Unit Training

Once you complete fulltime Army BCT and AIT, you graduate, and come back to Michigan to serve as a proud member of the Michigan Army National Guard. Here is where your hard work and training will pay off serving your community, state, and country.

One weekend each month, Michigan Army National Guard Soldiers report to their assigned unit for training, also known as “drill”. Here, they train and rehearse the skills of combat, their Military Occupational Specialty (MOS), and perform physical fitness activities.

Typically, National Guard Soldiers are required to attend one drill weekend each month and one annual training period (usually 2 weeks in the summer) each year. Weekend drills usually consist of one Saturday and Sunday each month. Annual training typically lasts for two weeks in the summer and makes use of your military occupational specialty in direct and often rigorous ways.

All units have additional specialties, such as medics, personnel, mechanics, and chaplains that make them highly operational and self-sufficient. Units also have other roles, often referred to as additional duties, where unit members can expand their responsibilities and experience. These additional roles are often voluntary and can range from armory locks and key custodian to family and community activities planner.

New Guardsmen quickly learn that a drill weekend can contain many moving parts. That is where true teamwork and exceptional leaders shine. Good leaders are present at every level, stepping up to, sometimes, unassigned or assumed tasks, ensuring the weekend’s activities are completed and executed at the highest level of proficiency and professionalism.