Was the military a viable career choice during the Great Depression for a steady paycheck?

Yes, but only if one was willing to make certain concessions in regard to personal freedom (most markedly, the ability to marry, as well as the ability to choose one’s duty station).

Enlistment for part-time service in the National Guard was more realistic for many men than enlistment in the Regular Army, as they could hold down civilian jobs while choosing (to an extent) where they would serve, attending paid training drills forty-eight times a year and a paid fifteen-day summer camp that most employers were more than willing to accommodate. The National Defense Act of 1916 mandated a minimum of forty-eight drills, and the amendments of 1920 added a restriction of not more than sixty in one year; predictably, the National Guard operated at the minimum number through the interwar period because of lack of funding. For 1934, the number of yearly drills was temporarily reduced to thirty-six because of a further cut in appropriations, but many states offered twelve unpaid "free" drills to keep up readiness.

The initial term of service was three years, followed by additional terms of one or three years at the discretion of the soldier. For drill, men were paid at a rate of one-thirtieth of the base pay of their equivalent rank in the Regular Army per drill period and would only be paid if they attended at least sixty percent of the drills per month. For camp training, men were paid at the rate of the base pay of their equivalent Regular Army rank. Quality of training, especially basic training, was less than the Regular Army, as units could only assemble for a total of a little more than a month out of the year, and the multi-state footprint of most of the major units made assembly all in one place difficult to begin with. The large field army maneuvers of the late 1930s and early 1940s, in which the National Guard participated, offered a unique, if limited, opportunity for training, as it was the first time many divisions had assembled in one place since being federally recognized.

The urgent necessity for Army maneuvers involving large units was manifest. For the past 5 years field training had been limited to the assembly of the four paper organizations, called field armies, once every 4 years, and then only for a 2-week period, of which about 5 days could be devoted to very limited action due to lack of motor transportation and the unseasoned state of the National Guard personnel. This system, together with a general lack of corps troops, heavy artillery, engineers, medical regiments, signal battalions, quartermaster truck trains, and a complete lack of corps headquarters and experienced higher commanders, made it virtually impossible for the mobile combat troops of the regular Army to be prepared as an immediately available combat force, experienced in the technique of large-scale field operations. It was essential that the higher commanders and staffs be given opportunities for training in the technique, tactics, and teamwork involved; that the troops be accustomed to operating in large groups. The authorized deficiencies and later appropriations for this purpose permitted the assembly, in the late spring of 1940, of some 70,000 Regular Army troops for the first genuine corps and army maneuvers in the history of this Nation.

In September 1939, as an emergency measure immediately after the beginning of the Second World War, President Roosevelt ordered the number of yearly drills increased to sixty, and an additional one week of camp training. Units had generally completed this training by early 1940, but as federal funds allocated were not sufficient to cover the full three weeks, the additional camp training was not paid in full.

The Organized Reserve remained small in comparison to the National Guard. Men were only paid for their attendance at the two-week summer camp, and the vast majority of members were officers who gained their commissions through the college Reserve Officers' Training Corps. The number of enlisted men only hovered around 6,000, many of whom were bandsmen.

Following World War I, the United States was generally disinterested in all things military except, to an extent, the Navy, which remained comparatively powerful. Service in the Regular Army in time of peace was not seen the same way as it is today, and the Army suffered, as the funds allocated to it by Congress would not allow it to pay its soldiers well compared to what a civilian would make, maintain the nine active stateside infantry divisions it originally intended, or invest on a systematic scale in modern weapons and equipment.

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Divisions were the only divisions that remained active (with the 1st and 3rd at a pitiful state through the early 1920s before the Army reconsidered their situation), and the 4th through 9th Divisions were represented in the active Army by their even-numbered infantry brigade and select supporting units. In order to provide a framework for these units to be rebuilt in time of war, the Army staffed the other units of the divisions with large numbers of Reserve personnel. These, as well as other units that were temporarily made dormant, were christened "Regular Army Inactive" units. Training was handicapped, but not as severely as one might think, as commanders came up with creative ways to keep their troops keen using the limited funds and outdated equipment allotted to them. The three overseas divisions already each had contemplated wartime missions, so the status of training and equipment was better in these units.

Regular Army, National Guard, and Organized Reserve Strengths, 1919-1941

End of fiscal year	Regular Army	National Guard	Organized Reserve
1919	851,624	37,210
1920	204,292	56,090	68,232
1921	230,725	113,640	66,906
1922	148,763	159,658	67,870
1923	133,243	160,598	78,480
1924	140,943	176,322	85,106
1925	135,254	177,525	100,270
1926	133,343	174,969	109,604
1927	133,668	181,142	115,749
1928	134,505	181,221	120,288
1929	137,529	176,988	117,949
1930	137,645	182,715	118,244
1931	138,817	187,386	125,387
1932	133,200	187,413	132,875
1933	135,015	185,925	138,513
1934	136,975	184,791	119,003
1935	137,166	185,915	116,913
1936	166,121	189,713	119,066
1937	178,108	192,161	114,358
1938	183,455	197,188	116,175
1939	187,893	199,491	119,773
1940	264,118	241,612	119,869
1941	1,462,315

The initial term of enlistment in the Regular Army in the interwar period was one or three years, followed by additional periods of three years at the discretion of the soldier. Under regulations agreed upon in 1932, men who enlisted in the Army could not be married, and single enlisted men below the grade of staff sergeant and/or who had served for less than eight years were prohibited from marrying while in the service; only those who met these requirements and were considered "worthy" soldiers could ask their corps area commander's permission to marry. Beginning in 1939, those who violated this policy would be permanently discharged "for convenience of the government" and would be prevented from re-enlisting. Despite these restrictions, enlistment in the Army rather than languishing in the unemployment line seemed like a viable proposition for many men. Between 1929 and 1932, cases of desertion dropped by two-thirds, the number of men requesting discharge dropped by half, and the number of men who chose to re-enlist, which had always been high, increased by fifty percent. This period continued until 1933, when the first of the New Deal programs were passed.

The National Defense Act of 1920 set the pay grades for the United States Army in the immediate postwar period, with the law being modified in 1922, 1940, 1941, and 1942. Pay remained somewhat stagnant, especially for men of the lower grades. The Great Depression and recession of 1937 worsened the outlook of the civilian, and some men who joined the Army remarked it was the first time they received three square meals a day. The average yearly household income in the United State rose only $6.00, from $1,518.00 to $1,524.00, in the fifteen-year period following World War I. Unfortunately, promotion opportunities for short-serving men were few and far between, mostly blocked by career soldiers, many of whom were World War I veterans who had returned to the Army following the war.