Pros
- Provides you a skill set that helps foster your own independence. - Gives you experience working with and managing teams of people, from groups of four to in the 100s. - Puts you in control of a lot of tax dollar's worth of equipment at a pretty low level. - Great chance for upwards mobility, at least to a certain point (E-1 to E-6, O-1 to O-4). - Service to nation, and the respect that it comes with. - Drill pay is pretty good for two days a weekend. (Can be around $100+/day once you're an E-4 or above). - Active Guard Reserve spots, where you work a full-time position in the NG or Reserve, come with full Active Duty pay and benefits. Check a pay table if you're interested, but this can be quite decent.
Cons
- Balancing the Soldier/Citizen mindset can be weird at times. - It may be only one weekend a month, two weeks a year (annual training), but the higher you go, the more of your time you'll have to be putting in. - It's the military - expect a lot of structure and paperwork. Creativity is appreciated, but don't expect to revolutionize the system. - Advancement is limited by time-in-service, unless you drop your request to go something "high-speed", as we say.