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I'm an USAF active duty O-3 with 8 years time in service. An opportunity for me to transition into a USAF Active Guard/Reserve (AGR) position with the Air Force Reserves (not the guard) is available and I'd like to know: "is it worth it?" I know there are many variables, but being 12 years away from retirement, what do I need to know? I only know what's available in AFIs and myPers, but what's the unwritten information and rules about AGR? How attainable is career status? How often would I have to PCS? Is a position vacancy (PV) promotion as simple as it sounds? Etc.
AGR
Reserves
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 35
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Capt. Stay in. I sure wish I would have. My brother joined because my father did and I joined the AF and he was the only one that stayed 20 yrs. Now he is doing the same job he had in the AF making 4 times as much for the Army.. He was trained at Fort Leonardwood, then went back to be an intructor. Retired and teach as a civilian. Good luck Capt. In what ever you do and God Bless.
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This is an interesting question. Most aren't offered, but choose to leave active duty for the AGR or Reserve. There are pros and cons. Depending on your career field and what you can do in the civilian world, don't believe anything they promise you in the Reserve or Guard. They don't have the funding or support. Be prepared to be part-time and you will be treated that way. You won't collect any retirement until you are 60, and proving anything is service connected is tough unless you were ill or injured on active duty. Be prepared to stay in the same unit for the rest of your career. Be prepared to spend one weekend a month drilling, and if you are on flight status, 2-3 weeks flying or training. The rest of the time we will do you career training through correspondence. As an AGR or full time, you are civil service in pay. You spend the month in a unit with minimal funding, support and dread the drill weekends, when those part timers come in and you manage them for two days. Depending on your career goals, you will have to move to be promoted. (And they don't always pay for that). You billet may be an 0-4 billet, but it's tough to match AGR billet and your rank. If you are prepared to move and be flexible with assignments, you may find great opportunity in the AGR. It is a career in which you have more control as you decide if you want to move and where if billets are available. You apply for them. However, there is a fair amount of nepotism and toxicity in some units. That's my thoughts. I was part time and that was a choice for my children. My husband was AGR, and that was good for a while, but got old after a few years.
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TSgt (Join to see)
Ma'am I'm not sure what your experience is with the reserves or guard, but you have made several incorrect statements here. The most misleading is that you can't collect retirement until age 60!
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Col Rebecca Lorraine
TSgt (Join to see) - Spent 23 years in the Air Force Reserve. For every 3 months of active duty, you can decrease your eventual retirement which is based on points. I had 13 of 23 years on active duty but points were equal to 9 years. I was medically retired from active duty, so collected 40% of my active duty retirement, but couldn't collect concurrent receipt until I qualified for a reserve retirement. All the weekends I spent flying away from family, did not contribute to my retirement points. AGR may calculate some things different, but for me the sacrifice from family, health and career was probably not worth the treatment of reservists.
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You have to stay on federal pay not state pay or you will have to work in the Guard status for 20 years. I have 21 years in and 17 of it Guard with no retirement , I volunteered 4 times too many
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If you complete your 20 years service in the Guard/Reserve, you get the same benefits as you would with 20 years AD, but not until your 60th birthday. Vacancies for your AFSC are unit-specific, not worldwide, so finding a slot could be problematic. Other than the BRAC program eliminating your unit, the only real obstacle to making retirement eligibility is being passed-over twice for O-5 before you have 18 years TYSD (that presuming the regulations haven't changed since I retired in '94). Please know that retirement under Title 10 requires you to complete the last 8 years in a Reserve component.
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MSgt Joe Marcom
Yes, sir, you are correct; but if for any reason you can't remain on AD for 20 years, you can still get your benefits via the Guard/Reserve.
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To clarify, the AGR position is with an Air Force Reserves unit, not a guard unit.
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SMSgt Thor Merich
There are many more AGR slots in the Guard than in the Reserve and that is why you are getting many more responses relating to the Guard. However, my understanding is that the program is the same regardless if you are assigned to a Guard unit or a Reserve unit.
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Capt Joel Dougherty
Same basic rules apply, I believe. Serve 20 years or more and you begin collecting retirement immediately. Correct me if I'm wrong. Someone brought up the issue of promotions, though. Hadn't thought about that before. I'm guessing you're not competing for promotions across the entire AFR, but rather within the unit....? In other words, there must be a Major's slot on the UMD to get promoted to Major? Don't know for sure.
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Lt Col Michael Kwan
As an AGR in the Air Force Reserves or ANG I think puts you more involved with the active Air Force than maybe in the Army. I caveat that by saying it's my opinion. The Air Force has traditionally integrated the reserve forces with the active forces for a long time and have a lot of experience with it. I think it's because the Air Force has a lot of expensive assets sitting around that need to be used or else they can become maintenance nightmares and an aircrew need to be proficient in their mission aircraft and that can only be done with frequent practice. If you notice, the Air Force deploys as an AEF package and that deployment package goes as a mix of Active, Guard and Reserve personnel and they all blend in together as an expeditionary force. You're expected to know your job just as well as the next person and in an AEF package, the commander could any of Active Guard or Reserve.
I say all this because of the tighter integration of all the components that in some ways you still you're part of the Air Force and end up performing day to day missions. In the aerial refueling business, you'll find reserve component aircraft doing the refueling, same in the airlift business. That's why some units get first line aircraft because they're expected to fly the mission just the same as the actives. It may take them longer to deploy because of the citizen airmen may have to take care of their full time job but once on station, they're all part of the same Air Force. I find that to be really gratifying and it doesn't really fit the image of a bunch of bored people sitting around the armory on Saturday with nothing to do. As DOD has had to rely more and more on the reserve components to meet the staffing requirements needed for today's issues, the benefits accordingly have been better because today it's hard not to deploy if you're in the Guard or Reserves. It's the same with the Army as far as deployments.
It's not an easy decision to make but there are pluses and minuses and if you leave the Air Force to go AGR, don't burn any bridges. I knew of a Major who left to join the AGR program but after a couple of years, he found his promotion possibilities for his AFSC would be limited. I don't know how he did it, but he went back into the regular Air Force so apparently there must be some kind of an out if you find out it's not your cup of tea.
I say all this because of the tighter integration of all the components that in some ways you still you're part of the Air Force and end up performing day to day missions. In the aerial refueling business, you'll find reserve component aircraft doing the refueling, same in the airlift business. That's why some units get first line aircraft because they're expected to fly the mission just the same as the actives. It may take them longer to deploy because of the citizen airmen may have to take care of their full time job but once on station, they're all part of the same Air Force. I find that to be really gratifying and it doesn't really fit the image of a bunch of bored people sitting around the armory on Saturday with nothing to do. As DOD has had to rely more and more on the reserve components to meet the staffing requirements needed for today's issues, the benefits accordingly have been better because today it's hard not to deploy if you're in the Guard or Reserves. It's the same with the Army as far as deployments.
It's not an easy decision to make but there are pluses and minuses and if you leave the Air Force to go AGR, don't burn any bridges. I knew of a Major who left to join the AGR program but after a couple of years, he found his promotion possibilities for his AFSC would be limited. I don't know how he did it, but he went back into the regular Air Force so apparently there must be some kind of an out if you find out it's not your cup of tea.
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MSgt Hal Weeden, MBA
Capt Joel Dougherty - You are correct about the UMD issue. A traditional member can sometimes be placed one grade over the UMD, but not an AGR. In addition, in the ANG, there has to be a control grade available within the state for positions above O4 and E7.
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