Army Man

What happens to your army national guard bonus if you transfer to active duty?

If I get a $20,000 bonus for the Army National Guard I get half after basic and half after three years. What happens to that other half if, after say two years, I decide I want to transfer to active duty? Also, if I upgrade to active duty can I upgrade my G.I. Bill too?

Public Comments

1. the rules have changed in the last year. I only know about reenlistment bonuses because my husband reenlisted while deployed. I would seriously ask this question of a recruiter because they should be able to get the correct answer. This can be complicated and you don't want to be caught in a situation of having to pay it back. When my husband reenlisted he had to serve one year of his contract in the national guard prior to going active duty to not pay back the bonus. However some of this had to do with this time in service and the fact that he already served one full contract.
2. You will have to pay back a prorated portion of the Bonus. IE: you recieved 20,000 for a 4 year enlistment. If you serve two years of the Guard enlistment and go active. Then you only qualify for 2 years worth of the bonus, 10,000 So it depends on when you go active. If you go to active duty and serve 3 years, you qualify for the full Gi Bill