Why the Air National Guard?

I have wanted to be a pilot ever since I was a little child. The pilot selection process started for me around September of 2006. I had just started my senior year at Arizona State University. I was studying Aeronautical Management Technology and was sure I wanted to be a pilot, but was not so excited about doing it the civilian route. I was working at UPS at the time as a ramp supervisor and was in contact with the pilots on a daily basis. Whenever the opportunity would arise I would always ask them where they got their training and then tell them that I was interested in flying. Surprisingly on more than one occasion the pilots would mention the Air National Guard as the best kept secret in aviation. The difference between being an Air National Guard pilot and an active duty pilot is that once an Air National Guard pilot completes his/her training they return to the state that they will be flying for and will only have to fly a few times a month and a couple of weeks out of the year (theoretically that is, there are still deployments here and there throughout the year). This means that pretty much right after training an Air National Guard pilot can most likely get a job with the airlines. An active duty pilot is a full time military pilot for I’m not sure but like 12 years. This means that they can be stationed any where in the world, and they don’t know what type of aircraft they will be flying until halfway through pilot training. As an Air National Guard pilot you are hired to fly a specific aircraft so you know exactly what you will be flying before you go to training. I was definitely interested in flying for the Air National Guard. I was in the Army Reserve at the time and so I was familiar with the military. Besides, after going 3 weeks without a shower and sleeping on the dirt while deployed to Iraq with the Army I was pretty sure that things could only get better as an officer in the Air Force.