My Military HQ | Iowa National Guard
Iowa National Guard home buying and VA loan eligibility
Most Guard members never ask about the VA loan.A lot of them already qualify.
For soldiers and airmen at Camp Dodge and the 132d Wing. Every rule on this page carries a government source.
Start Here
The belief that costs Guard families the most
Ask around a drill weekend and you will hear the same thing: the VA loan is for active duty, or you need six years first, or Guard time does not really count.
Six years is one of four ways to qualify. It is not the only one, and it is not the fastest one. Plenty of Guard members reach eligibility years earlier and never find out, because nobody told them to check.
Nobody is being lied to. The rule is genuinely more complicated for the Guard than it is for active duty, and it changed recently enough that a lot of advice still in circulation is simply out of date.
The Four Routes
Find the one that describes you
VA lists four qualifying routes for National Guard members. You need one of them, not all four.
90 days of non-training active duty, Title 10
Federal active duty that is not training. A deployment is the clearest example.
90 cumulative days of full-time National Guard duty, including at least 30 consecutive days
This is the route that opened in 2021, and it is the one most Iowa Guard members have never had checked. Your DD214 has to show activation under 32 USC 316, 502, 503, 504 or 505, and you had to be entitled to federal pay for it or have waived that pay.
The one people miss6 creditable years in the Guard, and you are still serving
The route most people have heard of. Still valid, still useful, just not the only door.
6 creditable years, and you were discharged honorably or placed on the retired list
The same route, after service.
One thing that does not count, and it surprises people: full-time National Guard duty does not include inactive duty such as monthly drills, and it does not include basic or initial training. Route 02 is about activation, not about the weekend.
You or your lender can request your Certificate of Eligibility, and the COE is what confirms whether your record meets VA's requirements. This page tells you the question is worth asking. It cannot tell you the answer for your file, and neither can an agent.
What Changed
A 2021 law, and it reaches backward
The Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 took effect for these applications on January 5, 2021.
It opened route 02 above: 90 cumulative days of full-time National Guard duty including at least 30 consecutive days. For the Guard, that brought certain activations into the picture that never counted before.
But the mission is not what makes it count. The authority on the orders is. Missions like disaster response or homeland support can qualify, and only when the orders were full-time National Guard duty under one of the Title 32 authorities VA recognizes. Two members on the same flood can land on different sides of that line depending on how each was activated.
If you served on qualifying orders years ago, the change reaches back to it. Old service can open a door that was closed at the time.
VA made the expansion retroactive to current and former Guard members regardless of service dates, and it says applicants who were previously denied and now meet the requirements are encouraged to reapply. A Guard member who was told no in 2018 may get a different answer today.
One practical tip straight from VA: when you submit the COE application, VA Form 26-1880, list any qualifying duty under those Title 32 sections in block 9c. VA says that is how applicants avoid processing delays.
Know The Geography
Two duty locations, two different commutes
This trips up more house searches than it should, including searches run by agents.
Camp Dodge, Johnston
Headquarters of the Iowa National Guard, northwest of Des Moines in Johnston. If your drill is here, your commute runs to the northwest metro.
The 132d Wing, Des Moines Air National Guard Base
A separate location. The 132d Wing, also written 132nd, is not at Camp Dodge. It sits near the Des Moines International Airport. If you are Air Guard, the drive that matters is a different one entirely.
Being told "you will be at Camp Dodge" when you are actually reporting to the 132d Wing changes which suburbs make sense. Say which location you report to out loud, early, and make your agent build the search around that one.
The Real Difference
Guard buying is not active duty buying
Almost everything written about military home buying assumes a PCS. Very little of it fits the Guard.
PCS orders usually are not driving this
Your move is typically your own decision rather than an assignment. That makes long term fit and school districts weigh more than they would on a three year assignment cycle.
There are two careers in the room
Most Guard members hold a civilian job too. The commute that has to work is usually the civilian one, with drill as the second constraint rather than the first.
The hold is often longer
Many Guard families expect to keep a home longer than an active duty household on a typical assignment cycle. Resale in three years matters less. Whether you still want to live there in ten matters more.
Being Straight With You
What this page does not decide
It cannot tell you whether you qualify. Only your Certificate of Eligibility can do that.
What it can do is tell you the question is worth asking, and give you the language to ask it. A lender who works with Guard files regularly will know what to look for. A lender who mostly writes conventional loans may repeat the six year rule back to you, because that is the version most people know.
Nothing here is lending advice or a loan quote. Eligibility rules are applied to your individual service record by VA and your lender. Ask for your Certificate of Eligibility before you make a decision based on anything on this page.
A Guard file is not the same as an active duty PCS file.Ask your agent what changed in 2021.
If the answer is only the six year rule, they are working from incomplete information. Start with someone who works the military niche on purpose rather than occasionally.
Last reviewed August 2026 · Maintained by My Military HQ
Common Questions
Questions families ask
Can National Guard members get a VA home loan?
Yes. VA lists four qualifying routes for Guard members: at least 90 days of non-training active duty Title 10 service, at least 90 days of active duty service including at least 30 consecutive days where the DD214 shows activation under 32 USC sections 316, 502, 503, 504 or 505, 6 creditable years in the National Guard while still serving, or 6 creditable years followed by an honorable discharge or placement on the retired list.
Do state activations count toward VA loan eligibility?
They can, but the mission is not what decides it. The authority on the orders decides it. VA counts full-time National Guard duty under 32 USC sections 316, 502, 503, 504 or 505 where the member was entitled to federal pay or waived that pay. So disaster response or homeland support can count when the orders fall under those authorities. Check the DD214 rather than assuming the mission qualifies.
Does monthly drill count toward the 90 day requirement?
No. VA states that full-time National Guard duty does not include inactive duty such as monthly drills, and that it does not include basic or initial training.
Do I have to serve six years to use a VA loan in the Guard?
Not necessarily. Six creditable years is one of the four routes, not the only one. A Guard member with qualifying full-time National Guard duty may reach eligibility well before six years. Many Guard members assume six years is the only path and never ask.
Is Camp Dodge the same place as the 132d Wing?
No. Camp Dodge is in Johnston, Iowa, and is the headquarters of the Iowa National Guard. The 132d Wing, also written 132nd, is at Des Moines Air National Guard Base near the Des Moines International Airport, a separate location. They are different commutes, which matters when you are choosing where to live.
How is buying a home in the Guard different from an active duty move?
Your move is usually not driven by PCS orders. You choose where you live, many Guard families expect to hold a home longer than an active duty household on a typical assignment cycle, and most are balancing a civilian career alongside drill. That makes resale timing, a two career commute, and long term fit weigh more heavily than they do in a three year active duty assignment.
Sources
Where every number came from
Every rule on this page comes from the government body that sets it. There are no third party interpretations in this list.
- The current rule. The four National Guard qualifying routes, including the 32 USC section citation and the retired list language: VA, Eligibility for VA home loan programs
- Why it changed. The Title 32 authorities, the federal pay requirement, the exclusion of drills and initial training, the retroactivity, and the block 9c tip: VA Circular 26-21-08, April 15, 2021
- Local geography. Camp Dodge, Johnston, as headquarters of the Iowa National Guard: Iowa National Guard
- Local geography. The 132d Wing at Des Moines Air National Guard Base: 132d Wing, Iowa Air National Guard
Troop strength figures were deliberately left off this page. They circulate widely but are not published on the Iowa National Guard's own site, and an unsourced number does not belong on a page families rely on.
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