Who went from AD to Active Guard/Reserve?
12-04-2011, 10:18 PM
#1
Who went from AD to Active Guard/Reserve? Just wanted to know preferably from the AF guys, who just went from Active Duty to Active Guard/Reserve? Just wondering how you like it? Any regrets or anything?
My enlistment is up in April, and the earliest i can enlist is in January. So im weighing all my options and just wanted to hear from you guys. Thanks
My enlistment is up in April, and the earliest i can enlist is in January. So im weighing all my options and just wanted to hear from you guys. Thanks
12-10-2011, 10:39 PM
#3
I went from AD Air Force to the Air Force Reserves.
It definately is different. Some good. Some bad. It really depends on what you want, and how you feel about military life.
Life can seem pretty sweet on the Reserve side of things compared to AD, however there are some things to consider. For one, budget cuts are huge right now, and most Reserve units I know are not able to work much. They only have to give you the oppertunity to work one weekend a month and two weeks a year. Over that it depends on how much you want to work, and how much work they have to give out. Keep in mind you won't have full time benefits like Tricare unless you are working and on orders. Basically it would be smart to have a full time civilian job lined up outside of the Air Force. The Guards budget is being sqweezed WAY tighter and have even less money.
All this is a generalization. At my unit, things are definately slower, but we are a large unit, and I still work full time there (but this is always subject to possible deeper budget cuts). A nice thing about Active Duty is that you don't have to worry about this as you get paid regularly and don't have to worry about if you're going to be able to afford your bills.
There are other times where it is really nice with being a Reservist not having to come into work if you don't want to, and you do have a bit of control of your own schedule.
The best thing I like about it is that I got to be stationed where I wanted to, and it let me do my dream job.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
It definately is different. Some good. Some bad. It really depends on what you want, and how you feel about military life.
Life can seem pretty sweet on the Reserve side of things compared to AD, however there are some things to consider. For one, budget cuts are huge right now, and most Reserve units I know are not able to work much. They only have to give you the oppertunity to work one weekend a month and two weeks a year. Over that it depends on how much you want to work, and how much work they have to give out. Keep in mind you won't have full time benefits like Tricare unless you are working and on orders. Basically it would be smart to have a full time civilian job lined up outside of the Air Force. The Guards budget is being sqweezed WAY tighter and have even less money.
All this is a generalization. At my unit, things are definately slower, but we are a large unit, and I still work full time there (but this is always subject to possible deeper budget cuts). A nice thing about Active Duty is that you don't have to worry about this as you get paid regularly and don't have to worry about if you're going to be able to afford your bills.
There are other times where it is really nice with being a Reservist not having to come into work if you don't want to, and you do have a bit of control of your own schedule.
The best thing I like about it is that I got to be stationed where I wanted to, and it let me do my dream job.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
12-14-2011, 03:01 PM
#4
I palace chased from AD to my local guard unit, but I also slid right into a full time job with the unit as a technician. Best decision I ever made. There are times I miss the regular AF, but I like how much closer everyone is in the guard(for the most part) and how laid back it is. I'm definitely busier work wise. Instead of having a full shop to work with, we have a grand total of 4 full timers during the week, so every single bit of maintenance we have, we're all basically involved. Oh, and 4 day work weeks are great.
