Minime,<br><br>Good suggestions. With one noteable exception. Avoid the National Guard. I can give you thousands of reasons to do this, but the only ones that apply to this scenario are these:<br><br>1. In a civil disaster, you may be called on to do things that you have no training for. As an example during Hurricane Elena, National guard troops provided security in some of the shelters. The guardsmen were not MPs, nor were they infantry, or any other MOS that might have some training in security. They were clerks. People, mostly guardsmen, were hurt as a result.<br><br>2. After Hurricane Andrew guardsmen were sent out to patrol against looting. They were issued rifles, but no ammuntion. Guess what happened?<br><br>3. You may be called out when it is you who are in need. An aquaintance of mine, who was rendered homeless during recent floods, was called up the day after his house washed away. He wisely refused to report in, but is still in the process of getting off the NG's excrement-list.<br><br>4. You may not be in any better shape than anyone else. Guardsmen (in my experience) recieve food and water the same time everyone else does. And the same amount...subsistence rations, when they are/have been working very hard for long hours.<br><br><br>I love Guardsman, heck I am one, because I love what they (try to) defend, but the Guard is the least trained, least equipped, least professional, and most poorly led outfit in the US military. They are more an attempt to stockpile half-trained soldiers who can be easliy and cheaply exploited in times of emergency, than they are a viable military force.<br><br>Take care,<br><br>Andy