Also called: Army National Guard, Air National Guard, Army/Navy/Air Force/Marine Reserve, Citizen-soldier
A part-time service member who trains one weekend a month and two weeks a year, and deploys or responds to disasters when called up.
Guard members live at home, attend drill weekends at a local armory, and get called up for state emergencies like floods and wildfires, or federal deployments. Many states pay 100% of public college tuition for Guard members. It's a way to get military training, benefits, and extra income while doing something else full time.
Part-time drill pay for a typical traditional Guard/Reserve member (about 39 training days a year), usually on top of a civilian job or college. Full pay applies when activated. Many states add free in-state college tuition, and the GI Bill helps too.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 0.5 years after high school. High school diploma, basic training and job school (can be split across summers), then part-time service. Free-college benefits: Tuition Assistance (up to $4,500/yr) while serving, the Post-9/11 GI Bill (36 months of tuition + housing stipend) afterward, and SkillBridge internships before separating.
Ways in: Military, On-the-job training. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Any major (state tuition benefits).
Growing about average. Not in BLS projections. The Guard and Reserves recruit tens of thousands of people a year.
Low risk for 10 years. Part-time service and disaster response stay human; your Guard job's own AI risk varies.
Classes: PE / fitness, Health / first aid.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.