Am I required to spend the entire weekend at the unit for ANG Drill Duty?

Question

I am considering joining the Air National Guard and am curious to know if I have to spend the night at the unit during drill weekend or if it is an 8 hour work day on Saturday and Sunday?

Answer 1

On a "normal" drill weekend, you may leave at the end of the duty day and go home if you live close enough. That's what I did at my ANG unit. If you live furthur away and have a hotel room for the weekend, you go back to your hotel at the end of the duty day.

On weekends where there are exercises or other training going on, you may have to stay there. It all depends on the unit and the mission, but generally, yes, you can go home after the drill day is over. For my ANG unit we came in at 0730 and were usually dismissed around 1600-1630 (that's 4:00-4:30 PM).

Answer 2

It really depends on  what the training agenda is on any given weekend.  I was in the ARNG and usually it was an 8 hour day and home at night; however, if we went to the firing range, etc. it would be an "overnighter".  

Answer 3

It depends on what kind of unit it is. I was stationed at a unit where you were free to go home after 5pm or so only if it was a home station. But if went to train at a different unit, we had to stay the night on friday and saturday.

Answer 4

All depends on your CO and what your job and training are. They own your soul for the weekend.  

Answer 5

You do what they require you to do.  If you are deploying for field training you do that.  If they want you to sit around and keep the chairs dusted, you do that.  You time is not your own when you are in the service.  

Answer 6

Each location may have different rules depending on the availability of available lodging and what is on the training schedule for that unit.

Answer 7

Unless the weekend duty was for a field training exercise, where we had to camp out in tents and provide cover fire for exercises going on on the range, we were able to go home, at the end of the day.. however, if we were on our annual training, we stayed in the barracks, because that was usually out of our home territory, so to speak. i.e., for some of our AT's, we went to Augusta GA, which was about 150 miles from home, soooo, going home was out of the question, except, of course, on the weekend, in the middle of the AT, IF you didn't have guard duty, or something of that nature..