pcsavvy
Senior Member
- First Name
- Vickie
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2017
- Threads
- 13
- Messages
- 168
- Reaction score
- 57
- Location
- Southern California
- Vehicle(s)
- 2020 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport (Sonic Gray Pearl)
- Vehicle Showcase
- 1
I was also in the CA Army National Guard for 7 years as a cook. Don't ask me why but it was either that or small engine repair or tank repair, I was tired of doing mechanical type jobs. I don't even like to cook at home. The National Guard is bit more flexible as far as what station you want to be assigned to within the state but that might have changed since I was in. You go one weekend a month which can be two days (Saturday-Sunday)or three days (Friday-Sunday) depending upon the training/mission and then you have two weeks either in the summer or winter but mostly in the summer that you serve. I was stationed in San Diego and Long Beach and we usually ended up in Fort Irwin for our two weeks but once in awhile we would go to San Luis Obispo for the two weeks. When I first joined there were guys who treated their weekend drill as party time but once the desert wars started then the culture really started to change.
The CA National Guard almost went to the first desert war but the Feds only wanted certain units so the commander of the National Guard would have had to find a new job so he refused and the Feds went to the Georgia National Guard and all heck broke loose cause they were not ready to deploy especially overseas.
As time went on Army National Guard's culture became more like regular Army so they were becoming more strict about PT standards and stuff. We were activated for the Rodney King riots and the Northridge Earthquake, the cooks were stuck at the armory while others went to LA to assist. But I had unique opportunities for instance when I was at Camp Roberts outside of San Luis Obispo there were helicopter pilots who needed to fly a certain number of flight hours so they asked for volunteers to fly with them. I got to fly with them twice in a row and I made their night cause I hummed a Rollling Stone tune under my breath wearing the headsets. The pilots could hear me and they got a kick out of it because everyone else just sat like a stone.
Another time, at Fort Irwin, we made a night move and we ended up in the wrong place. One port-a-john for 300 plus people to use. and since it was Fort Irwin which is protected land you could NOT go out with your shovel and dig a latrine. BIG NO NO. Unfortunately, that port-a-john filled up fast and people were desperate to find alternatives. The final straw for our Tech Sergeant was finding a box with feces in it near the mess tent. We packed up and went on to the base which had concrete set ups for us to put our gas stoves on. That was one of the worst experiences.
At this time I was working full time and going to ITT Technical School 5 nights a week so I was a busy person. Unfortunately, when I was in the Air Force, the old GI Bill was gone and they had an interim program called VEAP-Veteran's Assistance Education Program for every dollar you put in the Feds matched 2 dollars but then when the new GI Bill came out, you were not eligible for new GI Bill if you fell under the VEAP program.
If you decide to cross branches, you do not have to go through Basic again but you may need to go to Technical School depending upon your career field.
The CA National Guard almost went to the first desert war but the Feds only wanted certain units so the commander of the National Guard would have had to find a new job so he refused and the Feds went to the Georgia National Guard and all heck broke loose cause they were not ready to deploy especially overseas.
As time went on Army National Guard's culture became more like regular Army so they were becoming more strict about PT standards and stuff. We were activated for the Rodney King riots and the Northridge Earthquake, the cooks were stuck at the armory while others went to LA to assist. But I had unique opportunities for instance when I was at Camp Roberts outside of San Luis Obispo there were helicopter pilots who needed to fly a certain number of flight hours so they asked for volunteers to fly with them. I got to fly with them twice in a row and I made their night cause I hummed a Rollling Stone tune under my breath wearing the headsets. The pilots could hear me and they got a kick out of it because everyone else just sat like a stone.
Another time, at Fort Irwin, we made a night move and we ended up in the wrong place. One port-a-john for 300 plus people to use. and since it was Fort Irwin which is protected land you could NOT go out with your shovel and dig a latrine. BIG NO NO. Unfortunately, that port-a-john filled up fast and people were desperate to find alternatives. The final straw for our Tech Sergeant was finding a box with feces in it near the mess tent. We packed up and went on to the base which had concrete set ups for us to put our gas stoves on. That was one of the worst experiences.
At this time I was working full time and going to ITT Technical School 5 nights a week so I was a busy person. Unfortunately, when I was in the Air Force, the old GI Bill was gone and they had an interim program called VEAP-Veteran's Assistance Education Program for every dollar you put in the Feds matched 2 dollars but then when the new GI Bill came out, you were not eligible for new GI Bill if you fell under the VEAP program.
If you decide to cross branches, you do not have to go through Basic again but you may need to go to Technical School depending upon your career field.
Sponsored