Originally Posted by
blastoff
Air Reserve Technician - Full time "civilian" job usually only available to Reservists in their own unit. Basically doing the full time work that's needed to keep the squadron running day-to-day. Can wear civilian clothes to work, although I heard that that may change this month...back to wearing uniforms everyday.
Big difference between an AGR and ART.
ART - well, I don't know if that's such a great deal. Yeah, you're a full time dude and you get your little GS nest egg, however doing the same shizzle for 30 years plus can get old really quick. Any guy worth his salt will give you mixed reviews on being an ART - it's a double edged sword, for both you and the squadron.
AGR - very good deal. Much more prevalent in the ANG vs. the Reserves. The Reserves tend to carry most of their full timers as ARTs. Most ANG squadrons have a mixture of ART's and AGR's to a higher percentage of AGR's. Essentially an AGR parallel's a full time guy on AD...retire after 20, military retirement and health care, etc...
Back to the AD after the ANG/Reserves? It ain't all that crazy. As I've said previously, being AD does have a lot of benefits. No offense Slice, I think you're a great dude, but as a guard baby never served on AD, you'd have a hard time understanding. If you have a few rotten eggs with you in your squadron in the ANG...it can get stagnant and old really fast....and they ain't going anywhere anytime soon. The AD has a lot of queep, but it certainly has a lot of great TDY's, young dudes rotating in/out, and a lot of innovation.
Again .02.