorry to hear about your injury, hopefully some good luck comes your way. You need to talk to your Unit S-1 ASAP and file the necessary paperwork to change your disability status. It will take a long time and you'll have to see a few doctors but if you have a spinal condition your status has definitely changed. You should be able to get med'd out. If everything you've said is correct than I see no reason that this wouldn't be possibly. Also, instead of going AWOL or missing drill, file an RST for the Battle Assembly in question, that way you can make them up on your terms. There is no reason to be AWOL. You've been in long enough to know better. You also have been in long enough to know that YOU are in charge of your career and that no one is going to walk you through this. You need to call your unit and figure out what to do.

4. I feel strange even writing you any advice. You've been in the military nearly three times as long as I have been. You know the deal. Unfortunately, your first priority has to be the National Guard, because you are legally bound to THEM and not to your university program. That's about what it comes down to.

Tell your unit your situation when they call. Apologize for not making it to Drill, and tell them you are willing to work with them in any way that is necessary but that the ongoing medical concerns are presenting a financial hardship and the uncertainty of your status is REALLY getting to you.

You then need to talk to your university and tell them your situation. They SHOULD be able to work with you and let you take a semester off so you can go home and resolve the situation with your unit. Yes, I know you will have no money for this semester, but if you don't get your military status resolved favorably it's going to have some serious repercussions on your future civilian career.