Requirements

• All recruits to the National Guard are absorbed into either of the three reserve categories: the Ready Reserve, the Retired Reserve, and the Selected Reserve. To become part of the National Guard, several key requirements must be met. The requirements are designed to ensure that anyone who joins will be able to provide a minimum level of accepted service for the country in times of need.
  
  

Minimum Requirements

• You have to be a U.S. citizen or nationalized citizen if you want to become a Reserve or National Guard officer, and a U.S. citizen or a resident alien to enlist. To become a commissioned officer, you must be between 18 and 30 years of age, and must have good moral character in addition to meeting the necessary academic, medical, physical and security requirements.
  
  

Age

• To enroll in the National Guard, you must be between 17 and 35 with no prior service (NPS) or between 17 and 59 if you have prior service in any branch of the military. For a new recruit who is 17, parental consent is needed. Parental consent is not required if you are 18 or older.
  
  

Qualifications

• All members of the National Guard have to take and pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test as well as an Armed Forces Physical Examination. The ASVAB test evaluates your vocabulary; comprehension; quantitative ability; logical reasoning; general knowledge; knowledge of electronics and arithmetic; numerical operations and coding speed; and comprehension of the way in which mechanical objects function.
  
  To be a Warrant Officer or an officer appointed by warrant by the Army Secretary, you must have a high degree of expertise in various fields of security. In addition to the general requirements, you also must score 110 or higher on the General Aptitude Area test.
  
  

Availability

• Anyone seeking to become a member of the National Guard must be compulsorily available for initial active duty training. This consists of basic training (boot camp) for a minimum of eight weeks. You must also agree to take part in an initial tour of active duty training of at least 12 weeks.