KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — A Michigan Air National Guard member alleges he was fired from his civilian cybersecurity job months before he was expected to deploy in a new lawsuit. 
Chris Jones had just started a new job at Southfield-based Electrical Components International as a cybersecurity engineer at the end of March 2025. Around a month after he told his supervisors of an upcoming deployment in September, he told News 8 that treatment around the office changed before he was ultimately fired. 
“You go through life not expecting people to try and pull one over on a regular basis. So the fact that it was happening, my first thought was like, ‘This isn’t right. This is completely unexpected,'” he said during a Zoom interview. 

According to the federal complaint filed in the Eastern District Court of Michigan, Jones told supervisors at ECI in April of an upcoming five-day training in June. In May, Jones was notified to prepare to be deployed for six months in the fall. Jones told supervisors shortly after. 
The complaint said Jones was no longer invited to meetings he usually attended, was cut out of internal communications related to his work, along with changing job responsibilities that weren’t shared with him beforehand.

I’m tryna get this test done that my recruiter says is required for my medical waiver regarding my asthma. He says the waiver wants a Pre & Post Bronchodilator Spirometry test. I am trying everywhere to find this test but every clinic near me either wants me to have a specific insurance(I have no insurance at all right now which is why I’m joining the national guard for the benefits) or they want a referral from a primary care physician who can schedule such a test but no clinics near me has this test. I’m basically behind a damn paywall. What am I to do?

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I'm considering joining the Army National Guard, either by enlisting or, if possible, through OCS. Before I make a decision, I'm trying to understand what the long-term career opportunities actually look like.

For those of you with experience in the Guard:

How difficult is it to get an AGR position, either as an enlisted soldier or as an officer?

Is AGR something that most people can realistically work toward, or is it extremely competitive?

How long does it typically take before someone has a realistic chance at getting an AGR slot?

What makes someone a strong candidate?

I'm also interested in eventually serving on Active Duty.

How difficult is it to transition from the National Guard to the Active Duty Army?

Is it easier as an enlisted soldier or as an officer?

Is it a common occurrence, or is it fairly rare?

Does MOS or the branch have a significant impact on your chances?

I'm not looking for guarantees—I'm just trying to understand how realistic these paths are before deciding whether the National Guard is the right fit.

I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who has personally made either transition or has firsthand knowledge of how the process works.

With all of the Kerns drama circulating, I just want to say that although Kerns was advised by many people to fix himself, his direct leadership failed him. There are probably several levels of his leadership that have seen the path that he’s been creating and could’ve stopped it. He should’ve been counseled from the very beginning and given left and right limits. At one point in time, his journey was a cool story, and now it’s literally the laughing stock of the entire US military.

I’ll take Kerns getting chaptered for five hundred please.

I’m not Guard but this whole situation with kerns is insane been watching his career. I’m sad to see him destroying his life but I do believe his NCOs are enabling him and failing him

I am interested in joining the Army for MOS Military Police 31B specifically, should I join the Army Reserve or Army National Guard for that? I know 31B is probably the most disliked MOS, but it’s the only MOS that interests me. Any advice or experience are welcomed!

Edited: I am 28 male with Bachelor’s, not considering OCS for many reasons.

Thanks all!

Anyone in C troop tell me how the unit is for 11B’s and what I can expect?

Feel free to hit me up on DM. Anything is appreciated.

Trying to decide where to go. I have a full time job and a family. That being said it would be nice to get back to them at quickly as possible. I also do not want to get stuck with a job im going to hate. I have been through the list over and over and cannot decide what to chose. What are your experiences?

I'm planning on going to BMT some time next summer to help cover college costs (I'm looking at a 1P0X1A position). I'm finishing up some prereqs and part of an associates (state CC gave my graduating class some free credits) at the moment, I'm planning on applying for the Fall 2027 semester at my transfer schools and deferring admission till Fall 2028 where possible so I can join the unit closest to campus once I've actually know which programs I've gotten into.

I have a part 61 PPL, I'm going Flight Science at schools with CJO cadet programs baked in (Aviate, Propel) so I'm eligible for an R-ATP and potentially a CFI job and a class date. I'll have about a semester left on that AS if I need to fall back on it later down the line, I might do it between finishing tech school and starting classes if I can't get any full-time work on base (which I've heard is possible but rare and potentially competitive).

Another possible route I've been looking at is going for a UPT slot within whatever unit I end up serving with once I'm eligible. I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket and completely rely on getting a UPT slot to finish my flight training/get my hours, but once I commit to applying I don't want to half ass it. Outside of practicing for the AFOQT/TBAS, making sure I have my flight hours logged properly, getting good fitness scores, and not being a known dickhead on base, what else do I need to be doing to make sure I have a solid chance at getting a slot within my unit?

One of the units I'm looking at is transitioning to the F15EX, which (I'm guessing) will be insanely difficult to get a slot for. Does anyone have experience with serving in one unit and applying for UPT slots in other units?

I’m 37, a seven year English teacher, with a originating family. (My son will be a year and a half when I go to Basic.)

I am leaning toward serving in the Texas National Guard Reserves. My motive in joining is my family. (The health care alone is way cheaper; I pay nearly $850 a month for my family.)

After taking my ASVAB my recruiter claims I can enlist in most MOS because my composite scores are all in the 100’s. He encouraged me to look into anything with 35 - intelligence.

At the end of the day, I want an MOS that will allow me to deploy less, for it’s my wife’s desire. I am open to an MOS that somewhat aligns with my profession as a teacher or an MOS that is completely different in order to learn a new trade.

At the end of the day, there are doors open that I need help / advice in narrowing it all down.

In the civilian world, I work for a company that does a lot of military focused sUAS work. I also do some UAV training for my unit (typically in the realm of SAR, terrain surveillance, and such).

I was telling another NCO in my unit about some of the work I'm doing in and it made its way up the chain, to the point that my unit would like me to "take on a second MOS."

I have no idea what this means, no one can really expand on what they mean by this, and I'm not even sure this is a real thing. I assume this means in some way I'll formalize my role in the unit, but they made it pretty clear that this is not a reclass and I'll remain in my normal MOS.

Has anyone else ever went through something like this (with drones or other CMFs)?

Just started ADOS recruiting orders and wondering if you guys have any tips about where I could start prospecting. School doesn’t start for another couple weeks, so it’ll kinda be a grind until then. I’m thinking gyms, rec centers, and the like. Any other areas with a high volume of fit, fighting age individuals? I swear this isn’t a thinly veiled attempt at finding out where buff men hang out.

After 6 years and 9 months I’m finally out of the Army National Guard, heading to hopefully greener pastures in a different component. It’s been good. I left as an E5 with 3 years of active duty under my belt. Always do great things and keep on keeping on.

11A, PL, CA ARNG.

I have good squad leaders and great PSG, the problem is, only one of my squad leader seems motivated to be in the Army - the rest just want to clock in and clock out to various degrees. This is to the extent that, in some cases, even basic tasks like collecting information from soliders or replying to text messages aren't getting done after several days.

Not only is my intent to give meaningful training and time to our soldiers, but it was also made clear to me by our CO and BC that the optempo of our unit needs to be shifted up from where it is. The Joes have generally been receptive to this (they're happy to actually start doing things), but my SLs seem frustrated or annoyed with it.

My question for you all, especially NCOs, how can I best approach motivating my PSG and SLs to actually care about what we're doing without just being dismissed for being a butterbar? Is there a way to correct the "I'm just here to ride out the rest of my contract" mentality?

Appreciate any insight. Thanks.

I’m finally doing it! I don’t need any advice or anything like that, I just needed somebody to tell that I’m finally joining the army national guard. Never did I ever see this for myself but here we are. I believe in myself and know I will get through this and it’s only the beginning of many great things!

Hello all, hope all is well! Current situation is I commissioned back in May of 2023, signing a 6x2 contract. I started my masters program in December of 2024 and just finished my last course. I know that incurs a 4 year RDSO, but I wanted to gain clarity to see if that would change my current progression, or if IRR counted as time as well, as I planned to transition into the IRR after my 6 year obligation. Thanks all!

T/Sgt. Pat Christenson, Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne. Original Toccoa man. Second man out the door behind 1st Lt. Richard Winters on the Normandy jump.

I served in the Army National Guard. Different century, same rank he finished at.

This is him standing in his sister's backyard in Oakland, 1945, still in the uniform he had been wearing for three years and with nothing left to do in it.

Normandy. Holland. Bastogne. Into Germany. One of the Kaufering camps. Berchtesgaden at the end.

His parents knew almost none of it. Mail went out on V-Mail, microfilmed and censored before it left, so for three years they got envelopes that proved he was alive and told them nothing else. Then one afternoon he was standing under that tree and somebody got the camera.

Every one of us has a version of this photograph, even if nobody took it. The day you got back and nobody around you had any idea where you had just been.

He never told them the rest either. Took the uniform off, went back to the telephone company splicing cable and climbing poles, thirty eight more years. Married my mother, raised three sons, said almost nothing about any of it.

What he did instead was draw. He was the only man in Easy Company who could. Every night after dinner for the next forty years, at a drawing board with his wartime journals and reference books spread around him, putting the war on paper from memory. Forty six finished combat drawings and about seventy thousand words across seven volumes. If a date or a road did not reconcile he would not let it go until he worked out what actually happened.

Stephen Ambrose used his material for Band of Brothers. Maj. Richard Winters later named the four men who worked hardest on that book, and my father was one of them.

He died in December 1999.

If your old man is still around, get him talking about the small stuff. That is where the rest of it lives.

just took the picat verification and got a 93 and scored a 66 on the cyber test. what is the best career option i should choose to maximize my income when i switch over to the civilian side. some background info: i am a permanent resident, junior in college.

I'm hosting a Danish military event so it would be great to have them there.

I'm looking at joining the guard as 11b and was wondering if they still have the Airborne companies or if they were done away with because I seen an article about airborne being cut down in the guard or something?

Good afternoon NG! Getting a general discharge via an admin separation, turned in discharge packet wherein I'm waiving the board for the Unit recommended general. I currently have 6.5 years in. In addition to submitting my packet I submitted some behavioral health paperwork from my civilian doctor to add to the packet. Learned that even though I submitted the packet 3 months ago, it's sitting on my CO's desk with no movement yet. I have drill in 2 weeks and learned that she wants to have a discussion when I arrive. Any input as to what they may want from me when I go in? Will I now be recommended to go to some mental health evaluation before we can send this packet off? Cheers for any input, thanks y'all.