USAF Reserve -vs- Air Guard

[Weasel Keeper]

122FW Blacksnakes, Ft Wayne IN. Block 25s.

 

[Andy]

In the reserves we have ART's (civil servants) and no AGR (Active Guard Reserve). This greatly limits our chances of ever having the option for a military retirement. The ART civil servant retirement is a much lesser retirement than an full Active Duty retirement, which is available as an AGR.

Go guard if you ever think you might want to take it to retirement.

I'm gonna have to throw the BS flag on your post. There are AGRs in the Reserves - AGR is an acronym for Active Guard and Reserve. Not AG; AGR. I've applied for several Reserve AGR positions. Never got them, but it's probably a good thing. I'm happy where I'm at.

Second, as far as getting an active duty retirement, you are COMPLETELY 180 out of reality. I left Active Duty w/just under 15 yrs active duty and joined the Guard. I never planned on an active duty retirement, so no big thing.
I got furloughed post-911 and became a full time trougher in the Guard. I ran into two problems. 1- Our unit got a bunch of other furloughees so that the man days were parceled out among us. 2- The Guard watches your man days VERY closely once you hit 16-17 yrs active duty. Almost all Guard units will not let a guy trough into sanctuary because the state will be on the hook for your retirement. Not so with the Reserves; they will let you work man days through sanctuary and into active duty retirement.

I ended up going to a staff job as an IMA in the Reserves at TACC @ Scott AFB (yeah, it was a suckazz job and confirmed my fears about the Reserves), but it was no problem getting a sanctuary waiver. I've transferred Reserve jobs and have found a great staff job where I'm very happy - it's the best job that I've ever had. Although I've been recalled by United, I will continue to work this job for as long as I can - a bit more than 5 more years (United allows 6 years of mil leave). By that point, I will have about 24 years active duty and will get an active duty retirement.

For me, the move to the Reserves has been great. I didn't stress about pay while being furloughed and I enjoy my job. As far as the rules in the AD, Guard, or Reserves, I didn't notice a huge difference. I get away with a lot of things in my current job that aren't compliant with AF rules.
MUCH more important than Guard or Reserve is how your personality fits with the unit.

 

[KCPilot]

Why the F___ do I need a Records management CBT?????? And why do I need it more than once? What about Sexual Assault tng? One time..yes...good deal. ANNUALLY? YGBSM!!!

I second that! I don't ask them to fly my jet, so why should I have to do their jobs?

As for AFRC vs ANG, Go Guard! I'm an ART that is affected by the BRAC. As an ART Officer, I don't qualify for all those other programs as the enlisted ARTs do like Priority Placement. So sometime in the next 18 months, they are going to tell me where my next assignment is, like active duty! The reason I joined the reserves, was to fly and work where I want to, not to have them tell me my next assignment is going to be.

Plus what I've seen in the last 17 years is that AFRC bends over and takes whatever AD asks them to. I've also seen guys that could not make Lt Col on AD come to AFRC, screw over a couple of units by being yes men and get promoted up to Col and their own Wing. Gotta love it!

 

[dtfl]

There are AGRs in the Reserves The Guard watches your man days VERY closely once you hit 16-17 yrs active duty. Almost all Guard units will not let a guy trough into sanctuary because the state will be on the hook for your retirement. Not so with the Reserves; they will let you work man days through sanctuary and into active duty retirement.

Actually..there ARE AGRs in AFRC - but few and far between. Neither AFRC unit I have been in has had them.

As far as sanctuary - my old wing watched it like a hawk and would not let one of our FEs do ANY man days due to his being close to sanctuary so the Reserves will not let guys work into sanctuary.

 

[bearcat]

The opinions and observations about the reserves on this post are close to my own. So close in fact that I wonder if some of these folks have visited my unit. I’m of the opinion that the leadership makes all the difference in the world. One case and point is “make up” UTA's. Under the old leadership you could make any of them up so long as your training was up to date, no questions asked. Under the new leadership you have to sort through the "100 rules" of making up a drill, for which you most likely won’t qualify. Sheesh try telling your civ employer that. So now us part timers have to work more on “part time” reservist duties then work their full time civilian job duties b/c of the sorry leadership. I could tell you some other B.S. like “no fly” drill weekends but I fear retribution if I give too many details. Yes I’m venting, yes I’m crabby, and yes the grass is always greener, but now that I’m edumacated on what I like in a unit, the ANG is where I’m going. Ask lots of questions to the unit in question, and if you can't think of any PM me and Ill give you some to ask.

Out of curiosity did anyone else recently get the news that AFRC has acknowledged that they have more training requirements then there are UTA’s in a fiscal year? We were officially told that fact very recently and guess what their answer was to this acknowledgement? Yep, you guessed it, no answer…..they simply acknowledged the fact .

Wait a second, I think you are all from my unit. I am part of a closing unit that since the BRAC announcement we have had an ORE (X2) ORI, UCI, a/c conversion A-10A-C, and now a deployment. We have mandatory drills once a month with no make-up drills. So far I don't know of any other unit that does that. As a traditional that is a real pain in the ass. Oh, 14 jets on the ramp, 2 flyable.

 

[Andy]

As far as sanctuary - my old wing watched it like a hawk and would not let one of our FEs do ANY man days due to his being close to sanctuary so the Reserves will not let guys work into sanctuary.

That would be unit specific. I don't know why that unit didn't allow it; I've spoken to the people at AFRC in charge of the program and they said that they will not stop anyone from getting an AD retirement.

I knew a guy from C-141s in the AFRES (CA unit; don't remember which unit) who got 20 years AD time back in 2004. As far as I know, he's still flying and doing staff work for the AFRES.

I'm on my third sanctuary letter; they're only good for 179 days at a clip. I will get an AD retirement plus some.

As for your information on AGRs in the reserve, I can tell you that I've applied for Reserve AGR positions at Edwards AFB, AFRC HQ, and a few oddball locations. Never accepted; very competitive.
I have a friend on an AFRES AGR tour at Langley.
Granted, the only flying unit AGR position was at Edwards, but AGR positions in the Reserve do exist outside of AFRC HQ.

 

[Slice121]

Wait a second, I think you are all from my unit. I am part of a closing unit that since the BRAC announcement we have had an ORE (X2) ORI, UCI, a/c conversion A-10A-C, and now a deployment. We have mandatory drills once a month with no make-up drills. So far I don't know of any other unit that does that. As a traditional that is a real pain in the ass. Oh, 14 jets on the ramp, 2 flyable.

Sounds like mine too, minus the BRAC.