Anyone joined the national guard later in life?

Have you looked into the Cajun Navy?

yep, I was almost 22

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Have you looked into the Cajun Navy?

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You gotta have an f250

I say go for it if it interests you. Get your commission, serve whatever minimal required time you might have incurred, and then decide if you want to stick with it after that. Don't be a guy who looks back and wishes he had tried it. Be a guy who looks back and is glad he took a chance on something, whether it works out in the long run or not.

Worst case you get in better shape and own a military rank that no one can take from you.

Hell I’ll hire you for 75k/yr if you can show up everyday and work on a computer 7:30-4:30

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(Much less a middle-aged baw)

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34 is midle age now?

I can't imagine being in my mid 30s doing basic training with a bunch of 18 year olds.

I did it at 27. No regrets.
Did Basic at Benning which at the time was a blessing.
I prepared physically for Basic and it was sad to see all those 18 year olds that were skinnier than me that couldn't run near as fast/far as me.
One deployment to Afghanistan.
You can go straight to OCS after AIT. Talk with your recruiter/future unit and pick a short AIT but also one you can live with if OCS doesn't work out.

When you get taken out in Ukraine a few years from now, it will definitely solve the retirement problem.

I was active duty Marines so not sure about the guard but you say you're worried about the price of healthcare. I'm not exactly sure what the differences are but reserve/guard members don't get as many of the VA benefits as active duty unless you are activated for something like an Iraq or Afghanistan type deal. Are you wanting to join for the benefits also?

As far as boot camp or OCS and your age, as long as you prepare physically you'll be fine and probably do much better mentally than the 18-20 years olds simply because well, you aren't 18-20 years old and much more mature and can handle stressful situations better. Only thing to worry about would be a 24 year old telling you what to do and how to do it. If you can get over that part you'd be fine.

Also, don't know if you have kids or ages if you do but that one weekend a month will probably always fall on a weekend they have baseball etc and you'd have to miss it. One weekend a month doesn't sound all that bad but you have to remember it will be for 6 years you will be doing it along with the summer training.